Word

stanch \STONCH; STANCH\, transitive verb:

 

Meaning

To stop the flowing of; to check in its course; also, to stop the flowing of blood from; as, "to stanch a wound."

 

Examples

Out of the corner of my eye I can see one of Shiggy's daughters busy at the rear door with a mop and a mountain of napkins, furious activity, but not enough to stanch the flow of water seeping inexorably into the room.

--T. Coraghessan Boyle, [1]A Friend of the Earth

Otherwise Stalin might have feared that President Harry Truman would stanch any North Korean invasion by threatening to use atomic weapons.

--John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, [2]Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America

Extra

Stanch is from Old French estancher, "to stop a liquid from flowing."

 

Paragraph

After a hectic day at work, and a quarrel with her superior for making her a scapegoat, Nancy wanted to spend the rest of the day taking a bath and sleeping through to recharge herself. She was shocked when she opened the door. Karen was busy mopping the floor, Steve was carrying a bucket of water to the bathroom and Martha was enjoying a rain dance. There was a leakage in the pipe! This in no way was enough to stanch the flow of water that was seeping inexorably into the room. Nancy stared the room in disbelief!

 

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