Staunch – 1. Loyal in supporting a person, organisation or set of beliefs. 2 To stop something happening, or stop a liquid, especially blood from flowing out
(Pronounced stawnch – rhymes with launch)
To remember the definition of the word staunch, use the following mnemonic:
The star came to launch (staunch) the ship and lots of his loyal supporters turned out to watch. When a piece of flying glass from the champagne bottle cut the star's arm, they stopped the bleeding with a tourniquet.
Examples of staunch in a sentence (loyal and supportive)
He was a staunch supporter of all the party's main policies.
She had been a staunch ally of the president for many years and he rewarded her with contracts for her ever-growing arms business.
Although Arthur considers himself a staunch supporter of the Labour party, he didn't vote for them in the recent election.
Examples of staunch in a sentence (to stop something happening)
They managed to staunch the flow of blood from the victim with a makeshift tourniquet – a shirt which a passer-by took off and handed to them.
The new financial director said she could staunch the flow of cash out of the company and bring it back into profit in two years.
He could staunch the leak from the damn temporarily, but a more permanent repair was necessary to prevent a possible tragedy.
