'To stave and tail' definitions:

Definition of 'To stave and tail'

From: GCIDE

Stave \Stave\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Staved (st[=a]vd) or Stove (st[=o]v); p. pr. & vb. n. Staving.] [From Stave, n., or Staff, n.]
1. To break in a stave or the staves of; to break a hole in; to burst; -- often with in; as, to stave a cask; to stave in a boat. [1913 Webster]
2. To push, as with a staff; -- with off. [1913 Webster]
The condition of a servant staves him off to a distance. --South. [1913 Webster]
3. To delay by force or craft; to drive away; -- usually with off; as, to stave off the execution of a project. [1913 Webster]
And answered with such craft as women use, Guilty or guiltless, to stave off a chance That breaks upon them perilously. --Tennyson. [1913 Webster]
4. To suffer, or cause, to be lost by breaking the cask. [1913 Webster]
All the wine in the city has been staved. --Sandys. [1913 Webster]
5. To furnish with staves or rundles. --Knolles. [1913 Webster]
6. To render impervious or solid by driving with a calking iron; as, to stave lead, or the joints of pipes into which lead has been run. [1913 Webster]
To stave and tail, in bear baiting, (to stave) to interpose with the staff, doubtless to stop the bear; (to tail) to hold back the dog by the tail. --Nares. [1913 Webster]