What is "bittersweet"

Staff \Staff\ (st[.a]f), n.; pl. Staves (st[=a]vz or st[aum]vz; 277) or Staffs (st[.a]fs) in senses 1-9, Staffs in senses 10, 1

1. [AS. st[ae]f a staff; akin to LG. & D. staf, OFries. stef, G. stab, Icel. stafr, Sw. staf, Dan. stav, Goth. stabs element, rudiment, Skr. sth[=a]pay to cause to stand, to place. See Stand, and cf. Stab, Stave, n.] 1. A long piece of wood; a stick; the long handle of an instrument or weapon; a pole or stick, used for many purposes; as, a surveyor's staff; the staff of a spear or pike.

   And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar to bear it withal.
   --Ex. xxxviii. 7.

   With forks and staves the felon to pursue.
   --Dryden.

2. A stick carried in the hand for support or defense by a person walking; hence, a support; that which props or upholds. ``Hooked staves.''
   --Piers Plowman.

   The boy was the very staff of my age.
   --Shak.

   He spoke of it [beer] in ``The Earnest Cry,'' and likewise in the ``Scotch Drink,'' as one of the staffs of life which had been struck from the poor man's hand.
   --Prof. Wilson.

3. A pole, stick, or wand borne as an ensign of authority; a badge of office; as, a constable's staff.

   Methought this staff, mine office badge in court, Was broke in twain.
   --Shak.

   All his officers brake their staves; but at their return new staves were delivered unto them.
   --Hayward.

4. A pole upon which a flag is supported and displayed.

5. The round of a ladder. [R.]

   I ascended at one [ladder] of six hundred and thirty-nine staves.
   --Dr. J. Campbell (E. Brown's Travels).

6. A series of verses so disposed that, when it is concluded, the same order begins again; a stanza; a stave.

   Cowley found out that no kind of staff is proper for an heroic poem, as being all too lyrical.
   --Dryden.

7. (Mus.) The five lines and the spaces on which music is written; -- formerly called stave.

8. (Mech.) An arbor, as of a wheel or a pinion of a watch.

9. (Surg.) The grooved director for the gorget, or knife, used in cutting for stone in the bladder.

10. [From Staff, 3, a badge of office.] (Mil.) An establishment of officers in various departments attached to an army, to a section of an army, or to the commander of an army. The general's staff consists of those officers about his person who are employed in carrying his commands into execution. See ['E]tat Major.

11. Hence: A body of assistants serving to carry into effect the plans of a superintendent or manager; sometimes used for the entire group of employees of an enterprise, excluding the top management; as, the staff of a newspaper.

    Jacob's staff (Surv.), a single straight rod or staff, pointed and iron-shod at the bottom, for penetrating the ground, and having a socket joint at the top, used, instead of a tripod, for supporting a compass.

    Staff angle (Arch.), a square rod of wood standing flush with the wall on each of its sides, at the external angles of plastering, to prevent their being damaged.

    The staff of life, bread. ``Bread is the staff of life.''
    --Swift.

    Staff tree (Bot.), any plant of the genus Celastrus, mostly climbing shrubs of the northern hemisphere. The American species ( C. scandens) is commonly called bittersweet. See 2d Bittersweet, 3 (b) .

    To set up one's staff, To put up one's staff, To set down one's staff or To put down one's staff, to take up one's residence; to lodge. [Obs.]

also bitter-sweet, late 14c. as a noun; used especially in Middle English of a type of apple, from bitter (adj.) + sweet (adj.). As an adjective, attested from 1610s.

a. 1 Both bitter and sweet. 2 Expressing contrasting emotions of pain and pleasure. 3 Of a bittersweet color. n. 1 A vine, of the genus (taxlink Celastrus genus noshow=1), having small orange fruits that open to reveal red seeds. 2 The (vern: bittersweet nightshade), ''Solanum dulcamara''. 3 A variety of apple with a bittersweet taste. 4 Any variety of clam in the family Glycymerididae 5 An orange color.

1. n. poisonous perennial Old World vine having violet flowers and oval coral-red berries; widespread weed in North America [syn: bittersweet nightshade, climbing nightshade, deadly nightshade, poisonous nightshade, woody nightshade, Solanum dulcamara]

2. twining shrub of North America having three-valved yellow capsules enclosing scarlet seeds [syn: American bittersweet, climbing bittersweet, false bittersweet, staff vine, waxwork, Celastrus scandens]

1. adj. tinged with sadness; "a movie with a bittersweet ending"

2. having a taste that is a mixture of bitterness and sweetness [syn: semisweet]

Bittersweet may refer to:

Bittersweet is the second studio album by American R&B singer-songwriter Blu Cantrell, released in the United States on June 24, 2003 by Arista Records. It debuted at number thirty-seven on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart selling 29,000 units in its opening week and spawned the international hit single " Breathe". The album did not share the domestic success of So Blu, after charting for 4 months sales peaked at 228,000 copies in the U.S. and remaining so far uncertified by the Recording Industry Association of America. However, unlike Cantrell's debut album, Bittersweet managed to reach international markets, performing modestly in certain European nations.

"Bittersweet" is a single by the cello rock band Apocalyptica in collaboration with Ville Valo (of HIM) and Lauri Ylönen (of The Rasmus). The music is by Apocalyptica, the lyrics by Ville Valo and the vocals by Ville Valo and Lauri Ylönen. The song is written for four cellos ( quartet) and voice, but there are versions for just the cello quartet. The name "Bittersweet" reflects in the song itself, with Ville singing the "bitter", and Lauri singing the "sweet".

"Bittersweet" was released on 29 November 2004. The song peaked at #1 on Finnish Singles Chart. It also peaked at number 6 in Germany, #8 in Switzerland, #11 In Austria and #53 in Sweden.

"Bittersweet" is Fuel's second single (and second track) from the album Sunburn.

It peaked at #15 on the Billboard Rock Mainstream charts in 1998.

"Bittersweet" was a single by Australian rock group Hoodoo Gurus which reached #10 on the Melbourne Record Charts. It was released on Big Time Records in June, 1985; and was written by Dave Faulkner.

"Mars Needs Guitars" (B side), was written by all five Gurus ( James Baker, Clyde Bramley, Faulkner, Mark Kingsmill and Brad Shepherd) and lead vocals were by Brad Shepherd.

It was also released in 1985 in the United States by Elektra with "Bring the Hoodoo Down" as the B-side, and in the United Kingdom as a 12" single by Chrysalis Records with two B-sides, "Bring the Hoodoo Down" & "Turkey Dinner".

"... I vowed to myself that I would write less comic narratives and try to express my sentiments in a more forthright way. I feel I succeeded with "Bittersweet" though at the time I didn't think that a) the band would want to play it and b) our audience would want to hear it. I was happily wrong on both counts." - Dave Faulkner.

"Bittersweet" was the debut single from Boulder, Colorado based rock band Big Head Todd and the Monsters' third album and major label debut Sister Sweetly, which eventually went platinum. The song was their third biggest success charting at number 14 on the Mainstream Rock Chart. It also "bubbled under" the Billboard Hot 100 at number 104.

"Bittersweet" had previously appeared on the band's independently produced live album Midnight Radio three years earlier in 1990.

BitterSweet is Stephanie Nakasian's third album as leader. It was released in 1993.

"Bittersweet" is a song by British singer-songwriter Sophie Ellis-Bextor, written by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, James Wiltshire, Russell Small, Richard Stannard and Hannah Robinson for Ellis-Bextor's fourth studio album Make a Scene. The song was released as the album's third single on 3 May 2010, following two singles on which Ellis-Bextor collaborated, that also appear on Make a Scene.

"Bittersweet" is a song performed by American singer Fantasia from her third studio album, Back to Me. The song was released on May 11, 2010 as the lead single from the album.

Fantasia's work on "Bittersweet" won her the Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 2011 Grammy Awards, the last song to win this category. "Bittersweet" was also nominated for Best R&B Song. The song also won the 2011 NAACP Image Award for Best Song.

Bittersweet is the first studio album by Life On Planet 9, the pseudonym used by American hard rock band Lo-Pro when releasing music of a more experimental nature. The album was released on August 20, 2011. The album's origins trace back as far as 2007, when Lo-Pro participated in an acoustic tour with Staind frontman Aaron Lewis. Tracks started as acoustic rock material, but as they developed, they gained further ambient and electronic elements. The sound strayed so far from their original hard rock sound that they decided to release it under another name.

Bittersweet is a collaborative cover album of jazz standards by American musician Mark Isham and Australian vocalist Kate Ceberano. It is Ceberano's first jazz album in twenty years. The album received an ARIA nomination for Best Jazz Album at the 2009 ARIA Awards.

"Bittersweet" is the 42nd single released by Japanese boyband Arashi. "Bittersweet" was used as the theme song for the drama Shitsuren Chocolatier starring Arashi member Jun Matsumoto. The B-side "Road to Glory" was used as the theme song for NTV's broadcasting of the 2014 Winter Olympics. It was the 7th best-selling single of the year in Japan, with 591,847 copies.

"Bittersweet" is the ninth studio album by Australian singer-songwriter Kasey Chambers. It was released in August 2014 and debuted at No. 2 in Australia. This is her sixth top 5 album in Australia.

It was the first album of Chambers' not to be produced by her brother Nash Chambers. The album was produced instead by Nick DiDia. Kasey says for this record she needed something different: “I wanted to have an experience making a record that I had never had before. I wanted to challenge myself and I wanted to be excited.” DiDia had previously produced albums for Pearl Jam, Rage Against The Machine, Bruce Springsteen, The Wallflowers, The Living End, and Powderfinger.

It's also Chambers’ first album since she split from husband Shane Nicholson.

The album won Best Country album at the ARIA Music Awards of 2014 Chambers also received a nomination for Best female artist but lost out to Sia.

Chambers also toured throughout 2014/2015 to support the album.

The album was released in the United States on July 24, 2015 through Sugar Hill Records. She toured the US throughout July and August to support the release.