Wiktionary
verge staff
Etymology 1 n. (context clock making English) The metal bar with two pallets that drive the crown wheel in a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/verge%20escapement. Etymology 2
n. (context nautical English) A flag pole that protrudes from a low deck off the back of a ship.
Usage examples of "verge staff".
Every outward-bound boat had its flag flying at the jack-staff, and sometimes a duplicate on the verge staff astern.
From the stern or verge staff, leaning at a forty-five-degree angle from the stern of the lowest deck, was another flag with a light-blue field and bearing a scarlet phoenix.