stanch/staunch the flow of blood?

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maoyueh

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Which of the following sentences are correct or sound more natural? Thank you so much.

A. The nurse stopped the blood from the wound.
B. The nurse stopped the bleeding from the wound.
C. The nurse arrested the bleeding from the wound.
D. The nurse staunched the flow of blood from the wound.
E. The nurse staunched the blood from the wound.
F. The nurse staunched the wound.
 
Barb_D

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I'm not even close to being in the medical field, but I would say "stopped the bleeding."
 
emsr2d2

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"Stopped the bleeding" or "staunched the flow of blood" for me.
 
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J&K Tutoring

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"Stopped the bleeding" certainly, but stanch can also be used as an alternative.
 
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SoothingDave

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SoothingDave, I was with you, and had drafted a post saying it should be stanch, but thought, "Maybe I'd better check..." and sure enough, I found that staunch was listed as a variant of stanch.

I had always thought that staunch meant steady; unmoving, as in 'He was a staunch conservative'. Maybe this is yet another case of usage (perhaps incorrect usage) creating an accepted norm?
 
emsr2d2

emsr2d2

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Wow. If that's the case, I've been using it incorrectly as the accepted norm for years. I'd never even seen "stanch" and used "staunch" for both "firm, resolute" and "to stop".

I would like to add we also "stem the flow of blood".
 
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maoyueh said:
Which of the following sentences are correct or sound more natural? Thank you so much.

A. The nurse stopped the blood from the wound.
B. The nurse stopped the bleeding from the wound.
C. The nurse arrested the bleeding from the wound.
D. The nurse staunched the flow of blood from the wound.
E. The nurse staunched the blood from the wound.
F. The nurse staunched the wound.
Click to expand...


***** NOT A TEACHER *****


I believe that some speakers follow a simple "rule" as defined by

Mr. Bryan A. Garner in his A Dictionary of Modern American Usage

(which many people use as a guide to "good" English):


Staunch is preferable as the adjective ("trustworthy, loyal"),

stanch as the verb ("to restrain the flow of [usually blood]").
 
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