The staff hold firm (5)
I believe the answer is:
stick
I believe this is a triple definition!
'the staff' is the first definition.
(I've seen this before)
'hold' is the second definition.
(thesaurus)
'firm' is the third definition.
(thesaurus)
(Other definitions for stick that I've seen before include "Join firm" , "Gear lever; adhere" , "Baton; gum" , "School punishment once" , "See 2" .)