staple
/ˈsteɪ.pəl/ noun, verb, adjective, proper noun
Forms staples stapling stapled
- noun (now historical) A town containing merchants who have exclusive right, under royal authority, to purchase or produce certain goods for export; also, the body of such merchants seen as a group.
- noun (by extension) Place of supply; source.
- noun The principal commodity produced in a town or region.
- noun A basic or essential supply. “Rice is a staple in the diet of many cultures.”
- noun A recurring topic, character, or item. “Lurid stories are a staple of tabloid journalism.”
- noun Short fiber, as of cotton, sheep’s wool, or the like, which can be spun into yarn or thread. “Tow is flax with short staple.”
- noun Unmanufactured material; raw material.
- verb (transitive) To sort according to its staple. “to staple cotton”
- adjective Relating to, or being market of staple for, commodities. “a staple town”
- adjective Established in commerce; occupying the markets; settled. “a staple trade”
- adjective Fit to be sold; marketable.
- adjective Regularly produced or manufactured in large quantities; belonging to wholesale traffic; principal; chief.
- noun A wire fastener, made of thin wire, used to secure stacks of paper by penetrating all the sheets and curling around. “They stapled the documents with an office stapler, putting a staple in the top left corner of each one.”
- noun A wire fastener, in any of various sizes, used to secure something else by penetrating and curling. “They stapled the housewrap with a staple gun firing large staples.”
- noun A U-shaped wire fastener, made of thick wire, used to attach fence wire or other material to posts or structures. “The rancher used staples to attach the barbed wire to the fence posts.”
- noun One of a set of U-shaped metal rods hammered into a structure, such as a piling or wharf, which serve as a ladder. “Fortunately, there were staples in the quay wall, and she was able to climb out of the water.”
- noun A metal loop used to fasten doors in conjunction with a hasp and a padlock.
- noun (mining) A shaft, smaller and shorter than the principal one, joining different levels.
- noun A small pit.
- noun A district granted to an abbey.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English staple, from Anglo-Norman estaple, Old French estaple (“market, (trading) post”), from Late Latin stapula, from Frankish *stapul, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *stapulaz (“post”), from Proto-Indo-European *stebʰ- (“post, stem”). Compare staff. Doublet of étape and etymology 2.
From Middle English stapel (“staple, pillar, post”), from Old English stapol (“post, pillar”), from Proto-West Germanic *stapul, from Proto-Germanic *stapulaz, from Proto-Indo-European *stebʰ- (“post, stem”).
See also Old English steppan (“to step”) and Old French estaple (“post”). Consider also stapes (“stirrup”), from Latin. Doublet of étape and etymology 1.
From Middle English stapel (“staple”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A settled mart; an emporium; a city or town to which merchants brought commodities for sale or exportation in bulk; a place for wholesale traffic.
- noun Hence: Place of supply; source; fountain head.
- adjective Pertaining to, or being market of staple for, commodities; as, a staple town. [R.]
- adjective Established in commerce; occupying the markets; settled; as, a staple trade. Dryden.
Etymology [AS. stapul, stapol, stapel, a step, a prop, post, table, fr. stapan to step, go, raise; akin to D. stapel a pile, stocks, emporium, G. stapela heap, mart, stake, staffel step of a ladder, Sw. stapel, Dan. stabel, and E. step cf. OF. estaple a mart, F. étape. See Step.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “staple”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details