Adjacent Words

Staple definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

STAPLE, n. [G., a stake, a pile or heap, a staple, stocks, a mart. The primary sense of the root is to set, to fix. Staple is that which is fixed, or a fixed place, or it is a pile or store.]
1. A settled mart or market; an emporium. In England, formerly, the kings staple was established in certain ports or towns, and certain goods could not be exported, without being first brought to these ports to be rated and charged with the duty payable to the king or public. The principal commodities on which customs were levied, were wool, skins and lether, and these were originally the staple commodities. Hence the words staple commodities, came in time to signify the principal commodities produced by a country for exportation or use. Thus cotton is the staple commodity of South Carolina, Georgia and other southern states of America. Wheat is the staple of Pennsylvania and New York.
2. A city or town where merchants agree to carry certain commodities.
3. The thread or pile of wool, cotton or flax. Thus we say, this is wool of a coarse staple, or fine staple. In America, cotton is of a short staple, long staple, fine staple, etc. The cotton of short staple is raised on the upland; the sea-island cotton is of a fine long staple.
4. A loop of iron, or a bar or wire bent and formed with two points to be driven into wood, to hold a hook, pin, etc.
Staple of land, the particular nature and quality of land.
STAPLE, a.
1. Settled; established in commerce; as a staple trade.
2. According to the laws of commerce; marketable; fit to be sold. [Not much used.]
3. Chief; principal; regularly produced or made for market; as staple commodities. [This is now the most general acceptation of the word.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: necessary or important, especially regarding food or commodities; "wheat is a staple crop" n
1: (usually plural) a necessary commodity for which demand is constant [syn: basic, staple]
2: a natural fiber (raw cotton, wool, hemp, flax) that can be twisted to form yarn; "staple fibers vary widely in length" [syn: staple, staple fiber, staple fibre]
3: material suitable for manufacture or use or finishing [syn: raw material, staple]
4: a short U-shaped wire nail for securing cables
5: paper fastener consisting of a short length of U-shaped wire that can fasten papers together v
1: secure or fasten with a staple or staples; "staple the papers together" [ant: unstaple]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English stapel post, staple, from Old English stapol post; akin to Middle Dutch stapel step, heap, emporium, Old English steppan to step Date: 13th century a usually U-shaped fastener: as a. a metal loop both ends of which are driven into a surface to hold the hook, hasp, or bolt of a lock, secure a rope, or fix a wire in place b. a small wire both ends of which are driven through layers of thin and easily penetrable material (as paper) and usually clinched to hold the layers together c. a usually metal surgical fastener used to hold layers of tissue together (as in the closure of an incision) II. transitive verb (stapled; stapling) Date: 14th century to provide with or secure by staples III. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French estaple, from Middle Dutch stapel emporium Date: 15th century 1. a town used as a center for the sale or exportation of commodities in bulk 2. a place of supply ; source 3. a chief commodity or production of a place 4. a. a commodity for which the demand is constant b. something having widespread and constant use or appeal c. the sustaining or principal element ; substance 5. raw material 6. a. textile fiber (as wool and rayon) of relatively short length that when spun and twisted forms a yarn rather than a filament b. the length of a piece of such textile fiber IV. adjective Date: 1615 1. used, needed, or enjoyed constantly usually by many individuals 2. produced regularly or in large quantities <staple crops such as wheat and rice> 3. principal, chief

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. & v. --n. a U-shaped metal bar or piece of wire with pointed ends for driving into, securing, or fastening together various materials or for driving through and clenching papers, netting, electric wire, etc. --v.tr. provide or fasten with a staple. Phrases and idioms: staple gun a hand-held device for driving in staples. Derivatives: stapler n. Etymology: OE stapol f. Gmc 2. n., adj., & v. --n. 1 the principal or an important article of commerce (the staples of British Industry). 2 the chief element or a main component, e.g. of a diet. 3 a raw material. 4 the fibre of cotton or wool etc. as determining its quality (cotton of fine staple). --adj. 1 main or principal (staple commodities). 2 important as a product or an export. --v.tr. sort or classify (wool etc.) according to fibre. Etymology: ME f. OF estaple market f. MLG, MDu. stapel market (as STAPLE(1))

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Staple Sta"ple, n. [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. ['e]tape. See Step.] 1. 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. The customs of Alexandria were very great, it having been the staple of the Indian trade. --Arbuthnot. For the increase of trade and the encouragement of the worthy burgesses of Woodstock, her majesty was minded to erect the town into a staple for wool. --Sir W. Scott. Note: In England, formerly, the king's staple was established in certain ports or towns, and certain goods could not be exported without being first brought to these places to be rated and charged with the duty payable of the king or the public. The principal commodities on which customs were lived were wool, skins, and leather; and these were originally the staple commodities. 2. Hence: Place of supply; source; fountain head. Whitehall naturally became the chief staple of news. Whenever there was a rumor that any thing important had happened or was about to happen, people hastened thither to obtain intelligence from the fountain head. --Macaulay. 3. The principal commodity of traffic in a market; a principal commodity or production of a country or district; as, wheat, maize, and cotton are great staples of the United States. We should now say, Cotton is the great staple, that is, the established merchandize, of Manchester. --Trench. 4. The principal constituent in anything; chief item. 5. Unmanufactured material; raw material. 6. The fiber of wool, cotton, flax, or the like; as, a coarse staple; a fine staple; a long or short staple. 7. A loop of iron, or a bar or wire, bent and formed with two points to be driven into wood, to hold a hook, pin, or the like. 8. (Mining) (a) A shaft, smaller and shorter than the principal one, joining different levels. (b) A small pit. 9. A district granted to an abbey. [Obs.] --Camden.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Staple Sta"ple, a. 1. Pertaining to, or being market of staple for, commodities; as, a staple town. [R.] 2. Established in commerce; occupying the markets; settled; as, a staple trade. --Dryden. 3. Fit to be sold; marketable. [R.] --Swift. 4. Regularly produced or manufactured in large quantities; belonging to wholesale traffic; principal; chief. Wool, the great staple commodity of England. --H???om.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Staple Sta"ple, v. t. [imp. & p. p. stapled; p. pr. & vb. n. stapling.] To sort according to its staple; as, to staple cotton.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(staples, stapling, stapled) 1. A staple food, product, or activity is one that is basic and important in people's everyday lives. The Chinese also eat a type of pasta as part of their staple diet... Staple goods are disappearing from the shops. ADJ: ADJ n • Staple is also a noun. Fish is a staple in the diet of many Africans. N-COUNT 2. A staple is something that forms an important part of something else. Political reporting has become a staple of American journalism. N-COUNT: usu N of n 3. Staples are small pieces of bent wire that are used mainly for holding sheets of paper together firmly. You put the staples into the paper using a device called a stapler. N-COUNT 4. If you staple something, you fasten it to something else or fix it in place using staples. Staple some sheets of paper together into a book. ...polythene bags stapled to an illustrated card. VERB: V n with adv, V-ed

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Chief commodity (of a country or a district), principal production. 2. Fibre (of cotton, wool, etc.), pile, filament, thread. 3. Raw material, unmanufactured material. 4. Bulk, mass, body, substance, principal part, greater part, chief ingredient. II. a. Chief, principal.

Moby Thesaurus

anchored, article, article of commerce, article of merchandise, articulate, auto show, basic, basics, batten, batten down, bazaar, boat show, body, bolt, bonanza, buckle, bulk, butt, button, catalog goods, chief, clasp, cleat, clip, commercial complex, commodities, commodity, consumer goods, consumer items, conventional, core, cornucopia, corpus, critical, customary, dovetail, drug, effects, elementary, emporium, essential, essentials, exposition, eye, fair, fastened, feature, fixed, flea fair, flea market, font, fount, fountain, fundamental, fundamentals, gold mine, goods, goods for sale, habitual, hasp, hinge, hitch, hook, indispensable, inventory, item, jam, job lot, joint, latch, lead item, leader, line, line of goods, lock, lode, loss leader, mail-order goods, main, market, market overt, marketplace, mart, mass, material resources, materials, materiel, merchandise, mine, miter, mortise, nail, necessary, necessities, normal, open market, ordinary, peg, pin, plaza, prevailing, primary, principal, product, quarry, rabbet, raw material, required, requisite, resource, rialto, ring, rivet, riveted, scarf, screw, seconds, set, settled, sew, shopping center, shopping mall, shopping plaza, show, sideline, skewer, snap, source, source of supply, special, spring, standard, standard article, staple item, staples, stated, stick, stitch, stock, stock-in-trade, store, street market, stuff, substance, substances, supply, tack, toggle, trade fair, universal, usual, vein, vendible, vendibles, vital, ware, wares, wedge, well, wellspring, zipper