staple
adjective
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L340742 on Wikidata ↗noun
- metal wire that fastens by puncturing
- basic element of supply (food, water, etc.)
- naturally formed cluster or lock of wool fibres
verb
- fasten using staples
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈsteɪ.pəl/
adj
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.
- Relating to, or being market of staple for, commodities.
“a staple town”
- Established in commerce; occupying the markets; settled.
“a staple trade”
“To ruin with worse ware our staple trade”
- Fit to be sold; marketable.
“What needy writer would not solicit to work under such masters, who will pay us beforehand, take off as much of our ware as we please, at our own rates, and trouble not themselves to examine, either before or after they have bought it, whether it be staple, or not.”
- Regularly produced or manufactured in large quantities; belonging to wholesale traffic; principal; chief.
“wool, the great staple commodity of England”
“The pastoral industry, which had weathered the severe depression of the early forties by recourse to boiling down the sheep for their tallow, and was now firmly re-established as the staple industry of the colony, was threatened once more with eclipse.”
name
Etymology: From Middle English stapel (“staple”).
- A village and civil parish in Dover district, Kent, England (OS grid ref TR2756).
- A habitational surname from Middle English.
noun
Etymology: 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.
- Any of several types of fastener comprising a bent piece of wire.
“They stapled the documents with an office stapler, putting a staple in the top left corner of each one.”
- Any of several types of fastener comprising a bent piece of wire.
“They stapled the housewrap with a staple gun firing large staples.”
- Any of several types of fastener comprising a bent piece of wire.
“The rancher used staples to attach the barbed wire to the fence posts.”
“Esther's wrists were firmly tied, and the twisted rope was fastened to a strong staple in a heavy wooden joist above, near the fire-place. Here she stood, on a bench, her arms tightly drawn over her breast. Her back and shoulders were bare to the waist.”
- 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.”
- A shaft, smaller and shorter than the principal one, joining different levels.
- A small pit.
- A district granted to an abbey.
“[Henry II] also granted liberty of coyning to certain Cities and Abbies, allowing them one staple and two puncheons at a rate, with certain restrictions.”
- A post; prop; support
verb
Etymology: 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.
- To secure with a staple.