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Staple   /stˈeɪpəl/   Listen
noun
Staple  n.  
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." "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." 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 to the king or the public. The principal commodities on which customs were levied 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."
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 merchandise, of Manchester."
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 metal such as 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.
Specifically: A small loop of metal such as steel, bent into a U-shape with the points sharpened, used to fasten sheets of paper together by driving the staple (8) through the stacked sheets and into a formed receptacle which curls the ends in and backward, thus holding the papers firmly together; also, a similar, slightly larger such fastener which may be driven into wood to fasten objects to a wooden backing.
9.
(Mining)
(a)
A shaft, smaller and shorter than the principal one, joining different levels.
(b)
A small pit.
10.
A district granted to an abbey. (Obs.)


verb
staple  v. t.  (past & past part. stapled; pres. part. stapling)  
1.
To sort according to its staple; as, to staple cotton.
2.
To fasten together with a staple (9) or staples; as, to staple a check to a letter.


adjective
Staple  adj.  
1.
Pertaining to, or being a market or staple for, commodities; as, a staple town. (R.)
2.
Established in commerce; occupying the markets; settled; as, a staple trade.
3.
Fit to be sold; marketable. (R.)
4.
Regularly produced or manufactured in large quantities; belonging to wholesale traffic; principal; chief. "Wool, the great staple commodity of England."





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Staple" Quotes from Famous Books



... is very common before the Houses of the Nobility, you won't see (not to say a Bough, but even) a Leaf grow beyond the rest. They are the best Weavers in the Universe, and make Cloath of stript Feathers, which they have the Art of spinning, and which is the Staple Commodity of the Kingdom; for no Feathers are comparable to these for this Manufacture. When I pass'd the Meadow, every one quitted her Employment to come and stare at me; they all spoke together so loud, and with such Volubility, that I almost fancied my ...
— A Voyage to Cacklogallinia - With a Description of the Religion, Policy, Customs and Manners of That Country • Captain Samuel Brunt
... technical assistance. Agriculture, including fishing, hunting, and forestry, is the leading sector of the economy. It contributes 40% to GDP, employs 80% of the labor force, and provides most of the exports. The country is not self-sufficient in food production; rice, the main staple, accounts for the bulk of imports. The government is struggling to upgrade education and technical training, to privatize commercial and industrial enterprises, to improve health services, to diversify exports, to promote tourism, ...
— The 2001 CIA World Factbook • United States. Central Intelligence Agency.
... one might go farther and say that it is a city of the poor. Where the poor lived in the great days when the palaces were occupied by the rich, one cannot quite understand, since the palace is the staple building; but there is no doubt as to where they live now: they live everywhere. The number of palaces which are wholly occupied by one family must be infinitesimal; the rest are tenements, anything but model buildings, rookeries. Venice has no aristocratic quarter ...
— A Wanderer in Venice • E.V. Lucas
... they even hoe the drilled-in wheat. The rice, the staple of the country, is so cared for and tended that it sells for much more than other rice. Imported rice is ...
— An Ohio Woman in the Philippines • Emily Bronson Conger
... is uncertain.[16] Baskerville, who had been experimenting with type faces of a lighter and more delicate design, had been dissatisfied with the uneven surface of laid paper. Possibly he saw examples of the Chinese wallpaper on wove stock, made from a cloth mesh, which was a staple of the trade with the Orient. Hunter[17] describes ...
— Why Bewick Succeeded - A Note in the History of Wood Engraving • Jacob Kainen


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