STAPLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does staple mean? 

• STAPLE (noun)
  The noun STAPLE has 5 senses:

1. (usually in the plural) a necessary commodity for which demand is constant

2. a natural fiber (raw cotton, wool, hemp, flax) that can be twisted to form yarn

3. material suitable for manufacture or use or finishing

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

  Familiarity information: STAPLE used as a noun is common.

• STAPLE (adjective)
  The adjective STAPLE has 1 sense:

1. necessary or important, especially regarding food or commodities

  Familiarity information: STAPLE used as an adjective is very rare.

• STAPLE (verb)
  The verb STAPLE has 1 sense:

1. secure or fasten with a staple or staples

  Familiarity information: STAPLE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• STAPLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(usually in the plural) a necessary commodity for which demand is constant

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

basic; staple

Hypernyms ("staple" is a kind of...):

commodity; good; trade good (articles of commerce)

Domain usage:

plural; plural form (the form of a word that is used to denote more than one)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A natural fiber (raw cotton, wool, hemp, flax) that can be twisted to form yarn

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

staple; staple fiber; staple fibre

Context example:

staple fibers vary widely in length

Hypernyms ("staple" is a kind of...):

natural fiber; natural fibre (fiber derived from plants or animals)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Material suitable for manufacture or use or finishing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

raw material; staple

Hypernyms ("staple" is a kind of...):

material; stuff (the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "staple"):

feedstock (the raw material that is required for some industrial process)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A short U-shaped wire nail for securing cables

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("staple" is a kind of...):

nail (a thin pointed piece of metal that is hammered into materials as a fastener)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Paper fastener consisting of a short length of U-shaped wire that can fasten papers together

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("staple" is a kind of...):

paper fastener (a fastener for holding a sheet of paper in place)

Derivation:

staple (secure or fasten with a staple or staples)

• STAPLE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Necessary or important, especially regarding food or commodities

Context example:

wheat is a staple crop

Similar:

essential (basic and fundamental)

• STAPLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they staple    ... he / she / it staples   
Past simple: stapled   
Past participle: stapled   
-ing form: stapling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Secure or fasten with a staple or staples

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

staple the papers together

Hypernyms (to "staple" is one way to...):

fasten; fix; secure (cause to be firmly attached)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Antonym:

unstaple (take the staples off)

Derivation:

staple (paper fastener consisting of a short length of U-shaped wire that can fasten papers together)

stapler (a machine that inserts staples into sheets of paper in order to fasten them together)

 Context examples 

Typical sutures like staples and stitches often lead to scarring and create holes in the skin that could increase the chance of infection after surgery.

(New studies may bring slug-made glues closer to use in medicine, Wikinews)

The chimney is wide, but is barred up by four large staples.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Wheat and rice are the staple food of the Chinese people, and 60 percent of them depend on rice.

(Saltwater Rice Successfully Harvested by Chinese Scientists, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

But now he was tied with a chain that defied his teeth, and he strove in vain, by lunging, to draw the staple from the timber into which it was driven.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Besides drinking water, rice is another route to arsenic exposure in countries such as Bangladesh, China, India and Vietnam, where rice is a staple.

(Parboiling husked rice reduces arsenic content, SciDev.Net)

Issue associated with failure of device to discharge its load (e.g. surgical stapler failed to partially or completely deploy its staples).

(Misfire Medical Device Problem, Food and Drug Administration)

They calculated how the price of a calorie of a given food compares with that of a representative basket of starchy staple food in each country — a measure called relative caloric price.

(High cost of healthy food to blame for malnutrition, SciDev.Net)

Nutrient deficiencies were found less in the wheat-eating northern and western areas of the country than in the south and east, where rice is the staple food.

(Course grains better than rice for health, environment, SciDev.Net)

In many developing countries where corn is a staple, methionine is also important for people, especially children.

(US Researchers Genetically Modify Corn to Boost Nutritional Value, VOA News)

That he discovered two staples upon one side, which was all of boards, without any passage for light.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)