HOW TO PRONOUNCE
staple
/ˈsteɪ.pəl/
Press play to hear how to pronounce staple.
American Pronunciation Guide · 0:47
Watch on YouTube ↗
Watch on YouTube ↗
What does staple mean?
noun
- Place of supply; source.
- The principal commodity produced in a town or region.
- A basic or essential supply.
More meanings (21)
noun
- A recurring topic, character, or item.
- Short fiber, as of cotton, sheep’s wool, or the like, which can be spun into yarn or thread.
- Unmanufactured material; raw material.
- A wire fastener, made of thin wire, used to secure stacks of paper by penetrating all the sheets and curling around.
- A wire fastener, in any of various sizes, used to secure something else by penetrating and curling.
- A U-shaped wire fastener, made of thick wire, used to attach fence wire or other material to posts or structures.
- One of a set of U-shaped metal rods hammered into a structure, such as a piling or wharf, which serve as a ladder.
- A metal loop used to fasten doors in conjunction with a hasp and a padlock.
- A shaft, smaller and shorter than the principal one, joining different levels.
- A small pit.
- A district granted to an abbey.
- (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.
- (obsolete) A post; prop; support
verb
- To sort according to its staple.
- To secure with a staple.
adjective
- Relating to, or being market of staple for, commodities.
- Established in commerce; occupying the markets; settled.
- Fit to be sold; marketable.
- Regularly produced or manufactured in large quantities; belonging to wholesale traffic; principal; chief.
proper noun
- A village and civil parish in Dover district, Kent, England (OS grid ref TR2756).
- A habitational surname from Middle English.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/ˈsteɪ.pəl/
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
In one of these a staple and chain with a quantity of gnawed bones showed where the animal had been confined.
He drove a staple, screwed on a latch, and gave Freckles a small padlock--so that he might fasten in his treasures safely.
More book examples (3)
When the staple of one fails from a bad harvest or unproductive crop, it can call to its aid the staple of another.
The match went out, and so did we, and shoved in the staple again, and the door was locked as good as ever.
Then comes Lisburn, a populous and thriving town, the inhabitants of which are mostly engaged in their staple trade, the manufacture of damasks.