staple

plural staples

1. countablehistoricaluncountableA 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.

   The customs of Alexandria were very great, it having been the staple of the Indian trade.

   1727, John Arbuthnot, Tables of Ancient Coins, Weights and Measures. Explain'd and exemplify'd in several dissertations

   2 more examples

   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.

   1821 January 8, [Walter Scott], Kenilworth; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; and John Ballantyne, […]; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC

   Calais was one of the ‘principal treasures’ of the crown, of both strategic and economic importance. It was home to the staple, the crown-controlled marketplace for England's lucrative textile trade, whose substantial customs and tax revenues flooded into Henry's coffers.

   2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin, published 2012, page 73

2. broadlycountableuncountablePlace of supply; source.

   Whitehall naturally became the chief staple of news. Whenever there was a rumour that anything important had happened or was about to happen, people hastened thither to obtain intelligence from the fountain head.

   1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter III, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC

3. countableuncountableThe principal commodity produced in a town or region.

   The old staple of coal is a declining traffic; and what remains tends to be hauled a shorter distance, as new power stations are sited closer to coalfields.

   1961 October, “Editorial: The importance of the "Roadrailer"”, in Trains Illustrated, page 577

4. countableuncountableA basic or essential supply.

   Rice is a staple in the diet of many cultures.

5. countableuncountableA recurring topic, character, or item.

   Lurid stories are a staple of tabloid journalism.

   2 more examples

   In most countries, rubbish makes headlines only when it is not collected, and stinking sacks lie heaped on the streets. In Britain bins are a front-page staple.

   2010, The Economist, Jul-Aug 2010, p. 27

   MTV quickly became a staple of pop culture after its launch, and was tied to countless historic moments in music, including the world premiere of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ video and the 16-hour broadcast of the Live Aid concerts in 1985.

   2026 January 1, Max Pilley, “MTV shuts down final music-only channels with ‘Video Killed The Radio Star’”, in NME

6. countableuncountableShort fiber, as of cotton, sheep’s wool, or the like, which can be spun into yarn or thread.

   Tow is flax with short staple.

7. countableuncountableUnmanufactured material; raw material.

present singular third person staples · participle present stapling · participle past stapled · past stapled

1. transitiveTo sort according to its staple.

   to staple cotton

1. not comparableRelating to, or being market of staple for, commodities.

   a staple town

2. not comparableEstablished in commerce; occupying the markets; settled.

   a staple trade

   1 more example

   To ruin with worse ware our staple trade

   1667, John Dryden, Annus Mirabilis: The Year of Wonders, 1666. […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], →OCLC, (please specify the stanza number)

3. not comparableFit 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.

   1714 February, [Jonathan Swift], The Publick Spirit of the Whigs: Set forth in Their Generous Encouragement of the Author of the Crisis: […], London: […] [John Barber] for John Morphew, […], →OCLC

4. not comparableRegularly produced or manufactured in large quantities; belonging to wholesale traffic; principal; chief.

   wool, the great staple commodity of England

   1818, Henry Hallam, View of the state of Europe during the Middle ages

   1 more example

   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.

   1929, M. Barnard Eldershaw, A House Is Built, Chapter VIII, Section ii

plural staples

1. Any of several types of fastener comprising a bent piece of wire.
   1. A wire fastener, made of thin wire, used to secure stacks of paper by penetrating all the sheets and curling around.

      They stapled the documents with an office stapler, putting a staple in the top left corner of each one.

   2. A wire fastener, in any of various sizes, used to secure something else by penetrating and curling.

      They stapled the housewrap with a staple gun firing large staples.

   3. A U-shaped wire fastener, made of thick wire, used to attach fence wire or other material to posts or structures.

      The rancher used staples to attach the barbed wire to the fence posts.

      1 more example

      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.

      1855, Frederick Douglass, chapter 3, in My Bondage and My Freedom. […], New York; Auburn, N.Y.: Miller, Orton & Mulligan […], →OCLC

2. 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.

3. A metal loop used to fasten doors in conjunction with a hasp and a padlock.
4. businessA shaft, smaller and shorter than the principal one, joining different levels.
5. A small pit.
6. 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.

   1605, William Camden, “Money”, in Remaines Concerning Britain

7. obsoleteA post; prop; support

present singular third person staples · participle present stapling · participle past stapled · past stapled

1. transitiveTo secure with a staple.

plural Staples

1. countableuncountableA village and civil parish in Dover district, Kent, England (OS grid ref TR2756).
2. countableuncountableA habitational surname from Middle English.