Free TranslationFree Translation
Synonyms, antonyms, pronunciation

  Home
English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




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








Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words



Share |





"Staple" Quotes from Famous Books



... great liking for that vulgar edible which bore his name, and which used to form the staple of so many good, old-fashioned suppers. To cheese, in the abstract, he could certainly have borne no forcible objection, since he was wont to steal into the larder, between breakfast and dinner, and help himself—as Martha would grumblingly ...
— Verner's Pride • Mrs. Henry Wood

... particularly careful to select those who knew the country best, and to make them commit their intelligence to writing. By these means, united to the reports of those whom he employed to survey his conquests, "all the native commodities which to this day form the staple of the East Indian commerce, were fully known to the Macedonians." The principal castes in India, the principles of the Bramins, the devotion of widows to the flames, the description of the banyan-tree, and a great variety of other particulars, sufficiently prove that the ...
— Robert Kerr's General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 18 • William Stevenson

... atmosphere by means of the creeks which permeate the land in all directions. The seed of this cotton, planted on the upland, will produce in a few years the cotton of coarser texture; and the seed of the latter, planted on the islands, will in a like period produce the finer staple. The Treasury Department secured eleven hundred thousand pounds from the islands occupied by our forces, including Edisto, being the crop, mostly unginned, and gathered in storehouses, when our military ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Vol. XII. September, 1863, No. LXXI. - A Magazine Of Literature, Art, And Politics • Various

... itself. For the rich had no advantage here over the poor, as their wealth and abundance had no road to come abroad by, but were shut up at home doing nothing. And in this way they became excellent artists in common necessary things; bedsteads, chairs, and tables, and such like staple utensils in a family, were admirably well made there; their cup, particularly, was very much in fashion, and eagerly sought for by soldiers, as Critias reports; for its color was such as to prevent water, drunk upon necessity and disagreeable to look at, from being noticed; ...
— The Boys' and Girls' Plutarch - Being Parts of The "Lives" of Plutarch • Plutarch

... the barn. In that side toward the river there was a door on the first floor, and there was also a window in the chamber above. Not only was the door closed, and closed also was the wooden shutter of the window, but over each iron hook dropped in its staple and securing the door and window were two nails stoutly driven. All this Charlie had noticed before. He now traced these half-obliterated words in chalk on the door: "This is not to be opened." He was standing before this prohibition, wondering who put it there, and for ...
— The Knights of the White Shield - Up-the-Ladder Club Series, Round One Play • Edward A. Rand


More quotes...



Copyright © 2025 e-Free Translation.com