I. sta ‧ ple 1 /ˈsteɪp ə l/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Sense 1-2: Language: Old English ; Origin: stapol 'post' ]
[ Sense 3-4: Origin: . 1300-1400 Middle Dutch stapel 'place of trade' ]
1 . a small piece of thin wire that is pushed into sheets of paper and bent over to hold them together
2 . a small U-shaped piece of metal with pointed ends, used to hold something in place
3 . a food that is needed and used all the time:
staples like flour and rice
4 . the main product that is produced in a country:
Bananas and sugar are the staples of Jamaica.
II. staple 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
to fasten two or more things together with a staple
staple something together
The handouts are all stapled together.
staple something to something
I stapled the order form to the invoice.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ fasten to join together the two sides of a piece of clothing, bag, belt etc:
He fastened the necklace behind her neck.
▪ attach to fasten something firmly to another object or surface, using screws, nails, tape, glue etc:
The boards were attached with screws.
|
The prisoner was attached to the wall with chains.
▪ join to connect or fasten things together:
Join the pieces using a strong glue
▪ glue to join things together using glue:
Glue the fabric to the white card.
▪ tape to fasten something using tape:
The students' name cards were taped to the table.
▪ staple to fasten something using ↑ staple s (=a small piece of wire that is pressed through paper using a special machine) :
Don't staple your resumé to your cover letter.
▪ clip to fasten things together using a ↑ clip (=a small metal object) :
A photo was clipped to the letter.
▪ tie to fasten a tie, shoelaces etc by making a knot:
Don't forget to tie your shoelaces!
▪ do something up especially British English to fasten a piece of clothing or the buttons etc on it:
The teacher doesn't have time to do up every child's coat.
|
Let me do it up for you.
▪ button (up) to fasten a shirt, coat etc with buttons:
His shirt was buttoned right to the top.
▪ zip (up) to fasten a piece of clothing, a bag etc with a ↑ zip :
Zip up your jacket, it's cold.
▪ buckle (up) to fasten a seat belt, belt, shoe etc that has a ↑ buckle (=small metal object that fits through a hole in a strap) :
The little girl struggled to buckle her shoes.
▪ unfasten/untie/undo/unbutton/unzip to open something that is fastened:
Do not unfasten your seatbelt until the car has stopped completely.
III. staple 3 BrE AmE adjective [only before noun]
1 . forming the greatest or most important part of something:
Oil is Nigeria’s staple export.
a staple ingredient of comedy
2 . staple diet
a) the food that you normally eat
staple diet of
They live on a staple diet of rice and vegetables.
b) something that is always being produced, seen, bought etc
staple diet of
television’s staple diet of soap operas and quiz shows
3 . used all the time:
Marty’s staple excuses