staple 1
/stay"peuhl/ , n. , v. , stapled, stapling .
n.
1. a short piece of wire bent so as to bind together papers, sections of a book, or the like, by driving the ends through the sheets and clinching them on the other side.
2. a similar, often U-shaped piece of wire or metal with pointed ends for driving into a surface to hold a hasp, hook, pin, bolt, wire, or the like.
v.t.
3. to secure or fasten by a staple or staples: to staple three sheets together.
[ bef. 900; ME stapel orig., support, post, OE stapol; c. MD stapel foundation, G Stapel pile, ON stopull pillar ]
staple 2
/stay"peuhl/ , n., adj., v., stapled, stapling .
n.
1. a principal raw material or commodity grown or manufactured in a locality.
2. a principal commodity in a mercantile field; goods in steady demand or of known or recognized quality.
3. a basic or necessary item of food: She bought flour, sugar, salt, and other staples.
4. a basic or principal item, thing, feature, element, or part: Cowboy dramas are a staple on television.
5. the fiber of wool, cotton, flax, rayon, etc., considered with reference to length and fineness.
6. Textiles. a standard length of textile fibers, representing the average of such fibers taken collectively, as short-staple or long-staple cotton.
7. Hist. a town or place appointed by royal authority as the seat of a body of merchants having the exclusive right of purchase of certain classes of goods for export.
adj.
8. chief or prominent among the products exported or produced by a country or district; chiefly or largely dealt in or consumed.
9. basic, chief, or principal: staple industries.
10. principally used: staple subjects of conversation.
v.t.
11. to sort or classify according to the staple or fiber, as wool.
[ 1375-1425; late ME: place where merchants have trading rights stapel ]