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staple

 - 7 dictionary results
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sta⋅ple

1  [stey-puhl] noun, verb, -pled, -pling.
Use staple in a Sentence
–noun
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.
–verb (used with object)
3. to secure or fasten by a staple or staples: to staple three sheets together.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME stapel orig., support, post, OE stapol; c. MD stapel foundation, G Stapel pile, ON stǫpull pillar
Staples - Office Supplies
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sta⋅ple

2  [stey-puhl] noun, adjective, verb, -pled, -pling.
–noun
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. History/Historical. 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.
–adjective
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.
–verb (used with object)
11. to sort or classify according to the staple or fiber, as wool.
Origin:
1375–1425; late ME: place where merchants have trading rights < MD stapel
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To staple
sta·ple 1   (stā'pəl)   
n.  

  1. A principal raw material or commodity grown or produced in a region.

  2. A major item of trade in steady demand.

  3. A basic dietary item, such as flour, rice, or corn.

  4. A basic or principal element or feature.

  5. The fiber of cotton, wool, or flax, graded as to length and fineness.

adj.  

  1. Produced or stocked in large quantities to meet steady demand: Wheat is a staple crop.

  2. Principal; main: a staple topic of conversation.

tr.v.   sta·pled, sta·pling, sta·ples
To grade (fibers) according to length and fineness.

[Middle English, official market for purchase of export goods, from Anglo-Norman estaple, perhaps from Middle Dutch stāpel, heap, emporium.]
sta·ple 2   (stā'pəl)   
n.  

  1. A thin piece of wire in the shape of a square bracket that is driven by a device through sheets of paper or similar material and flattened to serve as a fastening.

  2. A U-shaped metal loop with pointed ends, driven into a surface to hold a bolt, hook, or hasp or to hold wiring in place.

tr.v.   sta·pled, sta·pling, sta·ples
To secure or fasten by means of a staple or staples.

[Middle English, from Old English stapol, post, pillar.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: sta·ple
Pronunciation: 'stA-p&l
Function: noun
: a usually U-shaped and typically metal surgical fastener used to hold layers oftissue together (as in the closure of an incision) —staple transitive verb sta·pled; sta·pling
—sta·pler /-pl&r/ noun
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Computing Dictionary

STAPLE language
A programming language written at Manchester (University?) and used at ICL in the early 1970s for writing the test suites. STAPLE was based on Algol 68 and had a very advanced optimising compiler.
(2003-02-28)

Staple language
St Andrews Applicative Persistent Language. Language combining functional programming with persistent storage, developed at St. Andrews University in Scotland. Tony Davie, .
(2007-03-22)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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