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staple

noun · verb · adjective

Simple meaning

A natural fiber that can be twisted to form yarn.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

staypuhl

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IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈsteɪpəl

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. The principal commodity produced in a town or region.

  2. A natural fiber (raw cotton, wool, hemp, flax) that can be twisted to form yarn

    “Staple fibers vary widely in length.”

  3. by extension

    Place of supply; source.

  4. A basic or essential supply.

  5. Short fiber, as of cotton, sheep's wool, or the like, which can be spun into yarn or thread.

  6. Material suitable for manufacture or use or finishing

verb

  1. transitive

    To sort according to its staple.

  2. Secure or fasten with a staple or staples

adjective

  1. Established in commerce; occupying the markets; settled.

  2. Regularly produced or manufactured in large quantities; belonging to wholesale traffic; principal; chief.

  3. Fit to be sold; marketable.

  4. Relating to, or being market of staple for, commodities.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Formality
Technical

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A natural fiber (raw cotton, wool, hemp, flax) that can be twisted to form yarn

Used this way, staple is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Heard in a sentence
“Staple fibers vary widely in length.”
Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use staple

  • “Staple fibers vary widely in length.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Natural / short

staple cotton

Principal

staple commodity

Other combinations

staple foodstaple dietstaple cropgreat staplelong staplestaple article

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • staplernounInflected form

    A machine that inserts staples into sheets of paper in order to fasten them together.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • staple fibrenounCompound term

    A natural fiber (raw cotton, wool, hemp, flax) that can be twisted to form yarn.

  • stapling machinenounCompound term

    A machine that inserts staples into sheets of paper in order to fasten them together.

  • staple gunnounCompound term

    A hand-held machine for driving staples home.

  • staple fibernounCompound term

    A natural fiber (raw cotton, wool, hemp, flax) that can be twisted to form yarn.

  • short-staple cottonnounCompound term

    Cotton with relatively short fibers.

  • wool staplernounCompound term

    A dealer in wool.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: principal commodity produced in a town or region

basic

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.