Definition of staple

• n. - 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.
• n. - Hence: Place of supply; source; fountain head.
• n. - 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.
• n. - The principal constituent in anything; chief item.
• n. - Unmanufactured material; raw material.
• n. - The fiber of wool, cotton, flax, or the like; as, a coarse staple; a fine staple; a long or short staple.
• n. - A loop of 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.
• n. - A shaft, smaller and shorter than the principal one, joining different levels.
• n. - A small pit.
• n. - A district granted to an abbey.
• a. - Pertaining to, or being market of staple for, commodities; as, a staple town.
• a. - Established in commerce; occupying the markets; settled; as, a staple trade.
• a. - Fit to be sold; marketable.
• a. - Regularly produced or manufactured in large quantities; belonging to wholesale traffic; principal; chief.
• v. t. - To sort according to its staple; as, to staple cotton.