Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Sense: 1-2
Origin: Old English stapol 'post'
Sense: 3-4
Date: 1300-1400
Origin: . Middle Dutch stapel 'place of trade'

staple

1 noun
     
Related topics: Trade, Daily Life, Food, Economics, Technology
sta‧ple1 [countable]
1TD a small piece of thin wire that is pushed into sheets of paper and bent over to hold them together
2T a small U-shaped piece of metal with pointed ends, used to hold something in place
3DF a food that is needed and used all the time:
staples like flour and rice
4BBTPE the main product that is produced in a country:
Bananas and sugar are the staples of Jamaica.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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