staple
[adjective]
Synonyms: principal, basic, chief, fundamental, key, main, predominant

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English Thesaurus: fasten, attach, join, glue, tape, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. sta‧ple¹ /ˈsteɪpəl/ noun [countable]
[Sense 1-2: Language: Old English; Origin: stapol 'post']
[Sense 3-4: Origin: . 1300-1400 Middle Dutch stapel 'place of trade']

1. a small piece of thin wire that is pushed into sheets of paper and bent over to hold them together

2. a small U-shaped piece of metal with pointed ends, used to hold something in place

3. a food that is needed and used all the time:
staples like flour and rice

4. the main product that is produced in a country:
Bananas and sugar are the staples of Jamaica.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. staple² verb [transitive]
to fasten two or more things together with a staple
staple something together
The handouts are all stapled together.
staple something to something
I stapled the order form to the invoice.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

III. staple³ adjective [only before noun]

1. forming the greatest or most important part of something:
Oil is Nigeria’s staple export.
a staple ingredient of comedy

2. staple diet
a) the food that you normally eat
staple diet of
They live on a staple diet of rice and vegetables.
b) something that is always being produced, seen, bought etc
staple diet of
television’s staple diet of soap operas and quiz shows

3. used all the time:
Marty’s staple excuses

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

fasten to join together the two sides of a piece of clothing, bag, belt etc:
He fastened the necklace behind her neck.
attach to fasten something firmly to another object or surface, using screws, nails, tape, glue etc:
The boards were attached with screws.
The prisoner was attached to the wall with chains.
join to connect or fasten things together:
Join the pieces using a strong glue
glue to join things together using glue:
Glue the fabric to the white card.
tape to fasten something using tape:
The students' name cards were taped to the table.
staple to fasten something using staples (=a small piece of wire that is pressed through paper using a special machine):
Don't staple your resumé to your cover letter.
clip to fasten things together using a clip (=a small metal object):
A photo was clipped to the letter.
tie to fasten a tie, shoelaces etc by making a knot:
Don't forget to tie your shoelaces!
do something up especially British English to fasten a piece of clothing or the buttons etc on it:
The teacher doesn't have time to do up every child's coat.
Let me do it up for you.
button (up) to fasten a shirt, coat etc with buttons:
His shirt was buttoned right to the top.
zip (up) to fasten a piece of clothing, a bag etc with a zip:
Zip up your jacket, it's cold.
buckle (up) to fasten a seat belt, belt, shoe etc that has a buckle (=small metal object that fits through a hole in a strap):
The little girl struggled to buckle her shoes.
unfasten/untie/undo/unbutton/unzip to open something that is fastened:
Do not unfasten your seatbelt until the car has stopped completely.
close/strong ties
He had developed close ties with many Republican governors.
family/blood ties
Family ties have been weakened by older people living apart from their children.
personal ties
Strong personal ties connect her to the area.
emotional ties
He was a loner who failed to develop emotional ties with other people.
economic ties
Japan and South Korea have close economic ties.
diplomatic ties
the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries
social ties
Besides marriage, other social ties drew people together.
ties of marriage/friendship/blood etc
The ties of friendship that unite the two countries.
maintain/develop ties
The U.S. is committed to maintaining close ties with Europe.
establish ties
Israel established full diplomatic ties with the Vatican in 1994.
cut/sever ties
He said that he planned to sever his ties with the club.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲