1. (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.

2. (n.) Hence: Place of supply; source; fountain head.

3. (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.

4. (n.) The principal constituent in anything; chief item.

5. (n.) Unmanufactured material; raw material.

6. (n.) The fiber of wool, cotton, flax, or the like; as, a coarse staple; a fine staple; a long or short staple.

7. (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.

8. (n.) A shaft, smaller and shorter than the principal one, joining different levels.

9. (n.) A small pit.

10. (n.) A district granted to an abbey.

11. (a.) Pertaining to, or being market of staple for, commodities; as, a staple town.

12. (a.) Established in commerce; occupying the markets; settled; as, a staple trade.

13. (a.) Fit to be sold; marketable.

14. (a.) Regularly produced or manufactured in large quantities; belonging to wholesale traffic; principal; chief.

15. (v. t.) To sort according to its staple; as, to staple cotton.

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