staple

Word family

Related topics: Technology, Daily life, Food, Trade, Economics

sta·ple1 /ˈsteɪpəl/ noun [countableC]

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

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

3 DFa food that is needed and used all the time 基本食物；主食

staples like flour and rice

面粉和大米等主食

4 BBTPEthe main product that is produced in a country 〔一国的〕主要产品

Bananas and sugar are the staples of Jamaica.

香蕉和糖是牙买加的主要产品。

Examples from the Corpus

staple• Tortillas are a staple of Mexican cooking.• Ice skating has long been a staple of ABC's sports programming.• It is a staple of the multilateral trading system, and is extended by the United States to all but a handful.• Rape is a staple in pagan myth, and killing still more commonplace.• Alternative medicine is now a staple of continuing education at Harvard University Medical School.• There are some assured visual touches, a staple of any Czech film.• The length of the cable then rests on the staples and can always be lifted off for painting and cleaning.

staple2 verb [transitiveT]

FASTEN/DO UPto fasten two or more things together with a staple 用订书钉装订

staple something together

The handouts are all stapled together.

课堂讲义都是装订在一起的。

staple something to something

I stapled the order form to the invoice.

我把订单订在发票上。

Examples from the Corpus

staple• We had to staple a polythene vapour barrier to the rafters of a pitched roof.• Select the ones that have held bottles, because they will be stapled at the bottom and are much stronger.• Industry magazines have thinned down so much with the collapse of internet advertising that they can now be stapled rather than bound.• As a schoolboy prank he leaned forward to staple the boy in front's jacket to his chair.• Finally, staple them together and flip through them to see them move.• There was a credit-card slip stapled to the receipt and I tucked both in my pocket for later inspection.

staple3 adjectiveadj [only before noun]

1 MAINforming the greatest or most important part of something 主要的；最重要的

Oil is Nigeria’s staple export.

石油是尼日利亚的主要出口产品。

a staple ingredient of comedy

喜剧最重要的成分

2 staple diet

a) DFFOODthe food that you normally eat 主食

staple diet of

They live on a staple diet of rice and vegetables.

他们以大米和蔬菜为主食。

b) MAINsomething that is always being produced, seen, bought etc 经常制作[看到，购买等]的东西

staple diet of

television’s staple diet of soap operas and quiz shows

以肥皂剧和问答比赛为主的电视节目

Examples from the Corpus

staple diet• It is hard and lacks nutrients and yet is the panda's staple diet.• Worms are a staple diet and these have been in short supply due to the summer drought.• The staple diet for most of the coral fishes should be a good dry food.• Attacks on the immorality and decadence of aristocratic culture were the staple diet of purity tracts and speeches.• Reindeer moss, the staple diet of the deer herds, was also said to have disappeared completely.• In living-rooms throughout the country, violence, gratuitous and graphic, is often the staple diet of the video generation.• They could catch and eat more of their staple diet - worms and insects - surviving in accordance with the laws of natural selection.

3 USUALLYused all the time 常用的，惯用的

Marty’s staple excuses

马蒂惯用的借口

Examples from the Corpus

staple• In Brazil, the black bean is a staple crop.

From Longman Business Dictionary

staplesta·ple1 /ˈsteɪpəl/ noun [countableC]

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

2a food that is needed and used all the time

staples like flour and rice

3ECONOMICS the main product that is produced in a country

Bananas and sugar are the staples of Jamaica.