Staple

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.

Hence: Place of supply; source; fountain head.

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.

The principal constituent in anything; chief item.

Unmanufactured material; raw material.

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

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.

A shaft, smaller and shorter than the principal one, joining different levels.

A small pit.

A district granted to an abbey.

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

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

Fit to be sold; marketable.

Regularly produced or manufactured in large quantities; belonging to wholesale traffic; principal; chief.

To sort according to its staple; as, to staple cotton.