Meaning & use
staples
Last updated
Basic or essential items that are used regularly, such as foods or products in constant demand.
See it in a sentence
Rice and beans are staples in many households around the world.
She used a stapler to attach the staples through the corner of the report.
A note on using this word
The word covers two very different senses: everyday necessities, and the small metal fasteners used to bind paper together.
Words with a similar meaning
essentialsbasics
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Words with an opposite meaning
luxuries
Another way to use it
2. noun
Small U-shaped pieces of wire used to fasten papers or materials together.
He ran out of staples halfway through binding the packets.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “staples”, then compare your use with the examples above.
Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.