staples

Desk drawer fasteners

Staples are the basic, essential items of a category—the foods you always keep stocked, the supplies a business can't run without: Rice and beans are staples of many cuisines.

A staple is also a U-shaped metal fastener, whether the small wire kind that binds papers together or the larger kind hammered into wood.

To staple is to fasten with such a device.

As an adjective, staple means principal or regularly produced: Corn is their staple crop.

fastening

bind

Fasten or obligate

fastenFix securely in position
attachJoin or connect
secureProtected from harm

clamp · clip · tack · pin · wire · prong · leg · crown · heavy-duty · industrial

office

paperclips

Wire fasteners for documents

deskFurniture for writing
filingStoring documents systematically
bindersPaper-organizing ring holders

folders · documents · paper · copier · printer · bulletin board · corkboard · memo · invoices · receipts

food

rice

Staple cereal grain

breadLeavened flour product
wheatCereal crop for flour
cornCereal grown on cobs

potatoes · cassava · beans · lentils · millet · sorghum · oats · barley · teff · yams

surgical

sutures

Medical wound closures

stitchesThread fastening wounds
wound closureSealing an open injury
incisionControlled cut into tissue

titanium · removal · scar · healing · postoperative · dissolvable · medical · surgery · surgeon

essential

necessities

What you cannot lack

basicsFoundational knowledge of something
fundamentalsCore elements of something
mainstaysPrincipal supporting elements

cornerstone · bedrock · foundation · fixtures · constants · standards · reliables · go-to · must-haves · core

staples

bind

paperclips

rice

sutures

necessities

staples

Opposites

Phrases

Categories

Family