Stable vs. Staple — What's the Difference?

A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock.

A principal raw material or commodity grown or produced in a region.

(of an object or structure) not likely to give way or overturn; firmly fixed

A major item of trade in steady demand.

A building set apart and adapted for keeping horses

A basic dietary item, such as flour, rice, or corn.

Put or keep (a horse) in a stable

A basic or principal element or feature.

Resistant to change of position or condition; not easily moved or disturbed

The fiber of cotton, wool, or flax, graded as to length and fineness.

Not subject to sudden or extreme change or fluctuation

A thin piece of wire shaped as three sides of a square so that it can be driven into thin or soft material, such as paper, and bent to function as a fastener.

Maintaining equilibrium; self-restoring

A similarly shaped piece of metal with pointed ends, driven into a surface to secure a bolt, hook, hasp, or length of wiring.

Enduring or permanent

Produced or stocked in large quantities to meet steady demand

Consistent or dependable

Principal; main

Not showing or marked by erratic or volatile emotions or behavior

To grade (fibers) according to length and fineness.

(Physics) Having no known mode of decay; indefinitely long-lived. Used of atomic particles.

To secure or fasten by means of a staple or staples.

(Chemistry) Not easily decomposed or otherwise modified chemically.

A town containing merchants who have exclusive right, under royal authority, to purchase or produce certain goods for export; also, the body of such merchants seen as a group.

A building for the shelter and feeding of certain domestic animals, especially horses.

(by extension) Place of supply; source.

A group of animals lodged in such a building.

The principal commodity produced in a town or region.

All the racehorses belonging to a single owner or racing establishment.

A basic or essential supply.

The personnel employed to keep and train such a group of racehorses.

A recurring topic or character.

A group, as of athletes or entertainers, under common management

Short fiber, as of cotton, sheep’s wool, or the like, which can be spun into yarn or thread.

To put or keep in a stable.

Unmanufactured material; raw material.

To live in a stable.

A wire fastener used to secure stacks of paper by penetrating all the sheets and curling around.

A building, wing or dependency set apart and adapted for lodging and feeding (and training) ungulates, especially horses.

A wire fastener used to secure something else by penetrating and curling.

(metonymy) All the racehorses of a particular stable, i.e. belonging to a given owner.

A U-shaped metal fastener, used to attach fence wire or other material to posts or structures.

(Scotland) A set of advocates; a barristers' chambers.

One of a set of U-shaped metal rods hammered into a structure, such as a piling or wharf, which serve as a ladder.

(sumo) An organization of sumo wrestlers who live and train together.

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

(professional wrestling) A group of wrestlers who support each other within a wrestling storyline.

A small pit.

A group of prostitutes managed by one pimp.

A district granted to an abbey.

A group of people who are looked after, mentored, or trained in one place or for a particular purpose or profession.

(obsolete) A post; prop; support

(transitive) to put or keep (an animal) in a stable.

(transitive) To sort according to its staple.

(intransitive) to dwell in a stable.

(transitive) To secure with a staple.

To park (a rail vehicle).

Relating to, or being market of staple for, commodities.

Relatively unchanging, steady, permanent; firmly fixed or established; consistent; not easily moved, altered, or destroyed.

Established in commerce; occupying the markets; settled.

(computing) Of software: established to be relatively free of bugs, as opposed to a beta version.

Fit to be sold; marketable.

That maintains the relative order of items that compare as equal.

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

Firmly established; not easily moved, shaken, or overthrown; fixed; as, a stable government.

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.

Steady in purpose; constant; firm in resolution; not easily diverted from a purpose; not fickle or wavering; as, a man of stable character.

Hence: Place of supply; source; fountain head.

Durable; not subject to overthrow or change; firm; as, a stable foundation; a stable position.

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.

So placed as to resist forces tending to cause motion; of such structure as to resist distortion or molecular or chemical disturbance; - said of any body or substance.

The principal constituent in anything; chief item.

To fix; to establish.

Unmanufactured material; raw material.

To put or keep in a stable.

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

To dwell or lodge in a stable; to dwell in an inclosed place; to kennel.

A loop of metal such as 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 house, shed, or building, for beasts to lodge and feed in; esp., a building or apartment with stalls, for horses; as, a horse stable; a cow stable.

A small loop of metal such as steel, bent into a U-shape with the points sharpened, used to fasten sheets of paper together by driving the staple{8} through the stacked sheets and into a formed receptacle which curls the ends in and backward, thus holding the papers firmly together; also, a similar, slightly larger such fastener which may be driven into wood to fasten objects to a wooden backing.

A farm building for housing horses or other livestock

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

Shelter in a stable;

A district granted to an abbey.

Resistant to change of position or condition;

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

Firm and dependable; subject to little fluctuation;

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

Not taking part readily in chemical change

Fit to be sold; marketable.

Maintaining equilibrium

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

Showing little if any change;

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

To fasten together with a staple{9} or staples; as, to staple a check to a letter.

(usually plural) a necessary commodity for which demand is constant

Material suitable for manufacture or use or finishing

A short U-shaped wire nail for securing cables

Paper fastener consisting of a short length of U-shaped wire that can fasten papers together

Secure or fasten with a staple or staples;

Necessary foods or commodities;