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What is the filling of the stapler called in English? (you can see it in red circle in the attached picture).

I looked for this word in my native dictionary but I didn't find this word.

A stapler with staples next to it

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  • 11
    What is the word in your native language? I'm curious.
    – Azor Ahai -him-
    Commented Dec 18, 2017 at 19:29
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    Also know as a "clip of staples"
    – Kaal Dewar
    Commented Dec 19, 2017 at 2:29
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    or, simply,, as "staples" - that's all that I have ever heard it called.
    – Mawg
    Commented Dec 20, 2017 at 7:19

10 Answers 10

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I'd just call them "staples".

A set of staples joined together like this can be referred to as a "staple strip" or a "strip of staples", as in Eran's answer, but English speakers don't use this term very often. Instead, most speakers simply refer to them as "staples" in normal speech.

That doesn't mean you can't talk about strips of staples. You can talk about whether a stapler takes half strips or full strips, for example – the shorter ones take half strips. But in common speech, it's usually most natural to just say "staples".

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    Yes. They are just "staples". A single used staple is, well, a "staple"!
    – Mark G B
    Commented Dec 19, 2017 at 3:04
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    For what it's worth, if I had to distinguish between a loose pile of staples and the thing that goes in a stapler, I'd probably say "staples, the way you put them in a stapler", as opposed to staple strip or anything more convenient like that.
    – anon
    Commented Dec 19, 2017 at 4:42
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    I'd say "a thing of staples", relying on the fact that neither my audience nor I knows a good word for this!
    – Tom Church
    Commented Feb 24, 2018 at 2:18
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By the previous answers here, I found the following things:

In Wikipedia they're called paper staples.
In Cambridge dictionary they're called simply staples.

Checking in google images shows that the boxes that contains them, call them simply staples. (See here for example)

Staple strips, by googling I found mainly as a term that can refer to paper staples, but not as name of product title for them but just generally referring to what it is called. I found also that "staple strips" as a product title name refers mainly to the staples that are not for papers, but for example for thicker things than paper or fences etc. For "paper staples strips" there are only 5 results in google.

Stapler needles is a name that less common in English speaking countries (for example, by googling I found 972 results, in which 46 results in the UK or 774 results in the US for "stapler needles"). I think it can tell everything about this usage.

enter image description here

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    There is no equivalent in your native language? Staplers are pretty common worldwide.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Dec 17, 2017 at 13:12
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    There is. But this is the story: my native dictionary that I use doesn't have this entry. But in retrospect, I did another reverse search (from English to my native language) and it shows me that what I called it in my language has a synonym that I didn't even know about that, and the entry was for this unknown word.
    – Virtuous Legend
    Commented Dec 17, 2017 at 13:43
  • You know there is Google translator, it's not perfect but it has made some amazing advances in recent years. There is a glut of online dictionaries which also do translations. The Free Dictionary is one of the best. Once you have the name "stapler" it shouldn't be too hard to find "staple". If I thought you were looking for the strip of staples, that snailplane mentions, then I would have understood.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Dec 17, 2017 at 14:04
  • Instinctively, I would have called that section "a row", or "a column of staples", or "a packet of staples" for the container, and then I would check, not finding the definite answer is when I would have asked my question and showed my research.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Dec 17, 2017 at 14:05
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    I suspect they are only called "paper staples" when you are differentiating them from, say, wood staples or surgical staples.
    – Keiki
    Commented Dec 18, 2017 at 19:16
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They are called staples.

Definition from Merriam Webster dictionary here

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In our office we call them staple sticks or staple cartridges. But usually when you ask someone to give you those, you never mean to ask for singles, so even if you ask for just "staples", I'm sure you'll get a stick of them.

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  • Upvote for "staple cartridges" - that's what I would call them (UK English speaker)
    – Grimxn
    Commented Dec 20, 2017 at 12:48
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I have always said "a row of staples" for the actual staples stuck together that you put into a stapler.

In the US, Swingline is the most known brand of stapler and here is the usage for row of staples

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In India, I have heard them called "stapler pins" most often. See, for example, listings on various shopping sites:

Or various news articles:

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They're staples

Just wanted to point out that one of the world's largest office supplies companies based its name on these little things:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staples_Inc.

From a marketing perspective, it has a dual meaning - a "staple" is typically a basic ingredient or material so widely used or consumed that it's considered essential to an everyday process. For example, rice and potatoes are staple foods in many parts of the world, cotton is a staple element of clothing.

By labelling themselves Staples, the office supplies company acquires the linguistic side effect of describing themselves as essential/being sellers of essential things

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a "bolt" of staples is what you call the attached line of staples.

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  • 11
    Maybe you call it that, but I think not many others would. I've never heard or seen it.
    – jamesqf
    Commented Dec 17, 2017 at 18:53
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As already answered, most people would just say they were "staples":

I need to put some more staples in my stapler.

It may also be called "a block of staples" as they are stuck together.

Another alternative is that they may be referred to as a cartridge. Usually, a "cartridge" is a container with something inside, but the fact that the staples are sort of stuck together with a very fine adhesive makes them more than just "some staples". It is a single, collective object designed to be put into a stapler, and for that reason, I think "cartridge" is acceptible.

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They are called:

Stapler Needles

or

Staple strips.

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    Stapler needles are apparently came by analogy to other languages (such as: מהדק סיכות which is translated into "stapler needles"). Hanuka sameah!
    – Virtuous Legend
    Commented Dec 17, 2017 at 11:34
  • @COX1 well, when I searched for "stapler needles" I got the relevant images :). And thanks!
    – Eran
    Commented Dec 17, 2017 at 11:40
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    I have never heard staple needles in my entire life, and it's been long.
    – Lambie
    Commented Dec 17, 2017 at 17:20

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