staple diet
noun
: the food or foods that a person or animal eats most often
Environmental changes are depriving the birds of the insects that form their staple diet.
—often used figurativelyI grew up on a staple diet of cartoons and comic books.
Examples of staple diet in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Standing by the bar at The Orchard Inn, Struber is talking about cider — a drink that is a staple diet of West Country life and deeply embedded in the fan culture at Bristol City, too.
—
Stuart James, New York Times, 16 Jan. 2026
Writer Gustavo Arellano has written about how the staple diet of beans led to a slur against Mexicans.
—Jasmine Garsd, NPR, 11 Sep. 2024
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Stuart James, New York Times, 16 Jan. 2026
Writer Gustavo Arellano has written about how the staple diet of beans led to a slur against Mexicans.
—Jasmine Garsd, NPR, 11 Sep. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Staple diet.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/staple%20diet. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
