clasp
UK /klɑːsp/ · US /klæsp/ noun, verb
Forms clasps clasping clasped
- noun (countable) A device with interlocking parts used for fastening things together, such as a fastener or a holder. “I always have a hard time working the clasp on this necklace!”
- noun (countable) A bar or insignia on a medal ribbon, to either indicate an additional award of the medal, or the action or service for which it was awarded.
- noun (uncountable) An embrace, a grasp, or handshake. “He took her hand in a firm clasp.”
- verb (transitive) To take hold of; to grasp. “They clasped hands and parted as friends.”
- verb (transitive) To shut or fasten together with, or as if with, a clasp.
- verb (intransitive, obsolete, rare) To cling.
Synonyms
begrip attach beclasp grasp grip join put together clench clutch clutches hold brooch buckle
Antonyms
Etymology
Noun dated ca. 1300 and verb dated ca. 1400; from Middle English claspe (“metal catch or hook used to hold things together”), possible metathesis of clapse, which comes from or related to Old English clyppan (“clasp”) (also see clip (verb)). Related to English enclasp (“embrace, hold tightly in one's arms”). Compare hasp, of very similar meaning but older known provenance.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To shut or fasten together with, or as with, a clasp; to shut or fasten (a clasp, or that which fastens with a clasp).
- verb To inclose and hold in the hand or with the arms; to grasp; to embrace.
- noun An adjustable catch, bent plate, or hook, for holding together two objects or the parts of anything, as the ends of a belt, the covers of a book, etc.
- noun A close embrace; a throwing of the arms around; a grasping, as with the hand. Clasp knife, a large knife, the blade of which folds or shuts into the handle.
Etymology [OE. claspen, clapsen, prob. akin to E. clap.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “clasp”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details