cleat
/kliːt/ noun, verb
Forms cleats cleating cleated
- noun A strip of wood or iron fastened on transversely to something in order to give strength, prevent warping, hold position, etc.
- noun A continuous metal strip, or angled piece, used to secure metal components.
- noun (nautical) A device to quickly affix a line or rope, and from which it is also easy to release.
- noun A protrusion on the bottom of a shoe or wheel meant for better traction.
- noun An athletic shoe equipped with cleats.
- verb To strengthen with a cleat.
- verb (nautical) To tie off, affix, stopper a line or rope, especially to a cleat.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English clete, from Old English *clēat (“block, wedge”), from Proto-West Germanic *klaut, from Proto-Germanic *klautaz (“firm lump”), from Proto-Indo-European *gelewd-, from *gley- (“to glue, stick together, form into a ball”). Cognate with Dutch kloot (“ball; testicle”) and German Kloß (“clump”). See also clay and clout.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A strip of wood or iron fastened on transversely to something in order to give strength, prevent warping, hold position, etc.
- noun A device made of wood or metal, having two arms, around which turns may be taken with a line or rope so as to hold securely and yet be readily released. It is bolted by the middle to a deck or mast, etc., or it may be lashed to a rope.
- verb To strengthen with a cleat.
Etymology [OE. clete wedge; cf.D. kloot ball, Ger. kloss, klotz, lump. clod, MHG. kloz lump, ball, wedge, OHG. chloz ball, round mass.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “cleat”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details