hook and eye

American  

noun

1. a two-piece clothes fastener, usually of metal, consisting of a hook that catches onto a loop or bar.

2. a three-piece latching device consisting of a hook attached to a screw eye or an eyebolt and a separate screw eye or eyebolt that the hook engages as it bridges a gap, as one between a door and a jamb or a gate and a gatepost.

3. Also called eyehook.  the two-piece portion of such a device consisting of a hook and a screw eye.

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hook and eye British  

noun

1. a fastening for clothes consisting of a small hook hooked onto a small metal or thread loop

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Etymology

Origin of hook and eye

First recorded in 1620–30

Example Sentences

—They're only in the hook and eye department, Myles Crawford said.

From Ulysses by Joyce, James

He entered the sitting-room, and there sat his wife by the oblong center-table, sewing a hook and eye on one of Lillian, second's, petticoats.

From The Financier, a novel by Dreiser, Theodore

"Tell the conductor I've come to the last curl and the last hook and eye," she called, and a few minutes later stepped out on to the platform, a vision of fresh daintiness.

From The Rhodesian by Page, Gertrude

A bird's-eye view of the three loops would compare well in shape to the little mechanical contrivance known as the "eye" in the combination of "hook and eye."

From Through the Grand Canyon from Wyoming to Mexico by Kolb, E. L. (Ellsworth Leonardson)

Her black dress ended at the neck abruptly in its own binding and a hook and eye.

From The Pastor's Wife by Arnim, Elizabeth von

Related Words

• hook
• snap