fastener

American  

[fas-uh-ner, fah-suh-] / ˈfæs ə nər, ˈfɑ sə- /

noun

1. any of various devices for fastening.

2. any of various devices, as a snap or hook and eye, for holding together two objects or parts sometimes required to be separate, as two edges or flaps of a piece of clothing.

3. a worker who fastens things together.

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Other Word Forms

• unfastener
  noun

Etymology

Origin of fastener

First recorded in 1620–30; fasten + -er ¹

Explanation

A fastener is a device that attaches one thing to another or holds something in place, whether it's the fastener that secures a baby in her car seat or the fasteners you use to snap your jacket shut. If you go into a hardware store to buy fasteners, you'll come out with some kind of hardware you can use to fasten things together. Screws, bolts, and nails are all fasteners. Unlike welding and soldering, they're a non-permanent way to connect things. If you do a lot of sewing, you also use a variety of fasteners, from snaps and buttons to Velcro and hooks. A fastener makes things fast, or secure.

Example Sentences

Fastener maker SBE-Varvit has secured 400 gas containers that will be shipped to its plant in north eastern Italy by January to offset any shortages.

From Reuters • Oct. 21, 2022

The letter from Perz came in a package with a check and the latest Dynamic Fastener catalog displaying page after page of tools, machines, rivets, screws and other specialized hardware the company designs or purchases.

From Washington Times • Apr. 6, 2015

He thinks of his teacher when he walks through the warehouses - the Raytown one now just the original among seven Dynamic Fastener warehouses across the nation.

From Washington Times • Apr. 6, 2015

Started that year in a $300-a-year shack in Meadville, Hookless Fastener Co., maker of "Talon" fasteners, immediately went to town, is now the biggest of 16-odd U. S. zipper makers.

From Time Magazine Archive

Finally he settled upon the "Cosmopolitan Window Fastener," meaning that its destined field of usefulness was the whole civilized globe.

From Round the Block by Bouton, John Bell

Related Words

• latch
• screw