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agraffe

or a·grafe

[uh-graf]
noun
  1. a small cramp iron.
  2. a clasp, often richly ornamented, for clothing or armor.
  3. a device, as a hook, for preventing vibration in the section of a piano string between the pin and the bridge.
  4. (in classical architecture) a sculptural relief on the face of a keystone.
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Origin of agraffe

1660–70; < French, variant of agrafe, noun derivative of agrafer to hook, equivalent to a- a-5 + grafe hook, cramp iron, probably < Germanic; see grape
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for agraffe

Historical Examples

  • He added that others such as Stroom, Graith, and Agraffe appeared in his poems.

    The Crow's Nest

    Clarence Day, Jr.

  • But he wrote certain poems, in which Stroom and Graith, and the Agraffe appear.

    The Crow's Nest

    Clarence Day, Jr.

  • What part the Agraffe played in it (a medival beast I imagined) I could not know, could not guess.

    The Crow's Nest

    Clarence Day, Jr.

British Dictionary definitions for agraffe

agraffe

sometimes US agrafe

noun
  1. a fastening consisting of a loop and hook, formerly used in armour and clothing
  2. a metal cramp used to connect stones
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Word Origin

C18: from French, from grafe a hook
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012