agraffe

or a·grafe

[ uh-graf ]
/ əˈgræf /

noun

a small cramp iron.
a clasp, often richly ornamented, for clothing or armor.
a device, as a hook, for preventing vibration in the section of a piano string between the pin and the bridge.
(in classical architecture) a sculptural relief on the face of a keystone.

QUIZZES

HEED THE VOX POPULI, AND TAKE THIS WORD OF THE DAY QUIZ!

Test your memory on these verbal firecrackers from the week of June 29 to July 5!
Question 1 of 7
anchorite
a granular metamorphic rock.
a person who has retired to a solitary place for a life of religious seclusion.
a hobble or fetter for a horse or other animal.
TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

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

Words nearby agraffe

agouty, agr, agr-, agr., agra, agraffe, agram, agrammatism, agranular endoplasmic reticulum, agranulocyte, agranulocytosis
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for agraffe

  • 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.

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

    The Crow's Nest|Clarence Day, Jr.

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

    The Crow's Nest|Clarence Day, Jr.

British Dictionary definitions for agraffe

agraffe

sometimes US agrafe

/ (əˈɡræf) /

noun

a fastening consisting of a loop and hook, formerly used in armour and clothing
a metal cramp used to connect stones

Word Origin for agraffe

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