clasp
Americannoun
-
clasps
plural
-
a device, usually of metal, for fastening together two or more things or parts of the same thing.
a clasp for paper money; a clasp on a necklace.
-
a firm grasp or grip.
a clasp of hands.
-
a tight embrace.
She held the child in a loving clasp.
- Synonyms:
- hug
-
a small bar or metal design, as a star, for affixing to the ribbon of a military decoration to indicate that the bearer has been awarded the decoration an additional time.
verb (used with object)
-
clasps,
present (3rd person singular)
-
clasped,
past participle, past
-
claspt,
past participle, past (Archaic)
-
clasping
present participle
-
to fasten with or as with a clasp.
-
to furnish with a clasp.
-
to seize, grasp, or grip with the hand.
She clasped the club in her hand.
-
to hold in a tight embrace; hug.
He clasped the child to him.
verb (used without object)
-
clasps,
present (3rd person singular)
-
clasped,
past participle, past
-
claspt,
past participle, past (Archaic)
-
clasping
present participle
noun
-
a fastening, such as a catch or hook, used for holding things together
-
a firm grasp, hold, or embrace
-
military a bar or insignia on a medal ribbon, to indicate either a second award or the battle, campaign, or reason for its award
verb
-
to hold in a firm grasp
-
to grasp firmly with the hand
-
to fasten together with or as if with a clasp
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
claspsimple
-
claspssimple
-
have claspedperfect
-
have clasptperfect
-
has claspedperfect
-
has clasptperfect
-
am claspingprogressive
-
are claspingprogressive
-
is claspingprogressive
-
have been claspingperfect progressive
-
has been claspingperfect progressive
Past
-
claspedsimple
-
clasptsimple
-
had claspedperfect
-
had clasptperfect
-
was claspingprogressive
-
were claspingprogressive
-
had been claspingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of clasp
1275–1325; Middle English clasp (noun), claspen (v.), perhaps blend of clippen clip 2 and haspe hasp
Explanation
A bracelet is held together by a clasp. A girl who gets a nice one from her boyfriend might clasp her arms around him. A clasp is a fastener. To clasp is to hold tightly. In all uses of the word, clasp means to hold together tightly. You want your bracelet or belt clasp to be strong so it doesn't come apart. And when you take a child on a walk across a busy intersection, you clasp their hand tightly. The word is not related to the word clap, but if you clap your hands together, then keep them there, you turn a clap to a clasp.
Vocabulary lists containing clasp
"The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant
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Beowulf vocabulary
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The Circuit
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
They’re in shock over the news they’ve just received as their hands come together and clasp tightly, realizing that a major battle is coming sooner rather than later.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2026
The medal was recovered, but she gave up trying to find the clasp that had failed to keep it connected to the ribbon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 10, 2026
The best thing to do is to crouch face-down, bend the legs underneath the torso and clasp both hands behind the neck, Nakae said.
From Barron's ● Nov. 8, 2025
They spontaneously clasp hands through the concluding chorus, smiling blissfully at their harmony.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2024
Instinctively the clasp on his wife’s hand grew closer, till his knuckles looked white.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
Lindo laughs, clasps his hands together and raises them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 2026
His comedy had choreography, a visual language of pointing, air-sawing and face clasps.
From New York Times ● Feb. 29, 2024
Some of the A-boards have metal clasps or chains to hold them open, which can cause injuries, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2023
Large geometric lapels adorned with glittering gold floral jewelry became focal points, while Surrealist touches, like gold clasps in the shape of human ears, provided an unexpected twist.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 3, 2023
“It’s useless,” Alec finally said when his hands slipped off the clasps for the third time.
From "The Kill Order (Maze Runner, Book Four; Origin)" by James Dashner
Newlyweds Tito Avalos, 26, and Andrea Avalos, 24, who were visiting from El Salvador, tied their wishes to a tree together, their wrists entwined and fingers clasped.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
The result at Deanna Evans is a series of shrines through which eyes consider us or hands, clasped in prayer or curved in a blessing, beckon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
Diane Bass, one of Hipolito’s attorneys, jumped up and clasped her hands in gratitude toward the jury.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2026
Nundu carried a framed photo of Baba Simeo Melchior -- the so-called "Black Messiah" -- who eyes the camera with his hands clasped and a large medallion around his neck.
From Barron's ● Dec. 25, 2025
He kissed his knuckles as he clasped his hands to his lips and prayed.
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
She knew me, and acknowledged me her heir, Pray'd me to pay her debts, and keep the Faith: Then claspt the cross, and pass'd away in peace.
From Queen Mary and Harold by Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron
Thou art a slave, whom fortune's tender arm With favour never claspt; but bred a dog.
From Notes to Shakespeare, Volume III: The Tragedies by Sherbo, Arthur
"Then come, oh Spirit, from behind "The curtains of thy radiant home, "If thou wouldst be as angel shrined, "Or loved and claspt as mortal, come!
From The Complete Poems of Sir Thomas Moore Collected by Himself with Explanatory Notes by Rossetti, William Michael
She knew me, and acknowledg'd me her heir, Pray'd me to keep her debts, and keep the Faith; Then claspt the cross, and pass'd away in peace.
From English Verse Specimens Illustrating its Principles and History by Alden, Raymond MacDonald
And what to read mine? is my booke claspt up?
From A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 1 by Bullen, A. H. (Arthur Henry)
On the coastal road at Playa Canizo, a man in a straw hat and sodden fatigues, clasping an equally wet suitcase, thrust out his left arm, hoping for a ride to safety.
From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2025
“He doesn’t know he was in a movie,” said Leonberg, clasping a happily wriggling Indy, who doesn’t register me on the other end of the Zoom interview.
From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2025
The children sat on wooden benches bouncing their legs, clasping their hands and anxiously looking around the brightly lit courtroom.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2025
The card also shows Meghan hugging a young girl and Prince Harry clasping the hand of a man lying in bed.
From BBC ● Dec. 17, 2024
The front page featured a picture of Roy, Beatrice, and Mother Paula clasping hands in the circle at the demonstration.
From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
