fastener

American

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

noun

any of various devices for fastening.
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.
a worker who fastens things together.

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.

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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.

The titular “hare with the amber eyes” in Edmund de Waal’s memoir is a netsuke, a tiny Japanese carving intended as a fastener for use with a kimono.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026

Fastenal, the fastener maker, reported third-quarter earnings of 29 cents a share, missing analysts’ estimates of 30 cents, as revenue of $2.13 billion match expectations.

From Barron's • Oct. 13, 2025

Boeing removed every fastener on each of the five circumferential joins on all of those airplanes, about 2,000 fasteners for each join, and measured the gap at each hole — a so-called “through-hole” inspection.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 15, 2024

Jonathan Needham, from Hucknall in Nottinghamshire, found the 3,000-year-old gold dress or cloak fastener at Ellastone, near Ashbourne.

From BBC • Jan. 31, 2024

“Everything has more than one use in this world,” she always says about even the smallest fastener or elastic band.

From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023