hook and eye

American  

noun

1. a two-piece clothes fastener, usually of metal, consisting of a hook that catches onto a loop or bar.

2. a three-piece latching device consisting of a hook attached to a screw eye or an eyebolt and a separate screw eye or eyebolt that the hook engages as it bridges a gap, as one between a door and a jamb or a gate and a gatepost.

3. Also called eyehook.  the two-piece portion of such a device consisting of a hook and a screw eye.

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hook and eye British  

noun

1. a fastening for clothes consisting of a small hook hooked onto a small metal or thread loop

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Etymology

Origin of hook and eye

First recorded in 1620–30

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hook and eye

I gasped, as Sallie fastened the last hook and eye and stood beside Mammy to admire me.

From The Heart's Kingdom by Maria Thompson Daviess

Sara noticed that she fastened it with a hook and eye exactly like the ones on Mother's prettiest waist—only this one was more valuable, being of gold.

From The Garden of the Plynck by Florence Minard

"Tell the conductor I've come to the last curl and the last hook and eye," she called, and a few minutes later stepped out on to the platform, a vision of fresh daintiness.

From The Rhodesian by Gertrude Page

Everybody knows it down to the last hook and eye… Oh, well, I'll stay home.

From Broken to the Plow by Charles Caldwell Dobie

Did you feel a thrill of pleasure when the last hook and eye was fastened and you surveyed yourself in the longest mirror in the house?

From Grace Harlowe's Plebe Year at High School The Merry Doings of the Oakdale Freshmen Girls by Jessie Graham [pseud.] Flower

Related Words

• hook
• snap