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

Good-bye!' said he, feeling for the unfastened hook and eye on his coat.

From The Cossacks by Tolstoy, Leo, graf

Not only have I examined the various materials for stains, but I've tested each hook and eye and button and pin.

From The Film Mystery by Reeve, Arthur B. (Arthur Benjamin)

Finish, to correspond with, collar, placing a rosette in the centre of the cuff, and fastening with a hook and eye.

From The Lady's Album of Fancy Work for 1850 by Unknown

“I wonder,” Vi was sitting on the bed, sewing a hook and eye on the dress she had intended to wear, “if Amanda Peabody and The Shadow will be there.”

From Billie Bradley on Lighthouse Island The Mystery of the Wreck by Wheeler, Janet D.

He entered the sitting-room, and there sat his wife by the oblong center-table, sewing a hook and eye on one of Lillian, second's, petticoats.

From The Financier, a novel by Dreiser, Theodore

Related Words

• hook
• snap