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.

---

hook and eye British  

noun

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

---

Etymology

Origin of hook and eye

First recorded in 1620–30

Example Sentences

Her black dress ended at the neck abruptly in its own binding and a hook and eye.

From The Pastor's Wife by Arnim, Elizabeth von

Solid wooden shutters hung outside and closed with a single hook and eye for fastenings.

From The Man in Gray by Dixon, Thomas

She always had hooks off her dress, or a hook and eye put together that did not mate, or her dress was broken from its gathers.

From Cricket at the Seashore by Richards, Harriet Roosevelt

Attach a small hook and eye on each end and fasten two leather handles to the crosspieces.

From The Boy Mechanic: Volume 1 700 Things for Boys to Do by Popular Mechanics Co.

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