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

"Some trifle may have been forgotten and a missing hook and eye might spoil the effect of the whole thing."

From Up the Hill and Over by Mackay, Isabel Ecclestone

“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.

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

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)

—They're only in the hook and eye department, Myles Crawford said.

From Ulysses by Joyce, James

Related Words

• hook
• snap