rivet
- a metal pin for passing through holes in two or more plates or pieces to hold them together, usually made with a head at one end, the other end being hammered into a head after insertion.
- to fasten with a rivet or rivets.
- to hammer or spread out the end of (a pin, bolt, etc.) in order to form a head and secure something; clinch.
- to fasten or fix firmly.
- to hold (the eye, attention, etc.) firmly.
Origin of rivet
Related Words for rivets
screw, pin, nut, rod, pipe, fastener, spike, latch, rivet, tickle, fascinate, excite, captivate, please, delight, pique, entertain, charm, titillate, attractExamples from the Web for rivets
Contemporary Examples of rivets
As with that earlier book, he rivets the reader to a plot of jarring contradictions.
Historical Examples of rivets
It was like as if hundreds of rivets were being hammered into the hide of the 'tank.'
Instead of rivets there came an invasion, an infliction, a visitation.
Heart of DarknessJoseph Conrad
For in this play of Magda the Duse rivets interests, delights not by what she does, but by what she is.
Hortus VitaeViolet Paget, AKA Vernon Lee
One of my wings has got some of the rivets out of it just above the joint.
The Book of DragonsEdith Nesbit
You remember my spear with the thirty rivets of Arabian gold in its socket?
Irish Fairy TalesJames Stephens
rivet
- a short metal pin for fastening two or more pieces together, having a head at one end, the other end being hammered flat after being passed through holes in the pieces
- to join by riveting
- to hammer in order to form into a head
- (often passive) to cause to be fixed or held firmly, as in fascinated attention, horror, etcto be riveted to the spot
Word Origin for rivet
Word Origin and History for rivets
rivet
c.1400, from Old French rivet "nail, rivet," from Old French river "to clench, fix, fasten," possibly from Middle Dutch wriven "turn, grind," related to rive (v.). The English word may be directly from Middle Dutch.