clasp
/klæsp/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.10 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A device with interlocking parts used for fastening things together, such as a fastener or a holder.
Countable
Example Sentences
- "I always have a hard time working the clasp on this necklace!"
- "He took her hand in a firm clasp."
- "How few! yet how they creep / Through my fingers to the deep, / While I weep—while I weep! / O God! can I not grasp / Them with a tighter clasp?"
- "They clasped hands and parted as friends."
- "And when the Boy dropped off to sleep, the Rabbit would snuggle down close under his little warm chin and dream, with the Boy's hands clasped close round him all night long."
- "The poor dear lady shivered, and I could see the tension of her nerves as she clasped her husband closer to her and bent her head lower and lower still on his breast."
Etymology
Noun dated ca. 1300 and verb dated ca. 1400; from Middle English claspe (“metal catch or hook used to hold things together”), possible metathesis of clapse, which comes from or related to Old English clyppan (“clasp”) (also see clip (verb)). Related to English enclasp (“embrace, hold tightly in one's arms”). Compare hasp, of very similar meaning but older known provenance.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: claspe, clyppan
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /klæsp/
- British English: /klɑːsp/