the.com/clasp
the tiny gatekeeper deciding whether your necklace stays on or vanishes forever.
means To grip or fasten something tightly, or the small device that holds two things together by hooking or pinching them shut.
from From Middle English 'claspe,' a word for a fastening or hook whose deeper roots are murky — it may be related to 'clip' and other 'cl-' words for grabbing and gripping, a cluster of terms English seems to have built around the sound of hands closing on something. The precise source is honestly unknown, but the word has meant 'to hold fast' for many centuries.
- ancient design
- Bronze Age fibula clasps predate the button by millennia
- lobster claw
- Most jewelry clasps mimic a crustacean's pinch
- magnetic rivals
- Modern magnet clasps end the behind-neck fumble
- weak link
- Clasps fail more than chains themselves
cartier love bracelet clasp — patented screw-lock clasp on luxury bracelet requiring special key, created 1969
seat belt clasp buckle — three-point harness latch invented by volvo engineer nils bohlin, 1959 swedish patent