clasp
UK/klɑːsp/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Northern England/klasp/
clasp noun: a device with interlocking parts used for fastening things together, such as a fastener or a holder.
Noun
clasp (plural clasps)
- A device with interlocking parts used for fastening things together, such as a fastener or a holder.
- I always have a hard time working the clasp on this necklace!
- A bar or insignia on a medal ribbon, to either indicate an additional award of the medal, or the action or service for which it was awarded.
- An embrace, a grasp, or handshake.
- 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?1849 March 31, Edgar Allan Poe, “A Dream Within a Dream”, in The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe: […], volumes II (Poems and Miscellanies), New York, N.Y.: J. S. Redfield, […], published 1850...
Verb
clasp (third-person singular simple present clasps, present participle clasping, simple past and past participle clasped)
- To take hold of; to grasp.
- 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.1922, Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit
- Synonyms:
- begrip
- To shut or fasten together with, or as if with, a clasp.
- Synonyms:
- attach
- To cling.
clasp meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
clasp in Tamil
- மடக்கி, முட்டிப்பிடி, பிடிப்பு
clasp in Urdu
- چمٹنا
clasp in Bengali
- বন্ধনী, আলিঙ্গন
clasp in Malayalam
- കൊളുത്ത്, പിടിത്തം, ഗാഢാശ്ലേഷം
More languagesFewer languages
- clasp in Kannada
- ಬಂಧನಿ, ಕೊಕ್ಕೆ, ಕೊಂಡಿ, ಕೊಲಿಕೆ
- clasp in Sanskrit
- श्लिष् śliṣ
- clasp in Nepali
- क्ल्यास्प
- clasp in Persian
- چپراس čaprās, چپراست čaprāst
- clasp in Vietnamese
- siết chặt
Examples of clasp in a sentence
- The Boy Scout wore a red neckerchief, the ends clasped with a sliding knot ornament.
- E seized Asu and clasped her close, eir eyes closed tightly as e sobbed eir relief.
- Women meet in center, clasp right hands, pass right shoulders, and give left hand to opposite man.
Synonyms of clasp
Forms of clasp
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | clasps |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | clasps |
| present participle | clasping |
| past participle | clasped |
| past | clasped |
Origin of clasp
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.
Words formed from clasp
Phrases with clasp
Words that rhyme with clasp
Questions about clasp
- What does clasp mean?
- Clasp means a device with interlocking parts used for fastening things together, such as a fastener or a holder.
- What is clasp in Tamil?
- Clasp in Tamil is மடக்கி, முட்டிப்பிடி, பிடிப்பு. See Clasp meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is clasp?
- Clasp can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce clasp?
- Clasp is pronounced /klɑːsp/ (UK).
- What is the plural of clasp?
- The plural of clasp is clasps.
Words near clasp in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: clasp (page history and authors); clasp (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); clasp (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); clasp (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); clasp (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); clasp (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); श्लिष् (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); clasp (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-clasp.ogg.
Cite this entry: “clasp.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/clasp. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.