Holdfast

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Holdfast \Hold"fast`\, n.
     1. Something used to secure and hold in place something else,
        as a long flat-headed nail, a catch a hook, a clinch, a
        clamp, etc.; hence, a support. "His holdfast was gone."
        --Bp. Montagu.
        [1913 Webster]


  
     2. (Bot.) A conical or branching body, by which a seaweed is
        attached to its support, and differing from a root in that
        it is not specially absorbent of moisture.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  holdfast
       n : restraint that attaches to something or holds something in
           place [syn: {fastener}, {fastening}, {fixing}]