the.com/hasp
the unsung metal flap that lets a humble padlock pretend it's Fort Knox.
means A hinged metal fastening — typically a slotted plate that fits over a staple or loop — used to hold a door, lid, or gate shut, often secured by a padlock or pin.
from From Old English 'hæpse' or 'hæps,' meaning a fastening or clasp. It has solid Germanic kin — related to Old Norse 'hespa' (a hasp, or a skein of wool) and similar words across the northern languages. That double sense, fastening and skein, hints at an older notion of something looped or wound to hold fast. The word has stayed remarkably steady for over a thousand years, clasping its meaning as firmly as it clasps a door.
- origin
- Old English haepse, meaning a fastening or clasp
- weak link
- a strong padlock is useless on flimsy hasp screws
- staple pair
- works with a loop called the staple
- sewing cousin
- hasp also means a coiled hank of yarn
hasp on steamer trunks — hinged metal clasp securing luggage during the victorian era and early 20th-century travel