rivet

CEFRC2

/ˈɹɪvət/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A metal pin used to join pieces of material together.

  2. 02

    verb

    To hold someone's attention completely.

Examples

  • A rivet is a permanent metal fastener used in construction.

  • The construction worker used a heavy rivet to secure the metal beam.

At a glance

Sits at C2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
2

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A light kind of footman's plate armour; an almain rivet.

  2. Any fixed point or certain basis.

  3. A cylindrical mechanical fastener which is supplied with a factory head at one end and is used to attach multiple parts together by passing its bucktail through a hole and upsetting its end to form a field head.

More examples

In context

  • The worker used a heavy machine to drive the steel rivet.

  • Terror riveted him to the spot.

  • over his rivet he had a garment of white cloth of gold with a redde crosse

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

You must blank the metal plates together with a heavy-duty tool.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Old French rivet (13th century), from the verb Old French river (“to fetter [a person]”) (12th century), from Old French rive (“rim, edge”) (ca. 1100), which is ultimately from Latin ripa (“riverbank”). Compare river, rival, riparian. The sense "kind of footman's armour" is apparently a back-formation from almain rivet, which is apparently derived from the English noun; see that entry for more.