fas·ten

(făs′ən)

v. fas·tened, fas·ten·ing, fas·tens

v.tr.

1. To attach firmly to something else, as by pinning or nailing.

a. To make fast or secure: fastened the children into their car seats.

b. To close or connect securely, as with a lock or other device: was unable to fasten the bulging suitcase.

3. To fix or direct steadily: fastened her gaze on the stranger.

4. To place; attribute: fastened the blame on the weather.

5. To impose (oneself) without welcome.

v.intr.

a. To become attached, fixed, or joined: barnacles that had fastened to the ship's bottom.

b. To close or join in a particular manner: tent flaps that fasten with a zipper; a shirt that fastens down the front.

a. To focus one's sight or attention on something: fasten on a notion.

b. To select something by close attention: "By April he had fastened on the site where he would erect his grand city" (Charles Officer).

[Middle English fastnen, from Old English fæstnian; see past- in Indo-European roots.]

Synonyms: fasten, anchor, fix, moor¹, secure
These verbs mean to cause to remain firmly in position or place: fastened the cabinet to the wall with screws; anchored the pull-up bar to the door frame; fixed the flagpole in concrete; will moor the rowboat at the dock; secured the door with a heavy bolt.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.	1.	fastened - firmly closed or secured; "found the gate fastened"; "a fastened seatbelt" unfastened - not closed or secured; "the car door was unfastened"; "unfastened seatbelts"
	2.	fastened - furnished or closed with buttons or something buttonlike buttoned
	3.	fastened - fastened with strings or cords; "a neatly tied bundle" tied

Translations

sujeto

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

"Up there is the rabble of the wood, continued she, pointing to several laths which were fastened before a hole high up in the wall; "that's the rabble; they would all fly away immediately, if they were not well fastened in.

View in context

He had fastened one end of the strap to a wheel of the buggy, and now he let the line dangle over the side of the house.

View in context

Then, whistling happily as he worked, he carefully jointed the limbs and fastened them to the body with pegs whittled into shape with his knife.

View in context

Moncharmin took the envelope from Richard's pocket and drew out the bank-notes with a trembling hand, for, this time, in order frequently to make sure of the presence of the notes, he had not sealed the envelope nor even fastened it.

View in context

I left them securely fastened, I know, for I felt the thongs and examined the knots when I was at the hunt.”

View in context

The upper parts of the walls were lined with a thick padding of leather, fastened upon springs of the best steel, behind which the escape tubes were completely concealed; thus all imaginable precautions had been taken for averting the first shock; and if they did get crushed, they must, as Michel Ardan said, be made of very bad materials.

View in context

The trap, being fastened to the pole, resists all his efforts to drag it to the shore; the chain by which it is fastened defies his teeth; he struggles for a time, and at length sinks to the bottom and is drowned.

View in context

I attempted to rise, but was not able to stir: for, as I happened to lie on my back, I found my arms and legs were strongly fastened on each side to the ground; and my hair, which was long and thick, tied down in the same manner.

View in context

Her thin, light hair, streaked with grey, thickly smeared with grease, was plaited in a rat's tail and fastened by a broken horn comb which stood out on the nape of her neck.

View in context

Ned--or Edmond--mechanically fastened another button of his shirt and did not reply.

View in context

They fastened some of the burning pine-wood to the end of the rope, and let it slowly down to the bottom of the abyss.

View in context

Of course, such tiny heads could not contain any great amount of brains, and the Whimsies were so ashamed of their personal appearance and lack of commonsense that they wore big heads made of pasteboard, which they fastened over their own little heads.

View in context