clasp

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Clasped p. pr. & vb. n. Clasping ] [ OE. claspen, clapsen, prob. akin to E. clap. ] 1. To shut or fasten together with, or as with, a clasp; to shut or fasten (a clasp, or that which fastens with a clasp). [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To inclose and hold in the hand or with the arms; to grasp; to embrace. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To surround and cling to; to entwine about. “Clasping ivy.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. An adjustable catch, bent plate, or hook, for holding together two objects or the parts of anything, as the ends of a belt, the covers of a book, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A close embrace; a throwing of the arms around; a grasping, as with the hand. [ 1913 Webster ]

Clasp knife, a large knife, the blade of which folds or shuts into the handle. --
Clasp lock, a lock which closes or secures itself by means of a spring. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who, or that which, clasps, as a tendril. “The claspers of vines.” Derham. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) (a) One of a pair of organs used by the male for grasping the female among many of the Crustacea. (b) One of a pair of male copulatory organs, developed on the anterior side of the ventral fins of sharks and other elasmobranchs. See Illust. of Chimæra. [ 1913 Webster ]