cleat
English
Etymology
From Middle English clete, from Old English *clēat, clēot, from Proto-Germanic *klautaz (“firm lump”), from Proto-Indo-European *gelewd-, from *gley- (“to glue, stick together, form into a ball”). Cognate with Dutch kloot (“ball; testicle”) and German Kloß. See also clay and clout.
Pronunciation
- enPR: klēt, IPA(key): /kliːt/
- Rhymes: -iːt
Noun
cleat (plural cleats)
- A strip of wood or iron fastened on transversely to something in order to give strength, prevent warping, hold position, etc.
- 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, chapter 35
- [...] the people of that island erected lofty spars along the seacoast, to which the look-outs ascended by means of nailed cleats, something as fowls go upstairs in a hen-house.
- 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, chapter 35
- A continuous metal strip, or angled piece, used to secure metal components.
- (nautical) A device to quickly affix a line or rope, and from which it is also easy to release. Nautical cleat
- A protrusion on the bottom of a shoe meant for better traction. (See cleats.)
Translations
device to secure a rope
protrusion on the bottom of a shoe
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