Hypertext Webster Gateway: "holdfast"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Holdfast \Hold"fast`\, n.
1. Something used to secure and hold in place something else,
as a long fiat-headed nail, a catch a hook, a clinch, a
clamp, etc.; hence, a support. ``His holdfast was gone.''
--Bp. Montagu.
2. (Bot.) A conical or branching body, by which a seaweed is
attached to its support, and differing from a root in that
it is not specially absorbent of moisture.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
holdfast
n : restraint that attaches to something or holds something in
place [syn: {fastener}, {fastening}]
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