rivet
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Heavy pin having a head at one end and the other end being hammered flat after being passed through holes in the pieces that are fastened together.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
rivuhtSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɹɪvət
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Heavy pin having a head at one end and the other end being hammered flat after being passed through holes in the pieces that are fastened together
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.
figuratively
Any fixed point or certain basis.
verb
Direct one's attention on something
transitivefigurative
To command the attention of.
transitivefigurative
To make firm or immovable.
transitive
To attach or fasten parts by using rivets.
transitive
To install rivets.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Heavy pin having a head at one end and the other end being hammered flat after being passed through holes in the pieces that are fastened together
Used this way, rivet is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A line of rivets at a seam.
A machine for driving rivets.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.