Fasten v.

Forms: fæstnian, festnian, 3 south. væstn(i)en, Orm. fesstnenn, 3–4 festnen, fastnen, festni, south. vestni, 3–6 festne, festen, festin, 5 festyn, feston, 4–8 fastne, 6 Sc. fessin, -ynn, fassinn, 4– fasten. Also with prefix 1–2 ȝe-, 2–4 pa. t. and pa. pple. i-, y-. [OE. fæstnian = OFris. festna, OS. fastnón, OHG. fastinôn, festinôn (MHG. festenen, mod.G. festnen), to make firm, bind fast (cf. also ON. fastna to pledge, betroth. Da. fastne to consolidate, Sw. fastna intr. to stick fast):—OTeut. *faslinôjan, f. *fast-u- FAST a. See -EN⁵.]

  To make fast (cf. senses of the adj.).

  † 1.  trans. To make firm or stable; to establish, settle, confirm. To fasten the feet: to give or obtain sure foothold. Obs.

c. 1175.  Cott. Hom., 221. Þa ȝefestnede se ælmihti god þa nigen angle wærod.

c. 1200.  Trin. Coll. Hom., 57. Þe holie man is ned þat he [? insert bie] festned on his holinesse.

a. 1225.  Leg. Kath., 2011.

a. 1300.  E. E. Psalter, xcii[i]. 1. He festned werld of erthe al.

13[?].  E. E. Allit. P., C. 273. & þer he [Ionas] festnes þe fete & fathmeȝ aboute.

c. 1340.  Cursor M., 27898 (Fairf.).

a. 1400.  Prymer (1891), 38. So in syon y was fastned.

1535.  Coverdale, Song Sol. viii. 8. Yf she be a tower, we shal festen her with bordes of Cedre tre. Ibid., Ecclus. xl. 25. Golde and syluer fasten the fete [Vulg. est constitutio pedum].

a. 1569.  Kingsmill, Comfortable Treatise for all such as are any maner of way either troubled in Mynde or afflicted in Bodie (1585), F iv. The faithful are fastened and confirmed therein most unfaignedly.

1643.  Plain English, 22. Men walking among Quagmires, know not where to fasten a foot.

  † b.  To make sure, confirm, ratify (an agreement). Obs.

a. 900.  Charter, xli., in O. E. Texts, 448. Ic abba ȝeroefa ðis write & festnie mid kristes rodetacne.

a. 1000.  Byrhtnoth, 35 (Gr.). We willað wið þam golde grið fæsnian.

c. 1175.  Cott. Hom., 219. Þa þe hi alle hafeden þisne red betwuxe ham ȝefestnod.

c. 1205.  Lay., 29061. Ȝif hit þi wille weore … þas spechen uæstnien.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 62. Ich habbe ivestned, seið Job, foreward mid min eien.

13[?].  E. E. Allit. P., B. 327. Bot my forwarde with þe I festen on þis wyse.

1382.  Wyclif, Jer. xxxv. 16. Fastneden therfore the sonus of Jonadab [Vulg. Firmauerunt igitur filii Ionadab], sone of Recab, the heste of their fader.

c. 1425.  Wyntoun, Cron., VI. xii. 80.

1553.  T. Wilson, Rhet. (1580), 41. Matrimonie, whiche the creatour of all thynges did … fasten and make holy.

  † 2.  To make firm or solid; to strengthen, harden. Obs.

c. 1400.  Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 52. Þis medicyn fastneþ þe place & defendiþ him fro putrefaccions.

c. 1440.  Giraldus’ Hist. Irel. (E.E.T.S.), 22. Lasers to clense, paralys to festnen, y-dropesie … to helen.

c. 1440.  Secrees, Prose Version (E.E.T.S.), 149. Mete and drynke þat he was costomed to byfore norisshed by, & þat has festnyd his substance.

1577.  B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., II. (1856), 106. The force of the aire in Winter doth fasten and make sounde the Trees.

  † b.  intr. To become firm; to ‘set.’ Obs.

1660.  England’s Monarchy Freest State in World, 7. How is it probable … that any Government … can ever subsist and fasten, without an exorbitant and all-devouring power … to uphold … it.

1726.  Leoni, trans. Alberti’s Archit., I. 36 b. Buildings … are taken with the Frost … before ever they have fasten’d.

1730.  A. Gordon, Maffei’s Amphith., 285–6. The rough part of them fastens very well with Mortar.

  † c.  trans. To fortify. Obs.

1387.  Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), II. 109. Edward þe Eldere fastened a castel at the Mamcestre in Norþumberlond.

  † 3.  To make fast (in fetters); to set fast, render unable to move. Obs.

a. 1000.  Andreas, 49 (Gr.).

a. 1300.  E. E. Psalter, lxviii. 3 [lxix. 2]. I am festened in slime depe.

1632.  Lithgow, Trav., V. 223. Such … deep carouses of wine that both hee and I were almost fastned in the last plunge of understanding.

  b.  intr. To become fast or unable to move.

1742.  Young, Nt. Th., vi. 397. We leap at stars, and fasten in the mud.

1853.  Kane, Grinnell Exp., x. (1856), 71–2. By ten we fastened in the ice; but, by cutting and boring, succeeded in penetrating it, and sailed on through loose streams until noon.

  4.  trans. To make fast to something else; to attach, more or less securely, by a tie or bond of any kind. Const. to, occas. on, upon; also with advbs. on, together, up. Formerly often, now rarely, with immaterial object.

c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 121. Mid irenen neilen he wes on þere rode ifestned.

c. 1200.  Vices & Virtues (1888), 95. To hire bieð ifastned alle ðe raftres of ðe hali mihtes.

a. 1225.  St. Marher., 19. Festne wið fulht mi sawle to þe seoluen.

1340.  Ayenb., 221. Hy byeþ y-uestned to-gidere be spoushod.

1398.  Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., IV. iii. (1495), 82. Moysture … fastnyth the partyes togider.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 2849. Þai … festonit the flete.

c. 1450.  Mirour Saluacioun, 3498. Hevenly thinges and erthly hym liked eft festyn to gidere.

1483.  Act 1 Rich. III., c. 8. Preamb. Dyers … upon the Lists of the same Clothes festen and sowe great Risshes.

1552.  Abp. Hamilton, Catech. (1884), 77. Samekil is the lufe of God and our nychbour fessinit and linkit togiddir.

1590.  Shaks., Com. Err., I. i. 86.

1662.  J. Davies, trans. Mandelslo’s Trav. E. Ind., 10. They set fire to it, and so bake the Stone; and to fasten and cement them together, they make a composition of the same paste with salt water, and some Lime.

1696.  Col. Rec. Pennsylv., I. 497. Men that are fastned to the Country by visible estates.

1759.  trans. Adanson’s Voy. Senegal, 74. When they saw it [my hair], really fastened to my head.

1796.  Jane Austen, Pride & Prej. (1885), II. v. 185. At length the chaise arrived, the trunks were fastened on, the parcels placed within, and it was pronounced to be ready.

1837.  Dickens, Pickw., iv. Fastened up behind the barouche was a hamper of spacious dimensions.

1840.  E. Howard, Jack Ashore, III. xv. 311. To deceive the people of the establishment, he consented to be again fastened up, but he walked about as much as the limits of his chain would permit, anxiously inquiring when he should be allowed to escape.

1849.  G. P. R. James, The Woodman, vii. The visitor proceeded to fasten his horse to a large iron hook.

1852.  Motley, Corr. (1889), I. v. 137. They found that the top of the picture behind the frame was closely rolled, and the canvas cut into such a shape as to make it probable that it had been fastened on a pole.

  b.  absol. or intr. To make one’s boat fast. In whale-fishing: To fasten to (see quot. 1820); also in indirect pass.

1700.  S. L., trans. C. Fryke’s Voy. E. Ind., 207. As soon as we could come to fasten by her [the Ship’s] side, I went to get up; but unfortunately made a false step, and tumbled down again into the Boat.

1820.  Scoresby, Acc. Arctic Reg., II. 534. Each boat ‘fastens to,’ or strikes a distinct fish, and each crew kill their own.

1839.  T. Beale, Sperm Whale, 46. The whale has also an extraordinary manner of rolling over and over on the surface, and this he does when ‘fastened to,’ which means, when a harpoon with a line attached is fixed in his body. Ibid., 165. The two boats that have not yet ‘fastened,’ and are fresh and free, now give chase.

  5.  a. To bind (a servant, an apprentice) by a contract or agreement (dial.); cf. fastening penny. † b. To join in a contract with (obs.).

1362.  Langl., P. Pl., A. II. 51. In Mariage … To beo fastnet with fals.

1425.  Sc. Acts, 1st Parl. Jas. I., c. 20. Þe schiref sall assigne xl dais to sic ydil men to get þaim masteris, or to festyn þaim to leful craftes.

1632.  Lithgow, Trav., VIII. 353. I fastned Iohn Browne with him to accompany his returne.

Mod.  (Sheffield) He’s a sort of a prentice, but he’s not fastened.

  6.  To attach together the parts of (a fabric or structure). Obs. exc. Naut.

1562.  Turner, Baths, 16 a. They that are … not well fastened together, ought not to tarye so long in the bath.

1609.  Skene, Reg. Maj., Chalmerlan Air, c. 27 § 2. They festen and bindes them not with lether or glew.

1646.  Sir T. Browne, Pseud. Ep., II. iii. 71. Their ships are fastened not with Iron but wood.

1860.  Merc. Marine Mag., VII. 284. A ship fastened with yellow metal.

  7.  To make fast, secure (a tie, band); to secure (an article of dress), e.g., with a clasp, pins, buttons, etc. Also, with pregnant sense, to fasten (a person) in a garment.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 1728 (Cott.). [Noe] he self festnid bath band and lace.

c. 1350.  Will. Palerne, 1720. Sche … festened hire in þat fel wiþ ful god þonges.

1600.  J. Pory, trans. Leo’s Africa, II. 24. The corners of which mantle are … fastened about their shoulders.

1696.  trans. Du Mont’s Voy. Levant, 130. Narrow Breeches fasten’d with Buttons; and, in a word, I cou’d not chuse a more Comical Habit.

1727.  De Foe, Hist. Appar., iv. (1840), 31. No chain can bind him, but the chains fastened on him by Heaven, and the angel of the bottomless pit.

1767.  J. Byron, Voy. round World, 51. Skins … fastened about their necks by a thong.

  b.  To fasten off (a thread): to fix with a knot or extra stitches.

1893.  Mrs. Leach’s Fancy-work Basket, May, 146/2. Run ribbon through holes … and fasten it off at wrist with neat bow.

  8.  To make fast (a door, etc.) with a latch, bolt, etc., or (an envelope, etc.) with a seal. Hence, to fasten (a person or animal) in or out.

1749.  Fielding, Tom Jones, VIII. vi. I will fasten the door.

1764.  Lloyd, On Rhyme, 151.

1797.  Mrs. Radcliffe, Italian, xii. I have not caused this gate to be fastened.

1801.  Southey, Thalaba, IX. xxii.

1819.  Byron, Juan, I. cxxxvi. The door was fasten’d in his legal face.

1833.  Ht. Martineau, Tale of Tyne, vi. 103. The lattice was not quite fastened, and she saw it open, and a face appear within it which produced the same effect upon her as the voice had done.

1860.  Tyndall, Glac., I. xxvii. 216. The rooms were swept, the mattresses replaced, and the shutters fastened.

1868.  Atkinson, Cleveland Gloss., To fasten out, to turn the Moor-sheep to the moor for the season, excluding them for good from the enclosed land.

  † 8.  To close (the hands, teeth) with a grip. To fasten hold: to take hold firmly. Obs.

1530.  Lyndesay, Test. Papyngo, 354. Fassinnyng ȝour fingaris faste.

1585.  T. Washington, trans. Nicholay’s Voy. Turkie, IV. xxx. 153. Do annoint their bodies & armes with oyle, to the end their aduersaries shuld fasten the lesse hold vpon them.

1596.  Spenser, F. Q., V. iv. 15.

1599.  Minsheu, Pleasant and Delightfull Dialogues in Spanish and English (1623), 51. Two hands fastned together, alwaies hath beene a token of friendship.

1607.  Topsell, Serpents (1653), 750. When it [a Salamander] once biteth and fasteneth teeth, it never letteth go.

  10.  To fix or hold securely in position; to make fast (what is loose).

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 8223 (Cott.).

c. 1400.  An Apology for Lollard Doctrines, 86. Festining it wiþ irne þat it fal not.

c. 1400.  Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 156. For to fastne þe schuldre þis boon rostral is putt in maner of a wegge.

c. 1440.  Gesta Rom., i. 2 (Harl. MS.). Þis nigromancien dyd make an ymage of erþe, And fastenyd it in þe wall afore him.

1578.  Lyte, Dodoens, II. lxxxv. 264. Axen of Rosemarie burnte, doth fasten loose teeth.

1662.  J. Davies, Voy. Ambass., 24. Eight Priests, carrying a great Cross, fasten’d in a great piece of timber, double-cross’d.

1703.  Moxon, Mech. Exerc., 223. Pitch the other sides to be Turned flat carefully against the Hole … fastning them with Wax.

1821.  Shelley, Boat on Serchio, Poems (1891), 586/2. Sit at the helm—fasten this sheet—all ready!

  b.  with immaterial object; also with inf. as obj.

c. 1200.  Ormin, Ded., 219.

1393.  Langl., P. Pl., C. XIII. 9. Freres wollen … fastne þe in here fraternite.

c. 1430.  Hymns Virg. (1867), 26.

1513.  More, Rich. III., Wks. 45/1. Suche euyll oppinyon once fastened in mennes heartes.

1611.  Shaks., Wint. T., II. iii. 14.

1683.  Pennsylv. Archives, I. 74. Time will … fasten things as they are and should be.

1818.  Cruise, Digest (ed. 2), I. 481. When once a trust is sufficiently created, it will fasten itself on the estate.

  c.  To fasten down: to fix (a thing) so as to prevent its rising; fig. to fix definitely.

1731.  Medley, Kolben’s Cape of G. Hope, I. 68. I have … rescued the character of the Hottentots from the brutish stupidity to which it has been fastened down by all the authors.

1876.  Gladstone, The Courses of Religious Thought, in The Contemporary Review, XXVIII. June, 12. For the pure and simple name Protestant is now largely and loosely used; sometimes even by men who, themselves believing nothing, nevertheless want countenance for their ends from among those who believe something, and who trust for this to the charm that still invests the early stages of its career, and associates it with a battle manfully fought for freedom against oppression and abuse. To fasten down its sense, the affix ‘Evangelical’ may suffice.

Mod.  The lid of the box is fastened down.

  † d.  intr. To take hold; to attach oneself; to make one’s abode. Obs.

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 1428.

1590.  Spenser, F. Q., III. ii. 26.

1625.  Fletcher & Shirley, Nt.-Walker, I. i.

a. 1657.  R. Loveday, Letters (1663), 258. We are here in London, where I think we shall fasten for most part of this ensuing Summer.

1742.  Young, Nt. Th., iii. 531. We … Spring from our fetters; fasten in the skies.

  † 11.  trans. To deliver effectively (a blow); to imprint (a kiss). Const. on. Obs.

c. 1500.  Lancelot, 850. Strokis festnit in the shelde.

1531.  Elyot, The Boke Named the Gouernour, I. xvi. Or he coulde fasten on the other any violent stroke.

1613.  Purchas, Pilgrimage, IV. vii. (1614), 370. Those that are aequall, salute when they meete each other with a mutuall kisse; which is fastened on the cheeke onely, if they bee of vnequall degree.

1632.  J. Hayward, trans. Biondi’s Eromena, 170. Wee could never come once to fasten a blow on him.

1633.  T. Stafford, Pacata Hibernia, II. xxiii. 243. I could never fasten a salley yet upon him, but with losse to myselfe.

1697.  Dryden, Virgil, Ded., E j. How cou’d he fasten a Blow, or make a Thrust, when he was not suffer’d to approach?

  12.  In various fig. applications of senses 4, 7, 10: To fix (something) upon (a person, etc.).

  a.  To direct (feelings, thoughts, attention, etc.) intently or keenly towards.

a. 1400.  Prymer (1891), 53. Y schal fastne myn eyen op on þe.

c. 1450.  Mirour Saluacioun, 793. Hire hert vpwards on heven was festined nyght & day.

1568.  Tilney, Disc. Mariage, B vj. If she once fasten hir eyes on a nother, he shall enjoy hir in dispite of hir husbands beard.

1603.  Shaks., Meas. for M., III. i. 203. Fasten your eare on my aduisings, to the love I have in doing good.

1611.  Bible, Luke iv. 20. The eyes of all … were fastened on him.

1633.  Bp. Hall, Hard Texts, 320. O God, thou wilt continue true peace, and happinesse, to that man, whose heart is fastned upon thee, &c.

1840.  Dickens, Old C. Shop, xli. The attention of the sly little fiend was fastened upon them.

1850.  Hawthorne, Scarlet L., Introd. (1883), 50. My eyes fastened themselves upon the old scarlet letter.

1883.  Manch. Exam., 10 July, 572. A madman armed with a knife, upon whom a steady eye must be fastened.

  b.  To fix (a nickname, imputation, etc.) on a person; to impute or attach to.

1615.  J. Stephens, Satyr. Ess. (ed. 2), 38.

1638.  Wilkins, New World, ii. (1707), 20. Some of the Ancients have fasten’d strange Absurdities upon the Words of the Scripture.

1672.  Cave, Prim. Chr., I. v. (1673), 12. To form and fasten this charge upon them, when it was equally false in respect to both. Ibid., III. v. (1673), 368. The story … fastened upon Philip the Emperour.

a. 1674.  Clarendon, Surv. Leviath. (1676), 304. He [Hobbes] hath not in this his last Chapter of Cui bono, bin able to fasten the least reproch upon them, of being swaied by any other motives then the most abstracted considerations of Conscience, Duty, Gratitude, and Generosity, constantly and stedfastly to adhere to the King.

1722.  Sewel, Hist. Quakers (1795), I. Preface, xviii. To fasten doctrines upon them which they never approved.

1855.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., III. 310. Those very Londoners … now fastened on the prince … the nickname of Butcher.

  † c.  To induce acceptance of (a gift, etc.); to propose (a health). Obs.

1604.  Shaks., Oth., II. iii. 50.

1615.  J. Stephens, Satyr. Ess. (ed. 2), 256. If you fasten a guift upon him, his thankes bee liberall.

1632.  Lithgow, Trav., X. 431. I neuer saw one … to pledge or present his Maiesties health; but as many other healths as you list; they will both fasten, and receiue from you.

1673.  Ray, Journ. Low C., 435. We always found the people very kind and willing to give us such as they had, viz. brown bread, milk, whey, butter, curds, &c. for which we could scarce fasten any mony upon them.

1726.  Adv. Capt. R. Boyle, 354. I did not know how to fasten a Present upon Mr. Ratcliff for his Civility, for he would not hear of any thing like it.

  d.  To impose (something unwelcome) on a person. Now chiefly in To fasten a quarrel upon: to drag into a quarrel against his inclination.

1663.  Dryden, Wild Gallant, II. i. He had been acquainted with you these seven years, drunk and sober, and yet could never fasten a quarrel upon you.

1682.  Enq. Elect. Sheriffs, 8 Endeavouring … to fasten such a Sheriff upon them.

1718.  Freethinker, No. 41, 11 Aug., 294. Divert her Malice, by fastening a new Spark upon her.

1797.  Godwin, Enquirer, I. vi. 36. No practice, that is not fastened upon us by decrees and penalties, can hope to maintain its full measure of influence in civil society, except so far as it can be supported by irrefragable arguments.

1855.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., III. 325. The … Macdonalds … fastened a succession of quarrels on the people of Inverness.

1861.  Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxf., v. (1889), 36. He had caught Hardy several times in the Quadrangle coming out of Lecture, Hall, or Chapel, and had fastened himself upon him; often walking with him even up to the door of his rooms.

  13.  intr. To fasten on, upon: † a. to obtain a firm hold upon, become fixed on (obs.); b. to seize on, lay hold of; to single out for attack or censure: to avail oneself eagerly of (a pretext, etc.).

a. 1225.  Leg. Kath., 1180.

c. 1230.  Hali Meid., 15. Þe fiends arrow … ne wundeð þe nawt bute hit festni oþe.

1513.  More, in Grafton, Chron., II. 783. No colour could fasten upon these matters.

1590.  Shaks., Com. Err., II. ii. 175.

1607.  Rowlands, Famous Hist., 48.

1647.  N. Bacon, Discourse of the Laws & Government of England, I. xl. (1682), 60. Though the Roman Church had the use of Images above Three hundred years before Austin’s coming, yet could not that custom fasten upon the Saxons for the space of above One hundred year after Austin’s coming.

1662.  J. Davies, Voy. Ambass., 57. They break down the houses adjoyning to those that are a-fire, by which means, they hinder the progress of it…. And that it may not fasten on other more solid structures, prevent the doores and windows from getting in.

1726.  Adv. Capt. R. Boyle, 230. The Noise of the Maid, and our bustling, alarm’d an English Mastiff that was Watchman to the House, who, without saying By your Leave, had the Impudence to fasten upon my Rival by the Arm, and worry’d him very handsomely.

1844.  Thirlwall, Greece, VIII. 389. The senate … viewed Perseus as a prey, on which it resolved to fasten.

1844.  Stanley, Arnold (1858), I. ii. 25. Still there is one object on which our thoughts and imaginations may fasten, no less than our affections; that amidst the light, dark from excess of brilliance, which surrounds the throne of God, we may yet discern the gracious form of the Son of Man.

1847.  L. Hunt, Men, Women, & B., I. ii. 20–1. He is fastened upon by the man with the bundle, who, encouraged by his apparant good-nature, tells him, in an under tone, some anecdotes relative to his own experience of omnibuses.

1855.  Motley, Dutch Rep., II. vii. (1866), 282. The whole mob seemed seized with sudden madness. Without waiting to complete the Psalm, they fastened upon the company of marble martyrs, as if they had possessed sensibility to feel the blows inflicted. In an hour they had laid the whole in ruins.

1875.  Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), IV. 285, Theaetetus. The sickness which prevails in the army has fastened upon him.