fasten

Etymology

From Middle English fastenen, from Old English fæstnian, from Proto-West Germanic *fastinōn (“to secure, fasten”). Equivalent to fast + -en.

verb

1. (transitive, intransitive) To attach or connect in a secure manner.
   The sailor fastened the boat to the dock with a half-hitch.
   Fasten your seat belts!
   Can you fasten these boards together with some nails?
   The words Whig and Tory have been pressed to the service of many successions of parties, with very different ideas fastened to them. May 31, 1711, Jonathan Swift, The Examiner No. 43
2. To cause to take close effect; to make to tell; to land.
   to fasten a blow