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# holdfast

«holdfast» in Mova's school dictionary: **The root-like part at the bottom of seaweed that holds it…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a holdfast, holdfasts)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (science) The root-like part at the bottom of seaweed that holds it tightly to rocks. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holdfast/#m1)

2) A clamp or hook that holds something firmly, for example to a workbench or wall. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holdfast/#m2)

3) (old) Something you can hold on to firmly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holdfast/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In science lessons on the seashore and kelp forests, the holdfast is not a real root: it only grips the rock and does not take in food. In woodwork, a holdfast clamps wood to the bench. Phrases: a kelp holdfast, a seaweed's holdfast.

### examples

- The seaweed's holdfast stuck tightly to the rock. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holdfast/#x1)
- A holdfast is not a root, because it does not take in water. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holdfast/#x2)
- Storms can tear kelp from its holdfast. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holdfast/#x3)
- The carpenter used a holdfast to clamp the wood to the bench. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holdfast/#x4)
- Tiny crabs hide inside kelp holdfasts. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holdfast/#x5)

### note

One word: hold + fast («fast» here means firmly, as in «stuck fast»). Plural: holdfasts. A science and craft word, rarely used in everyday talk.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «holdfast» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holdfast/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.