RIVET

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does rivet mean? 

• RIVET (noun)
  The noun RIVET has 2 senses:

1. ornament consisting of a circular rounded protuberance (as on a vault or shield or belt)

2. 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

  Familiarity information: RIVET used as a noun is rare.

• RIVET (verb)
  The verb RIVET has 3 senses:

1. direct one's attention on something

2. fasten with a rivet or rivets

3. hold (someone's attention)

  Familiarity information: RIVET used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RIVET (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Ornament consisting of a circular rounded protuberance (as on a vault or shield or belt)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

rivet; stud

Hypernyms ("rivet" is a kind of...):

decoration; ornament; ornamentation (something used to beautify)

Sense 2

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("rivet" is a kind of...):

pin (a small slender (often pointed) piece of wood or metal used to support or fasten or attach things)

Meronyms (parts of "rivet"):

clinch (the flattened part of a nail or bolt or rivet)

Derivation:

rivet (fasten with a rivet or rivets)

• RIVET (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they rivet    ... he / she / it rivets   
Past simple: riveted   
Past participle: riveted   
-ing form: riveting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Direct one's attention on something

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

center; centre; concentrate; focus; pore; rivet

Context example:

Please focus on your studies and not on your hobbies

Hypernyms (to "rivet" is one way to...):

cerebrate; cogitate; think (use or exercise the mind or one's power of reason in order to make inferences, decisions, or arrive at a solution or judgments)

Verb group:

rivet (hold (someone's attention))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "rivet"):

absorb; engross; engulf; immerse; plunge; soak up; steep (devote (oneself) fully to)

recall (cause one's (or someone else's) thoughts or attention to return from a reverie or digression)

think (focus one's attention on a certain state)

zoom in (examine closely; focus one's attention on)

hear; listen; take heed (listen and pay attention)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s on something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Fasten with a rivet or rivets

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "rivet" is one way to...):

fasten; fix; secure (cause to be firmly attached)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

rivet (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)

riveter (a machine for driving rivets)

riveter (a worker who inserts and hammers rivets)

rivetter (a machine for driving rivets)

rivetter (a worker who inserts and hammers rivets)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Hold (someone's attention)

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Context example:

The discovery of the skull riveted the paleontologists

Hypernyms (to "rivet" is one way to...):

absorb; engage; engross; occupy (consume all of one's attention or time)

Verb group:

center; centre; concentrate; focus; pore; rivet (direct one's attention on something)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

 Context examples 

She riveted a searching gaze on her brother's face.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Mars has the power to rivet your attention on whatever area of the chart he visits, and Mars will be in Sagittarius, your fourth house of home and family, from January 3 until February 16.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

His audience was riveted by the old prize-fighter’s story.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This was riveted to a collar and strapped about the dog's neck.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

At the moment, however, we had no thought for the old chest, for our eyes were riveted upon that which crouched beside it.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

When our visitor had disappeared, Sherlock Holmes’s movements were such as to rivet our attention.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Slowly she advanced, her face pale and drawn with a frightful apprehension, her eyes fixed and staring, her terrified gaze riveted upon the dark figure on the floor.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Here is the rivet of your mistress's spectacles out.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

He took up the paper in a listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he gave a little cry of satisfaction.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

As for me, every word was a new heap of fetters, riveted above the last.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)