Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A small hole or perforation, usually rimmed with metal, cord, fabric, or leather, used for fastening with a cord or hook.
  • noun A metal ring designed to reinforce such a hole; a grommet.
  • noun A small hole edged with embroidered stitches as part of a design.
  • noun A peephole.
  • noun A small eye.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A small aperture; specifically, a small round hole worked round the edge like a buttonhole, used in dressmaking, sailmaking, and the like. Also eyelet-hole.
  • noun A metallic ring designed to be placed in a perforation called an eyelet-hole, in cloth, leather, etc., for the passage of a lace, cord, or small rope; also, a similar ring used for fastening together sheets of paper, etc.
  • noun In entomology: A small eye or ocellate spot; a small spot with a central dot of another color.
  • noun An ocellus or simple eye.
  • To furnish or fasten with an eyelet.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A small hole or perforation to receive a cord or fastener, as in garments, sails, etc.
  • noun A metal ring or grommet, or short metallic tube, the ends of which can be bent outward and over to fasten it in place; -- used to line an eyelet hole.
  • noun a hole made for an eyelet.
  • noun a machine for punching eyelet holes and fastening eyelets, as in paper or cloth.
  • noun See Eyelet, 2.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An object that consists of a rim and small hole or perforation to receive a cord or fastener, as in garments, sails, etc. An eyelet may reinforce a hole.
  • noun A shaped metal embellishment containing a hole, used in scrapbook. Eyelets are typically set by punching a hole in the page, placing the smooth side of the eyelet on a table, positioning the paper over protruding edge and curling the edge down using a hammer and eyelet setter.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun fastener consisting of a metal ring for lining a small hole to permit the attachment of cords or lines
  • noun a small hole (usually round and finished around the edges) in cloth or leather for the passage of a cord or hook or bar

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Alteration (influenced by eye) of Middle English oilet, from Old French oillet, diminutive of oil, eye, from Latin oculus; see okw- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

eye +‎ -let.

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Examples

  • Slice open the ship, and you see the various levels from the top of the tower, known as the eyelet, down to the flight deck and hangar bay, and deep down to the engine room.

    CNN Transcript Jan 26, 2002 2002

  • Slice open the ship, and you see the various levels from the top of the tower, known as the eyelet, down to the flight deck and hangar bay, and deep down to the engine room.

    CNN Transcript Mar 23, 2002 2002

  • Slice open the ship, and you see the various levels from the top of the tower, known as the eyelet, down to the flight deck and hangar bay, and deep down to the engine room.

    CNN Transcript Jun 1, 2002 2002

  • Then wide, stout tape should be sewn along the edge of the canvas wherever there is to be any strain on it, such as eyelet holes for ropes, or hooks and eyes, or strings for closing the ends of the tent, etc.

    Young Knights of the Empire : Their Code, and Further Scout Yarns Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell Baden-Powell of Gilwell 1899

  • Instead of a worm-gear-driven level wind and eyelet, a shaped bar rocks back and forth like a see-saw as incoming line travels across it, and that see-saw motion works effectively to spread line across the spool as you crank.

    A Weirdly Innovative Baitcaster 2009

  • After adding a belly strip, you may have to tune the lure by turning the eyelet to the right or left to make it run true.

    Wrap Bait Fillets on Flatfish Plugs to Catch More Salmon and Smallmouth 2009

  • Walking down the aisle, the scuffed but sturdy Timberland two-eyelet boat shoes with leather thongs instead of laces give him away: almost certainly rich, or preppy with a twist.

    Archive 2009-01-01 2009

  • Leather biker jacket patched with band names, stained with blood. 13 eyelet oxblood Doc's.

    Morning Joe Thomas Pluck 2011

  • When I went to hook the fly on the eyelet the hook was half gone!

    bad luck?!? 2009

  • When I went to hook the fly on the eyelet the hook was half gone!

    bad luck?!? 2009

Comments

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  • See hooklet.

    July 7, 2008