holdfast Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun restraint that attaches to something or holds something in place
    fastening; fixing; fastener.

WordNet

Hold"fast` noun
Definitions
  1. Something used to secure and hold in place something else, as a long fiat-headed nail, a catch a hook, a clinch, a clamp, etc.; hence, a support. "His holdfast was gone." Bp. Montagu.
  2. (Bot.) A conical or branching body, by which a seaweed is attached to its support, and differing from a root in that it is not specially absorbent of moisture.

Webster 1913