clasp (n.)

c. 1300, claspe, "metal catch or hook used to hold things together," perhaps a metathesis of clapse, and thus from or related to Old English clyppan "clasp" (see clip (v.2)). As "a clinging or grasping," c. 1600.

late 14c., "to furnish with buckles," from clasp (n.). From c. 1400 as "to shut or fasten together with a clasp; to catch and hold by twining or embracing." Related: Clasped; clasping.