Fasten, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fastened; p. pr. & vb. n. Fastening.]
Etymology: [AS. fæstnian; akin to OHG. festinon. See Fast, a.]
1. To fix firmly; to make fast; to secure, as by a knot, lock, bolt, etc.; as, to fasten a chain to the feet; to fasten a door or window.
2. To cause to hold together or to something else; to attach or unite firmly; to cause to cleave to something , or to cleave together, by any means; as, to fasten boards together with nails or cords; to fasten anything in our thoughts. The words Whig and Tory have been pressed to the service of many successions of parties, with very different ideas fastened to them. Swift.
3. To cause to take close effect; to make to tell; to lay on; as, to fasten a blow. [Obs.] Dryden. If I can fasten but one cup upon him. Shak. To fasten a charge, or a crime, upon, to make his guilt certain, or so probable as to be generally believed. -- To fasten one's eyes upon, to look upon steadily without cessation. Acts iii. 4.
Syn. -- To fix; cement; stick; link; affix; annex.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Fasten, v. i.
To fix one's self; to take firm hold; to clinch; to cling. A horse leech will hardly fasten on a fish. Sir T. Browne.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for fasten; he lists it under bind.
Where he writes about it:
We bind a sheaf of wheat with a cord; we tie the cord in a knot; we fasten by any means that will make things hold together, as a board by nails, or a door by a lock. — from bind
The verbs tie and fasten are scarcely used in the figurative sense, tho, using the noun, we speak of the ties of affection. — from bind