carabiner
Pluralcarabiners
- 1A metal link fitted with a spring-loaded gate that opens and closes, used to clip ropes to anchors or other objects.
Like the clasp on a keyring, but built strong enough to hold a person's full weight.
The guide snapped a carabiner onto the anchor bolt and tugged to test it.
Worn carabiners can fail under heavy loads, so climbers replace them regularly.
Note
The climber's clip carries a gun's name: it is shortened from German Karabinerhaken and is kin to carbine. Its sound invites phonetic spellings, and the gear travels beyond the crag. Jen Wofford's report in Gay Community News (1992) writes carrabeener for a clasp that protesters fitted inside pipes as a quick release. In careful writing, carabiner is the spelling to use.
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Origin
Shortened from German Karabinerhaken, and related to the words carabine and carbine.