Zipper

What does Zipper mean?

The zipper is a metal or plastic device with interlocking teeth used to join two edges together.

Heddels explains Zipper

The zipper is a metal or plastic device with interlocking teeth used to join two edges together. In 1851, Elias Howe, the inventor of the sewing machine, patented his “Automatic, Continuous Clothing Closure”. However, due to the success of his sewing machine, he spent little time marketing the device. It wasn’t until 1917, when Gideon Sundbäck patented the modern zipper, that the device became relatively well-known with the public, being used primarily for galoshes and tobacco pouches. Shortly after, the boots company B. F. Goodrich began calling the device the zipper, so named when one employee began sliding the fastener up and down the boot and exclaimed, “Zip ‘er up!”

Today, the zipper is the most prevalent fastener, used on everything from clothes to luggage to shoes to packaging. Several kinds of zippers exist, the most common being coil zippers, plastic zippers, and metal zippers. Metal zippers, the most traditional zipper, are the type found on the vast majority of jeans. While it usually serves the function of fastening and removing one’s pants, it is also used for decoration on pockets.

Additional Resources

Here is an example of a zipper:

Heddels Definition - Zipper