fasten on

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“Hunger,” “Shame” and “12 Years a Slave” fasten on suffering — physical and psychological, self-induced and inflicted by oppressors — less as a source of empathy than as a means to the truth.

From New York Times • Nov. 15, 2018

They fasten on content and forget about form – forgetting that content and form are the same thing, that what a sentence says is the same as how it says it.

From The Guardian • Sep. 21, 2018

With Islamic State’s territorial base in Syria and Iraq nearly eliminated, terrorism analysts fear Islamist militants fleeing the Middle East could fasten on crises such as those in Myanmar as their next base of operations.

From Washington Times • Jan. 8, 2018

Depressive graduate students, loaded with debt and fretful about diminished job prospects, fasten on to the futility running through the plays.

From Los Angeles Times • May 3, 2016

Also flying machines people could fasten on their backs like knapsacks and go zipping all over the world.

From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers