aglet

aglet
American 

[ag-lit]
/ ;;g l;t /
Also aiglet
noun
a metal or plastic tag or sheath at the end of a lace used for tying, as of a shoelace.

(in the 16th and 17th centuries) an ornament at the end of a point or other ribbon used to secure a garment.

aiguillette.


aglet
British 
/ ;;;l;t /
noun
a metal sheath or tag at the end of a shoelace, ribbon, etc

a variant spelling of aiguillette

any ornamental pendant

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology
Origin of aglet
1400–50; late Middle English < Middle French aiguillette, equivalent to aiguille needle ( see aiguille) + -ette -et

Explanation
Vocabulary.com
The little plastic tip at the end of your shoelace is called an aglet. If the aglets wear off, it can be hard to lace up your old basketball sneakers. There are two ways to spell this very specific thing, the plastic or metal shoelace tip that makes it fit more easily through the eyelets in your shoes: aglet and aiglet. Sometimes the aglet makes your life easier, and in other cases, it's just for decoration. The Middle French root is aiguillette, a diminutive of aiguille, "needle," from the Latin acus, which also means "needle," by way of its own diminutive, the Late Latin acucula.

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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.

"Think of these proteins as the plastic aglet that coats the ends of chromosomes to protect them from degradation and preserve their integrity," Nandakumar said.

From Science Daily • Apr. 8, 2024

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Humans -- and all mammals -- have a certain set of proteins that are the primary components of shelterin, the "aglet" of the chromosome.

From Science Daily • Apr. 8, 2024

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Well, that’s a word I didn’t know: aglet.

From Washington Post • Mar. 12, 2023

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The aglet is the plastic or crimped-metal cap at each end of the lace.

From Washington Post • Mar. 12, 2023

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A point or tag at the end of a fringe or lace; an aglet.

From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary by Webster, Noah