Etymology

toggle iron

Today it means: A harpoon with one or more pivoted crosspieces in a mortise near the point to prevent it from being drawn out when a whale, shark, or other animal, is harpooned. Full definition →

Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

From the resemblance of the pivoted crosspiece to a toggle.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.