fat arrow

noun

The => symbol, which has specific meanings in various programming languages.

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Meanings

nounfat arrow (plural fat arrows)

plural fat arrows

  1. computingThe => symbol, which has specific meanings in various programming languages.

    A constant can't be used on the left-hand side of a fat arrow (=>) because that turns it into a string.

    2013, Peter Scott, Perl Medic: Transforming Legacy Code, →ISBN, page 78
    1 more example

    The fat arrow is a new shorter way to write functions using '=>' instead of 'function() {}', and will look familiar to anyone who has used CoffeeScript.

    2013, Mark E. Daggett, Expert JavaScript, →ISBN, page 39

Origin

From fat + arrow, because of its thickness compared to ->.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

fat arrow. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fat%20arrow

MLA

“fat arrow.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fat%20arrow. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fat arrow,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fat%20arrow.

Source: fat arrow on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.