**Velcro** is that fastener made of two strips of fabric that grip each other when you press them together, and let go with a loud *rrrip* when you pull them apart. One strip is covered in tiny stiff hooks; the other is a field of soft loops. Push them together, the hooks catch the loops, and they hold. You meet it on children's shoes, sports shoes, jackets, bags, wrist braces, watch straps, cable ties, and blood-pressure cuffs — anywhere a fastener needs to be quick, adjustable, and usable by someone who cannot manage laces or buttons. A few things about how the word behaves: - Strictly, **Velcro is a brand name** — the company still insists the material be called *hook-and-loop fastener*. In real life nobody says that, and everyone says Velcro. This is the same story as *Google*, *Post-it*, or *Band-Aid*. - People write it both **Velcro** and **velcro**. Capitalised is the careful, correct-to-the-company form; small letters are what most people actually type. - It is uncountable in normal use: *a bit of Velcro*, *Velcro straps*, *fastened with Velcro* — not "two velcros." - It works as a **verb** too, informally: *"Velcro it shut,"* *"the flap velcros closed."* This is casual but completely normal. The origin is a nice story your students will remember: a Swiss engineer went walking, found burrs stuck all over his dog and his trousers, looked at them under a microscope, and saw the little hooks. He made the same thing out of nylon.

魔鬼氈（台灣最常用的說法）；正式名稱為「鉤面搭扣」。中國大陸多稱「魔術貼」或「粘扣帶」，台灣講「魔鬼氈」才自然