orphanbolt
/ˈɔːfənˌbəʊlt/nounVerified NewA surplus screw, dowel, or bolt left over after furniture assembly, kept in a jar in case the furniture was hiding a reason for it.
Every household owns a jar of orphanbolts, and every jar member is suspected of being essential despite the furniture standing complete. Throwing one out is felt as a wager against the house. The jar grows monotonically and is eventually inherited.
Etym. — orphan + bolt — the part has lost its parent purpose but not its household standing.
Rel. — flatpacktruce
Novelty check: NEW · checked 2026-11-08
review evidence: wordstoreview/review-batch-3-08-home.md
Evidence log
No query log recorded.
Method: Editorial batch review — per-word exact-form web search (WebSearch/Tavily) per docs/REVIEW-criteria.md §2