A mechanical fastening for a door, gate, or lid; a simple sliding or hooking lock.
I undid the latch on the gate and went inside.
jaw joint
Archaic anatomical term for the temporomandibular joint. Not used in modern medical or everyday Japanese.
This latch is a bit stiff, so you'd better oil it.
In old documents, the jaw joint is sometimes written as 掛け金.
Standard kanji spelling for the latch/lock sense.
Variant spelling; less common than 掛け金.
Compound of 掛け (kake, 'hanging' or 'hooking') + 金 (kane, 'metal'), referring to a metal latch. The reading かけがね is a rendaku form of かけ + かね.