عِنَاجٌ

A rope, or cord, (S, A, O, K,) or girth, (S, O,) or strap, (TA,) that is tied to the lower part of the large [leathern bucket called] دَلْو, (S, O, K,) or that is put beneath the دلو, (A,) and then tied to the cross-pieces of wood (العَرَاقِى), (S, A, O, K,) or to the loops, (TA,) so that it serves as an aid to the cross-pieces of wood and to the [thongs called] وَذَم [which bind those cross-pieces to the loops of the bucket]; for when these [thongs] break, it holds fast the دلو: (S, O:) and when the دلو is light, (S, O, K,) it is a string, (S, O,) or a light string, (K,) that is tied from one of the loops to one of the cross-pieces of wood (العراقى): (S, O, K:) or, as some say, a loop in the lower part of the bucket, inside it, which is tied by a cord or the like to the upper part of the [rope called] كَرَب [q. v.], so that if the rope [meaning the كرب, not the main rope,] break, it keeps the bucket from falling in the well: this is when the bucket is light: plural [of pauc.] أَعْنِجَةٌ and [of mult.] عُنُجٌ. (TA.) One says, لَا بُدَّ لِلدَّاءِ مِنْ عِلَاجٍ وَلِلدِّلَاءِ مِنْ عِنَاجٍ [It is absolutely necessary for the disease to have medical treatment, and for the buckets to have an عناج]. (A, TA.)

[Hence,] El-Hotei-ah says, (S, O, TA,) praising a people, or party, who concluded a covenant with their neighbour and faithfully kept it, (TA,)

قَوْمٌ إِذَا عَقَدُوا عَقْدًا لِجَارِهِمُ

شَدُّوا العِنَاجَ وَشَدُّوا فَوْقَهُ الكَرَبَا

(assumed tropical:) [A people who, when they conclude a covenant with their neighbour, (lit. tie a knot to their neighbour,) tie the عناج, and tie above it the كرب: i. e. make it doubly sure]. (S, O, TA.)

[Hence also,] قَوْلٌ لَا عِنَاجَ لَهُ (tropical:) The support, or foundation, of the affair; that upon which the affair rests, or whereby it subsists. (A, O, L, TA. [In the K, وَالأَمْرُ وَمِلَاكُهُ is erroneously put for وَمِنَ الأَمْرِ مِلَاكُهُ; as is said in the TA.]) Thus in the saying, لَا أَدْرِى لِأَمْرِكَ عِنَاجًا (assumed tropical:) [I know not any foundation to thine affair]. (O.) And عِنَاجُ الأَمْرِ إِلَى أَىِ سُفْيَانَ, occurring in a tradition, means (assumed tropical:) The management of the affair pertained to Aboo-Sufyán; he being to his companions like the عناج that bears the weight of the bucket. (TA.)

عِنَاجٌ signifies also A thing with which one draws, or pulls. (TA.)

And The nose-rein (زِمَام) of a she-camel; because she is drawn, or pulled, by means of it. (A, TA.)