A lanyard is a rope or cord often worn around the neck or wrist to carry something. Aboard ship, it may refer to a piece of rigging used to secure objects, or to a cord with a hook at the end which is used to fire a cannon.

Pistol lanyards are designed to connect a pistol grip to a uniform on a semipermanent basis. A well made pistol lanyard can be easily removed and reattached by the user, but otherwise will stay connected to the pistol whether it is drawn or in a holster. A good pistol lanyard can be invaluable in an emergency, because it prevents the weapon from being dropped. In addition, some pistol lanyards use an elasticized plastic coil design that may slightly cushion recoil.

Many pistols are made with a small hole in the grip which will accept a lanyard. Several otherwise excellent pistol designs have been criticized for failure to include lanyard holes.

Lanyards have started to appear on consumer electronics devices. With increasing miniaturisation, many digital cameras and MP3 players (e.g. the iPod Shuffle) include lanyards, providing easy portablity.

Lanyard was also a codename for the KH-6 reconnaissance satellite