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Pin   /pɪn/   Listen
noun
Pin  n.  
1.
A piece of wood, metal, etc., generally cylindrical, used for fastening separate articles together, or as a support by which one article may be suspended from another; a peg; a bolt. "With pins of adamant And chains they made all fast."
2.
Especially, a small, pointed and headed piece of brass or other wire (commonly tinned), largely used for fastening clothes, attaching papers, etc.
3.
Hence, a thing of small value; a trifle. "He... did not care a pin for her."
4.
That which resembles a pin in its form or use; as:
(a)
A peg in musical instruments, for increasing or relaxing the tension of the strings.
(b)
A linchpin.
(c)
A rolling-pin.
(d)
A clothespin.
(e)
(Mach.) A short shaft, sometimes forming a bolt, a part of which serves as a journal.
(f)
(Joinery) The tenon of a dovetail joint.
5.
One of a row of pegs in the side of an ancient drinking cup to mark how much each man should drink.
6.
The bull's eye, or center, of a target; hence, the center. (Obs.) "The very pin of his heart cleft."
7.
Mood; humor. (Obs.) "In merry pin."
8.
(Med.) Caligo. See Caligo.
9.
An ornament, as a brooch or badge, fastened to the clothing by a pin; as, a Masonic pin.
10.
The leg; as, to knock one off his pins. (Slang)
Banking pin (Horol.), a pin against which a lever strikes, to limit its motion.
Pin drill (Mech.), a drill with a central pin or projection to enter a hole, for enlarging the hole, or for sinking a recess for the head of a bolt, etc.; a counterbore.
Pin grass. (Bot.) See Alfilaria.
Pin hole, a small hole made by a pin; hence, any very small aperture or perforation.
Pin lock, a lock having a cylindrical bolt; a lock in which pins, arranged by the key, are used instead of tumblers.
Pin money, an allowance of money, as that made by a husband to his wife, for private and personal expenditure.
Pin rail (Naut.), a rail, usually within the bulwarks, to hold belaying pins. Sometimes applied to the fife rail. Called also pin rack.
Pin wheel.
(a)
A contrate wheel in which the cogs are cylindrical pins.
(b)
(Fireworks) A small coil which revolves on a common pin and makes a wheel of yellow or colored fire.



verb
Pin  v. t.  (Metal Working) To peen.



Pin  v. t.  To inclose; to confine; to pen; to pound.



Pin  v. t.  (past & past part. pinned; pres. part. pinning)  To fasten with, or as with, a pin; to join; as, to pin a garment; to pin boards together. "As if she would pin her to her heart."
To pin one's faith upon, to depend upon; to trust to.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Pin" Quotes from Famous Books



... stood glowering while he sprang down and drew the wooden pin to open the wicket. Then, "You keep off my land," she ordered sharply. "I will, madam," he answered quietly, "as soon as I am satisfied it ...
— The Rim of the Desert • Ada Woodruff Anderson

... coronation; and, a little later, by solemn disenchantment warded off the ill effects of the Lincoln's Inn Fields incident, when a puppet of wax, representing Elizabeth, was found lying on the ground with a huge pin ...
— Historic Ghosts and Ghost Hunters • H. Addington Bruce

... inhabitants of Pau, on Whitsunday, found means to get into the castle before the bridge was drawn up, and were present at the celebration of mass, not being discovered until it was nearly over. At length the Huguenots espied them, and ran to acquaint Le Pin, secretary to the King my, husband, who was greatly in his favour, and who conducted the whole business relating to the new religion. Upon receiving this intelligence, Le Pin ordered the guard to arrest these poor people, who were severely beaten in my presence, and afterwards ...
— Marguerite de Navarre - Memoirs of Marguerite de Valois Queen of Navarre • Marguerite de Navarre

... in the solidity of the piano came from the iron frame, which was introduced tentatively, somewhere about 1821, in the form of what is now called a "hitch-pin plate," or half iron frame. About 1825 an American, Alpheus Babcock, of Philadelphia, patented a full iron frame, but it was imperfect, and nothing came of it. Conrad Meyer, of Philadelphia, in 1833, patented an iron frame and manufactured pianos with ...
— A Popular History of the Art of Music - From the Earliest Times Until the Present • W. S. B. Mathews

... Spanish Main. It is used both in medicine and in the arts. Shavings of the wood steeped in water were once considered a cure-all, hence the name. The wood is very hard, heavy, and is split with the greatest difficulty. It is therefore much employed in making mallet-heads, tool-handles, nine-pin balls, and pulley-blocks. In tropical countries it is employed for railway ties. West India ports are the chief markets, and the United States ...
— Commercial Geography - A Book for High Schools, Commercial Courses, and Business Colleges • Jacques W. Redway


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