D defs.my
Menu ☰
Entry 13 senses · 4 variants Webster, 1913

Pin

/pĭn/ · IPA /pɪn/
01 v. t. To peen.
  1. 1.
    To peen.(Metal Working)
02 v. t. To inclose; to confine; to pen; to pound.
  1. 1.
    To inclose; to confine; to pen; to pound.
03 n. A piece of wood, metal, etc., generally cylindrical, used for fastening separate articles together, or as a support by which one article ma…
  1. 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.” — Milton.
  2. 2.
    Especially, a small, pointed and headed piece of brass or other wire (commonly tinned), largely used for fastening clothes, attaching papers, etc.
  3. 3.
    Hence, a thing of small value; a trifle.
    “He . . . did not care a pin for her.” — Spectator.
  4. 4.
    That which resembles a pin in its form or use(Mach.)
  5. 5.
    One of a row of pegs in the side of an ancient drinking cup to mark how much each man should drink.
  6. 6.
    The bull's eye, or center, of a target; hence, the center.[Obs.]
  7. 7.
    Mood; humor.[Obs.]
  8. 8.
    Caligo. See Caligo.(Med.) See: Caligo
  9. 9.
    An ornament, as a brooch or badge, fastened to the clothing by a pin; as, a Masonic pin.
  10. 10.
    The leg; as, to knock one off his pins.[Slang]
Phrases & compounds
Banking pin — a pin against which a lever strikes, to limit its motion.
Pin drill — 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 — 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 — a rail, usually within the bulwarks, to hold belaying pins. Sometimes applied to the fife rail. Called also pin rack.
Pin wheel — A contrate wheel in which the cogs are cylindrical pins
04 v. t. To fasten with, or as with, a pin; to join; as, to pin a garment; to pin boards together.
imp. & p. p. Pinned; p. pr. & vb. n. Pinning
  1. 1.
    To fasten with, or as with, a pin; to join; as, to pin a garment; to pin boards together.
Phrases & compounds
To pin one's faith upon — to depend upon; to trust to.