pin

 
Pronunciation: /pɪn/

noun

  • 1a thin piece of metal with a sharp point at one end and a round head at the other, used for fastening pieces of cloth, paper, etc..
  • a small brooch or badge: a gold and diamond lapel pin
  • Medicine a steel rod used to join the ends of fractured bones while they heal.
  • a metal peg that holds down the activating lever of a hand grenade, preventing its explosion.
  • a hairpin.
  • Music a peg round which one string of a musical instrument is fastened.
  • 2a metal projection from a plug or an integrated circuit which makes an electrical connection with a socket or another part of a circuit: [as modifier, in combination]: a three-pin plug
  • 3 Golf a stick with a flag placed in a hole to mark its position.
  • a skittle in bowling.
  • 4 (pins) informal a person’s legs: she was very nimble on her pins
  • 5 Chess an attack on a piece or pawn which is thereby pinned.
  • 6British historical a half-firkin cask for beer.

verb (pins, pinning, pinned)

[with object and adverbial]
  • 1attach or fasten with a pin or pins: he pinned the badge on to his lapel her hair was pinned back
  • 2hold (someone) firmly in a specified position so they are unable to move: she was standing pinned against the door Richards pinned him down until the police arrived
  • 3 [with object] Chess hinder or prevent (a piece or pawn) from moving because of the danger to a more valuable piece standing behind it along the line of an attack: the black rook on e4 is pinned

Phrases

(as) clean (or neat) as a new pin

extremely clean or neat.

for two pins I'd (or he'd, she'd, etc.) ——

British used to convey strong temptation to do something, typically from annoyance or irritation: for two pins I’d have tipped that bowl and all its contents over her

be able to hear a pin drop

used to describe absolute silence or stillness: there was a pause in which you could have heard a pin drop

pin one's colours to the mast

see mast1.

pin one's ears back

listen carefully.

pin one's hopes (or faith) on

rely heavily on: ministers were pinning their hopes on a big-spending Christmas

Phrasal Verbs

pin someone down

force someone to be specific or make a commitment: he’s very hard to pin down

pin something down

define or identify something precisely: the government’s ideology is bafflingly difficult to pin down

pin something on

attribute the blame or responsibility for something to (someone): they pinned the blame for the loss of jobs on the trade unions

Origin:

late Old English pinn, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch pin 'pin, peg', from Latin pinna 'point, tip, edge'