pin

pin¹ S3 [pın] n

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1¦(for joining/fastening)¦

2¦(jewellery)¦

3¦(electrical)¦

4¦(bowling)¦

5 you could hear a pin drop

6¦(part of bomb)¦

7¦(golf)¦

8 for two pins I'd ...

9 pins

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[: Old English; Origin: pinn]

1.) ¦(FOR JOINING/FASTENING)¦

a) a short thin piece of metal with a sharp point at one end, used especially for fastening together pieces of cloth while making clothes

b) a thin piece of metal used to fasten things together, especially broken bones

2.) ¦(JEWELLERY)¦

AmE a piece of metal, sometimes containing jewels, that you fasten to your clothes to wear as a decoration

British Equivalent: brooch

3.) ¦(ELECTRICAL)¦

BrE one of the pieces of metal that sticks out of an electric ↑plug

▪ a three-pin plug

↑bowling ball, ↑shoes, ↑pin, ↑bowling

4.) ¦(BOWLING)¦

one of the bottle-shaped objects that you try to knock down in a game of ↑bowling

5.) you could hear a pin drop

spoken used to say that it is very quiet and no one is speaking

6.) ¦(PART OF BOMB)¦

a short piece of metal which you pull out of a ↑hand grenade to make it explode a short time later

7.) ¦(GOLF)¦

a metal stick with a flag at the top which marks the holes on a ↑golf course

8.) for two pins I'd ...

BrE old-fashioned used to say that you would like to do something to someone because they have annoyed you

▪ For two pins, I'd just send them all home.

9.) pins [plural] BrE informal legs

→↑drawing pin, ↑pin money, ↑pins and needles, ↑rolling pin, ↑safety pin

pin ²

pin² past tense and past participle pinned present participle pinning

v [T always + adverb/preposition]

1.) to fasten something somewhere, or to join two things together, using a pin

pin sth to/on sth

▪ Can you pin this to the notice board?

▪ He pinned the name tag on his jacket.

pin sth up

▪ She had photos of her kids pinned up next to her desk.

2.) to make someone unable to move by putting a lot of pressure or weight on them

pin sb/sth to sth

▪ He pinned her arms to her sides.

pin sb against sth

▪ Albert got him pinned against the wall.

pin sb down

▪ They managed to pin him down until the police arrived.

be pinned under/beneath sth

▪ Her body was pinned under the weight of the car.

pin down [pin sb/sth<=>down] phr v

1.) to make someone give clear details or make a definite decision about something

pin somebody/something<=>down to

▪ Did you manage to pin him down to a definite date?

▪ He's impossible to pin down.

2.) to understand something clearly or be able to describe it exactly

hard/difficult to pin down

▪ The flavour was hard to pin down.

3.) if soldiers etc involved in fighting are pinned down, they cannot move from their position because someone is shooting at them

▪ The rebels have been pinned down in a camp to the south of the river.

pin on / [pin sth on sb/sth] phr v

1.) to blame someone for something, often unfairly

▪ Don't try to pin the blame on me!

▪ They're trying to pin the murder on the boyfriend.

2.) pin your hopes/faith on sth/sb

to hope that something will happen or someone will help you, because all your plans depend on this

▪ Chris is pinning his hopes on getting into Yale.