1. A slender bowling pin used in a variation of the game of tenpins.
2. also candlepins (used with a sing. verb) A bowling game using slender pins and a ball smaller than that used in tenpins.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.