pin (pĭn)
n.

1. 1. A short, straight, stiff piece of wire with a blunt head and a sharp point, used especially for fastening.
   2. Something, such as a safety pin, that resembles such a piece of wire in shape or use.
   3. A whit; a jot: didn't care a pin about the matter.
2. A slender, usually cylindrical piece of wood or metal for holding or fastening parts together, or serving as a support for suspending one thing from another, as:
   1. A thin rod for securing the ends of fractured bones.
   2. A peg for fixing the crown to the root of a tooth.
   3. A cotter pin.
   4. The part of a key stem entering a lock.
   5. Music. One of the pegs securing the strings and regulating their tension on a stringed instrument.
   6. Nautical. A belaying pin.
   7. Nautical. A thole pin.
3. An ornament fastened to clothing by means of a clasp.
4. A rolling pin.
5. Sports.
   1. One of the wooden clubs at which the ball is aimed in bowling.
   2. A flagstick.
   3. See fall (sense ).
6. pins Informal. The legs: spry for his age, and steady on his pins.
7. Electronics. A lead on a device that plugs into a socket to connect the device to a system.
8. Computer Science.
   1. Any of the pegs on the platen of a printer, which engage holes at the edges of paper.
   2. Any of the styluses that form a dot matrix on a printer.
   3. Any of the small metal prongs at the end of a connector that fit into the holes in a port.

tr.v., pinned, pin·ning, pins.

1. To fasten or secure with or as if with a pin or pins.
2. To transfix.
3. To place in a position of trusting dependence: He pinned his faith on an absurdity.
4. 1. To hold fast; immobilize: The passenger was pinned under the wreckage of the truck.
   2. Sports. To win a fall from in wrestling.
5. To give (a woman) a fraternity pin in token of attachment.

adj.
Having a grain suggestive of the heads of pins. Used of leather.

phrasal verbs:

pin down

1. To fix or establish clearly: was finally able to pin down the cause of the disease.
2. To force (someone) to give firm opinions or precise information: The reporter pinned the governor down on the issue of capital punishment.

pin on

1. To attribute (a crime) to (someone): The murder was pinned on the wrong suspect.

[Middle English, from Old English pinn, perhaps from Latin pinna, feather.]

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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.

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