pin

Pluralpins, PINs

Formspins, pinning, pinned

1. 1
   needle-like fastenernouncountable

   A short, slender fastener, typically of drawn steel wire, pointed at one end and finished with a flat or rounded head at the other, like an eyeless needle.

   The dressmaker kept a pin between her lips while she adjusted the sleeve.

   The tailor marked the hem with a row of pins before sewing it.

   Note

   The word once covered anything from a peg to a bolt: Old English pinn meant pin, peg and bolt, and Milton's "pins of adamant" in Paradise Lost (1667) fasten a bridge, not fabric. That sturdier meaning lives on in the pin that joins machine parts, while the dressmaker's pin is its slender everyday descendant. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • Old English pinn meant pin, peg and bolt and is the ancestor of English pin. en.wiktionary.org
   • John Milton wrote Paradise Lost, first published in 1667. christs.cam.ac.uk
   • Paradise Lost contains the words “pins of adamant”. en.wikisource.org
   • The pins and chains together secure the bridge across Chaos; the passage does not say that the pins secure chains. en.wikisource.org
2. 2
   secret numbernoun · PINacronym

   Short for personal identification number: a secret numeric code used to prove a person's identity, as with a bank card or phone.

   The ATM kept his card after he entered the wrong PIN three times.

   Her new phone asks for a PIN every time it restarts.

   UsageYou enter, change or reset your PIN. PIN number is widely used, though the N already means number.

   Note

   The letters are said as one word, exactly like the ordinary pin, so only the capitals tell the two apart on the page. Many people say PIN number, repeating the word number, and the phrase is common in everyday speech even though it is redundant.

3. 3
   fasten onverbtransitive

   To fasten or attach something with a pin, often to or on something else.

   The coach pinned the starting lineup to the locker-room door.

   Pin the pattern to the fabric before you start cutting.

   UsagePin something to or on something: pin a note to the board, pin a flower on a jacket.

   Similarattach, fasten, tack, fix

   Oppositeunpin, unfasten, detach

4. 4
   verbtransitive

   To hold someone down or press them against something so that they cannot move, as a wrestler does to an opponent on the mat.

   The senior pinned his opponent to the mat in the second period.

   Two officers had to pin the man against the wall to stop him from running.

   UsageOften pin someone to the mat or pin someone down; outside sport, pin down a fact means fix it exactly.

5. 5
   nounUScountable

   A small ornament, such as a badge or brooch, fastened to clothing with a pin or clasp and worn for decoration, identification, or to show support.

   Campaign volunteers handed out pins bearing the candidate's slogan.

   Each delegate wore an identification pin on her lapel.

   Similarbadge, button, brooch

6. 6
   keep visible (online)verbtransitive

   To attach an icon, application, message or similar item to another item, such as a taskbar, so that it stays there.

   Moderators pinned the rules to the top of the forum so new members would see them first.

   Pin the spreadsheet to your start menu if you use it every day.

   UsagePin something to a place: pin a message to the top. The opposite is unpin.

   Oppositeunpin

7. 7
   nouncountable

   A short rod or cylinder, often of metal or wood, used in a mechanism to join parts, act as a bearing, or stop parts from moving, as in a lock.

   Before using the extinguisher, pull out the pin that locks the handle.

   Old barns were framed with oak pins instead of iron nails.

   Similarpeg, dowel

8. 8
   plug contactnouncountable

   Any of the individual connecting parts of an electrical connector with several contacts, such as a plug.

   A bent pin inside the connector can stop the whole cable from working.

   The new connector has more pins than the old one, so it can carry more signals at once.

   Similarcontact, prong

   Note

   Connectors are often named by how many of these contacts they have, as in a three-pin plug, and a diagram called a pinout shows what each one carries. Strictly, a pin is the male contact; the hole it fits into is a socket, so a faulty connector may have a bent pin or a loose socket. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • Connectors can be described by their number of contacts, including three-pin plugs. bsigroup.com
   • A pinout diagram identifies the function of each pin. ni.com
   • A pin is the male contact, which fits into a female socket contact. te.com.cn
   • Bent pins are a recognized connector fault. ntrs.nasa.gov
   • A loose socket contact can be a fault requiring replacement. static.nhtsa.gov
9. 9
   bowlingnouncountable

   A slender object designed for use in a particular game or sport, such as bowling or skittles.

   He left a single pin standing in the corner and missed the spare.

   The old skittle alley used wooden pins that had to be reset by hand.

   Similarskittle

10. 10
    shoulders on matnouncountable

    In wrestling, the winning condition of holding an opponent's shoulders on the mat for a period set by the rules.

    A pin ends the match immediately, no matter how far behind on points the winner was.

    The challenger broke free just before the referee could count the pin.

    UsageWrestlers go for a pin, get a pin or win by a pin.

    Similarfall

    Note

    It is also called a fall, and in amateur wrestling it ends the match outright whatever the score, which is why a wrestler behind on points keeps hunting for one. Both shoulders have to be held down together; in professional wrestling the referee counts it, and a shoulder lifted before the count ends breaks the pin.

11. 11
    golf flagnouncountable

    In golf, the pole carrying a flag that marks where a hole is.

    Her approach shot landed softly and rolled to within a foot of the pin.

    With the pin tucked behind the bunker, most players aimed for the middle of the green.

    Similarflag, flagstick

    Note

    Flagstick is the formal name; in play golfers say pin and measure shots against it: a ball finishes close to the pin, and attacking the pin means aiming straight at it rather than at the safe middle of the green. Its place on the green is the pin position, and one set just behind a hazard is a tucked pin. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • The Rules of Golf formally call the pole marking the hole a flagstick. usga.org
12. 12
    nouncountable

    An icon placed on an electronic map to mark one exact spot.

    She dropped a pin at the trailhead so the rest of the group could meet her there.

    The app puts pins on every coffee shop within a mile of you.

    Similarmarker

    Note

    Drop a pin is the phrase most tied to this meaning. Dropping a pin marks a spot on your own map, but "drop me a pin" is a request: send me your location so I can find you. Send, share, put and place all work with it too, so a friend can share a pin as easily as drop one; what nobody does is draw or write a pin.

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