Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Pin

Pin

,
Verb.
T.
(Metal Working)
To peen.

Pin

,
Verb.
T.
[Cf.
Pen
to confine, or
Pinfold
.]
To inclose; to confine; to pen; to pound.

Pin

,
Noun.
[OE.
pinne
, AS.
pinn
a pin, peg; cf. D.
pin
, G.
pinne
, Icel.
pinni
, W.
pin
, Gael. & Ir.
pinne
; all fr. L.
pinna
a pinnacle, pin, feather, perhaps orig. a different word from
pinna
feather. Cf.
Fin
of a fish,
Pen
a feather.]
1.
A piece of wood, metal, etc., generally cylindrical, used for fastening separate articles together, or as a support by which one article may be suspended from another; a peg; a bolt.
With
pins
of adamant
And chains they made all fast.
Milton.
2.
Especially, a small, pointed and headed piece of brass or other wire (commonly tinned), largely used for fastening clothes, attaching papers, etc.
3.
Hence, a thing of small value; a trifle.
He . . . did not care a
pin
for her.
Spectator.
4.
That which resembles a pin in its form or use
; as:
(a)
A peg in musical instruments, for increasing or relaxing the tension of the strings.
(b)
A linchpin.
(c)
A rolling-pin.
(d)
A clothespin.
(e)
(Mach.)
A short shaft, sometimes forming a bolt, a part of which serves as a journal.
See Illust. of
Knuckle joint
, under
Knuckle
.
(f)
(Joinery)
The tenon of a dovetail joint.
5.
One of a row of pegs in the side of an ancient drinking cup to mark how much each man should drink.
6.
The bull’s eye, or center, of a target; hence, the center.
[Obs.]
“The very pin of his heart cleft.”
Shak.
7.
Mood; humor.
[Obs.]
“In merry pin.”
Cowper.
8.
(Med.)
Caligo. See
Caligo
.
Shak.
9.
An ornament, as a brooch or badge, fastened to the clothing by a pin;
as, a Masonic
pin
.
10.
The leg;
as, to knock one off his
pins
.
[Slang]
Banking pin
(Horol.)
,
a pin against which a lever strikes, to limit its motion.
Pin drill
(Mech.)
,
a drill with a central pin or projection to enter a hole, for enlarging the hole, or for sinking a recess for the head of a bolt, etc.; a counterbore.
Pin grass
.
(Bot.)
See
Alfilaria
.
Pin hole
,
a small hole made by a pin; hence, any very small aperture or perforation.
Pin lock
,
a lock having a cylindrical bolt; a lock in which pins, arranged by the key, are used instead of tumblers.
Pin money
,
an allowance of money, as that made by a husband to his wife, for private and personal expenditure.
Pin rail
(Naut.)
,
a rail, usually within the bulwarks, to hold belaying pins. Sometimes applied to the
fife rail
. Called also
pin rack
.
Pin wheel
.
(a)
A contrate wheel in which the cogs are cylindrical pins
.
(b)
(Fireworks)
A small coil which revolves on a common pin and makes a wheel of yellow or colored fire.

Pin

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Pinned
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Pinning
.]
[See
Pin
,
Noun.
]
To fasten with, or as with, a pin; to join;
as, to
pin
a garment; to
pin
boards together.
“As if she would pin her to her heart.”
Shak.
To pin one's faith upon
,
to depend upon; to trust to.

Webster 1828 Edition


Pin

PIN

,
Noun.
[L. penna,pinna.]
1.
A small pointed instrument made of brass wire and headed; used chiefly by females for fastening their clothes.
2.
A piece of wood or metal sharpened or pointed,used to fasten together boards,plank or other timber. The larger pins of metal are usually called bolts,and the wooden pins used in ship building are called treenails [trunnels.] A small wooden pin is called a peg.
3.
A thing of little value. It is not a pin's matter. I care not a pin.
4.
A linchpin.
5.
The central part.
6.
A peg used in musical instruments in straining and relaxing the strings.
7.
A note or strain.
8.
A horny induration of the membranes of the eye.
9.
A cylindrical roller made of wood.
10. A noxious humor in a hawk's foot.
11. The pin of a block is the axis of the sheave.

PIN

,
Verb.
T.
To fasten with a pin or with pins of any kind; as, to pin the clothes; to pin boards or timbers.
1.
To fasten; to make fast; or to join and fasten together.
Our gates--we have but pinned with rushes.
She lifted the princess from the earth, and so locks her in embracing, as if she would pin her to her heart.
2.
To inclose; to confine. [See the verbs Pen and Pound.]