From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
pin
n 1: a piece of jewelry that is pinned onto the wearer's garment
2: when a wrestler's shoulders are forced to the mat [syn:
fall]
3: small markers inserted into a surface to mark scores or
define locations etc. [syn: peg]
4: a number you choose and use to gain access to various
accounts [syn: personal identification number, PIN,
PIN number]
5: informal terms of the leg; "fever left him weak on his
sticks" [syn: peg, stick]
6: axis consisting of a short shaft that supports something
that turns [syn: pivot]
7: cylindrical tumblers consisting of two parts that are held
in place by springs; when they are aligned with a key the
bolt can be thrown
8: flagpole used to mark the position of the hole on a golf
green [syn: flag]
9: a small slender (often pointed) piece of wood or metal used
to support or fasten or attach things
10: a holder attached to the gunwale of a boat that holds the
oar in place and acts as a fulcrum for rowing [syn:
peg, thole, tholepin, rowlock, oarlock]
11: a club-shaped wooden object used in bowling; set up in
groups as a target [syn: bowling pin]
v 1: to hold fast or prevent from moving; "The child was pinned
under the fallen tree" [syn: trap, immobilize,
immobilise]
2: attach or fasten with pins [ant: unpin]
3: pierce with a pin; "pin down the butterfly"
4: immobilize a piece
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Pin \Pin\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pinned; p. pr. & vb. n.
Pinning.] [See Pin, n.]
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.
[1913 Webster]
To pin one's faith upon, to depend upon; to trust to.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Pin \Pin\, v. t. (Metal Working)
To peen.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Pin \Pin\, v. t. [Cf. Pen to confine, or Pinfold.]
To inclose; to confine; to pen; to pound.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Pin \Pin\, n. [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.
[1913 Webster]
With pins of adamant
And chains they made all fast. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
2. Especially, a small, pointed and headed piece of brass or
other wire (commonly tinned), largely used for fastening
clothes, attaching papers, etc.
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3. Hence, a thing of small value; a trifle.
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He . . . did not care a pin for her. --Spectator.
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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.
[1913 Webster]
5. One of a row of pegs in the side of an ancient drinking
cup to mark how much each man should drink.
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6. The bull's eye, or center, of a target; hence, the center.
[Obs.] "The very pin of his heart cleft." --Shak.
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7. Mood; humor. [Obs.] "In merry pin." --Cowper.
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8. (Med.) Caligo. See Caligo. --Shak.
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9. An ornament, as a brooch or badge, fastened to the
clothing by a pin; as, a Masonic pin.
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10. The leg; as, to knock one off his pins. [Slang]
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (19 Sep 2003) [foldoc]:
PIN
Personal Identification Number