pin

Universal Words noun, verb noun for fastening / joining 1 a short thin piece of stiff wire with a sharp point at one end and a round head at the other, used especially for fastening together pieces of fabric when sewing seealsoBOBBYPIN, DRAWINGPIN, HAIRPIN, LINCHPIN, PINSANDNEEDLES, SAFETYPIN jewellery 2 a short thin piece of stiff wire with a sharp point at one end and an item of decoration at the other, worn as jewellery: a diamond pin seealsoTIEPIN 3 (especially AmE) = BROOCH badge 4 (especially AmE) a type of BADGE that is fastened with a pin at the back: He supports the group and wears its pin on his lapel. medical 5 a piece of steel used to support a bone in your body when it has been broken: The pin in her spine will have to be changed as she grows. electrical 6 one of the metal parts that stick out of an electric PLUG and fit into a SOCKET: a 2-pin plug in games 7 a wooden or plastic object that is shaped like a bottle and that players try to knock down in games such as BOWLING seealsoNINEPINS, TENPIN in golf 8 a stick with a flag on top of it, placed in a hole so that players can see where they are aiming for: The ball stopped five feet short of the pin. seealsoLINCHPIN legs 9 (pins) [pl.] (informal) a person's legs: He's not as quick on his pins as he used to be. on small bomb 10 a small piece of metal on a HANDGRENADE that stops it from exploding and is pulled out just before the HANDGRENADE is thrown IDIOMS for two pins (old-fashioned, BrE) used to say that you would like to do sth, even though you know that it would not be sensible: I'd kill him for two pins. * For two pins I'd tell her what I really think of her. moreatHEAR verb (-nn-) [VN+adv./prep.] fasten / join 1 to attach sth onto another thing or fasten things together with a pin, etc: She pinned the badge onto her jacket. * A message had been pinned to the notice board. * Pin all the pieces of material together. * She always wears her hair pinned back. prevent movement 2 to make sb unable to move by holding them or pressing them against sth: They pinned him against a wall and stole his wallet. * He grabbed her arms and pinned them to her sides. * They found him pinned under the wreckage of the car. IDIOMS pin (all) your hopes on sb/sth