pin

1 noun (C)

1 FOR CLOTH a short thin piece of metal with a sharp point at one end, used especially for fastening together pieces of cloth while making clothes

2 JEWELLERY

a) AmE an attractively shaped piece of metal, sometimes containing jewels, that you fasten to your clothes and wear as a decoration; brooch BrE

b) BrE a short thin piece of metal with a decoration at one end, used as jewellery

3 ELECTRICAL one of the pieces of metal that sticks out of an electric plug: a three-pin plug

4 FOR SUPPORT a thin piece of metal or wood used as a support for something, or to fasten things together: When I broke my leg, I had to have a pin inserted.

5 GAMES one of the bottle-shaped objects that you try to knock down in a game of bowling

6 you could hear a pin drop spoken used to say that it is very quiet and no one is speaking

7 for two pins I'd ... BrE old-fashioned used to say that you would like to do something to someone because they have annoyed you: For two pins, I'd tell him to get lost.

8 pins (plural) BrE informal legs

—see also: drawing pin, pin money, pins and needles, rolling pin, safety pin 2 verb pinned, pinning

1 (transitive always + adv/prep) to fasten something somewhere, or to join two things together, using a pin: pin sth together: Pin the pieces together before sewing them. | pin sth to/on/onto: Can you pin this to the notice board?

2 pin your hopes on to hope that something will happen or someone will help you, because all your plans depend on this: Chris is pinning his hopes on getting into Yale.

3 pin the blame on to blame someone for something, often unfairly: It's your fault - don't try to pin the blame on me!

4 (transitive always + adv/prep) to make someone unable to move by putting a lot of pressure or weight on them: pin sb to/under: Inthe accident she was pinned under the car.

5 pin your ears back! BrE spoken used to tell someone to listen carefully

pin sb/sth down phrasal verb (T)

1 to make someone give clear details or make a definite decision about something: I've been trying to pin him down all week, but he won't say what's going on.

2 to understand something clearly or be able to describe it exactly: We know someone's been stealing, but it's difficult to pin down who it is.