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Glite Dictionary
pincushion

pincushion

4 4.2
A small firm cushion that holds pins and needles for sewing
  • noun
  • /ˈpɪnˌkʌʃən/
: almohadilla para alfileres
  • Miss Serenella snipped the thread and poked the needle into her pincushion.
  • pins in a pincushion
  • tomato pincushion
  • shaped pincushion

And it's like, no, a pincushion.

Examples

  • The colorful pincushion sat beside her sewing machine, ready for use.

  • She placed her sewing needles neatly into the pincushion for easy access.

  • I made it into a pincushion.

    Show Boat (1951)

  • And the tiny, airborne spikes of ice made it feel like I had just walked face-first into a pincushion.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • There were pennants and pompoms, a pincushion encrusted with award pins.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • Melba tosses a pincushion away and wipes off a wooden school chair with a rag.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • After sewing, he always returned his pins to the pincushion on the table.

Compounds

pincushion flower
1 8.1

A garden plant with round purple or red flowers that smell nice and attract butterflies

pincushion hakea
  • Australian
9.9

A tall bush from Western Australia with round red and yellow flowers

Surface Forms

pincushion singular
pincushions plural

Morphology

pincushion = pin + cushion (transparent) = pin + cushion

Clear compound of two common words: a cushion used specifically for holding pins, so the components directly yield the meaning.

Etymology

Pincushion is simply pin + cushion, which gives a clear picture of a small soft pad 'to hold' pins and needles while you sew. So a pincushion is literally a little cushion for pins, and that image makes the word easy to remember.