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Glite Dictionary
⚙️ A small gear 🪶 A flight feather 🤐 To tie up ✂️ To clip wings
to pinion

to pinion

9.9
To cut a bird's wing feathers so it cannot fly
  • verb
  • /ˈpɪn.jən/
  • NSFW
translation icon : pinionar
  • The keepers pinioned the swans as part of routine management at the reserve.

Examples

  • He objected to the practice of pinioning birds, considering it cruel and unnecessary.

  • Farmers sometimes pinion the geese to prevent them from escaping the enclosure.

  • Don't pinion the bird!

  • The farmer pinioned the bird to prevent it from escaping.

  • The farmer decided to pinion the bird's wings to ensure it wouldn't escape the enclosure.

  • To protect the young birds, the caretaker had to pinion them before they learned to fly.

  • It's important to pinion domesticated birds if they might fly away and get lost.

Compounds

rack and pinion
  • Specialized
1 6.0

A round gear and a flat bar with teeth that change turning into straight movement

lantern pinion
  • Specialized
9.9

A small wheel used in clocks that has short metal bars instead of teeth

pinion and crown wheel
  • UK
9.3

A pair of gears in a car that turn motion at a right angle

pinion and ring gear
  • Specialized
8.0

Gears that fit together at a right angle to send power between car axles

How Flightless

to mutilate
  • NSFW
73 7.4
to pinion
  • NSFW
9.9
clip
15 1.3
trim
33 2.5

Surface Forms

pinion infinitive
pinioned past
pinioned past participle
pinioning present participle
pinions third person singular

Etymology

Pinion as a verb meaning to cut a bird's wing feathers comes from the bird sense: to pinion a bird is to remove or cut its pinions so it cannot fly.