safety pin
11
1.0
- noun
- /ˈseɪfti pɪn/
- The jacket barely covered her breasts and was held together with a single big safety pin.
- fastened with a safety pin
- secure with a safety pin
- held together with safety pins
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Watch on YouTubeAnd I saved the dress with the safety pin in it.
- And I saved the dress with the safety pin in it.
- So you could perfectly add a brooch or safety pin or whatever to a top that you already own, you know, to create that sort of drapery.
- But I have to cut open with a knife every morning or or take a flame to a safety pin and cut open the boils to drain the pus.
Examples
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The left sleeve was empty, fastened with a golden safety pin.
Fiction book (1995) -
The zipper's gone; the front's held together with safety pins.
Fiction book (1998) -
- I can fix that, with a safety pin.
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Hey, do you have a safety pin?
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Do you have any more safety pins?
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Do you think you could find me some safety pins?
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Put a safety pin through the pieces every 8-10 inches or so.
Blog text (33) -
It was an old dress; other parts of the hem and waist had been held together with safety pins for months.
Fiction book (2000) -
He slipped into the jacket, opened the drawer, and fastened the spotted white ribbon to his lapel with a safety pin.
Fiction book (1993) -
I secured the hem of my dress with a safety pin to hold it in place.
Synonyms
284
1.0
A small metal or plastic object used to attach things to cloth
How Safe
- US
79
1.0
- Specialized
1
3.4
148
1.0
11
1.0
1
2.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal compound 'safety pin' (a pin associated with safety) is transparently composed from 'safety' + 'pin', so the physical object is predictable from the words. However, the listed sense—wearing a safety pin as a public symbol of solidarity or protection—is a culturally conventionalized pragmatic meaning that cannot be derived from the constituents alone, so learners without cultural exposure are unlikely to infer it.
Etymology
Safety pin comes from a small pin with a simple cover that hides the sharp point so it will not prick you. The picture of a pin with a cover that keeps people safe explains why the word means 'a pin used to fasten clothes safely'.