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thumbtack

thumbtack

7 1.8
A short pin with a wide flat head used to hold papers on a board
  • noun
  • /ˈθʌmˌtæk/
  • US
translation icon : chincheta
  • Red shakes his head and stands in front of the map, placing thumbtacks at crossroads indicated by the circle mark.

People just hitting each other in the face with damn shaving cream lotion and running around and putting thumbtacks on the stairs.

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Examples

  • The poster was held in place with several thumbtacks on the wall.

  • I almost want to put a thumbtack here, not a pin.

  • Last year the clinic spent over $100 just on thumbtacks.

  • All the photographs are hanging crooked like they are just old business cards stuck with thumbtacks.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • Adler surveys the map and sticks in a few more thumbtacks.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • Thumbtack holes dotted the pale yellow walls from the dozens of posters she'd hung up over the years.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • He mounted the posters with thumbtacks from an old corkboard that hung in the kitchen.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • She used a thumbtack to attach the document to the corkboard.

  • He removed the thumbtack carefully to avoid damaging the paper.

Synonyms

tack
vsthumbtack
17 2.2

A small nail with a flat head used to fasten things

is limited to fastening papers to boards or walls rather than general materials
pushpin
vsthumbtack
1 1.6

A small pin with a round head used to hold paper on a board

uses a broad flat head for fastening to boards or walls rather than rounded
drawing pin
vsthumbtack
  • UK
2.3

A short pin with a flat head that attaches paper to a wall or board

focuses on the broad flat head as the fastening surface
tintack
vsthumbtack
  • Archaic
9.6

A small metal nail used to hold light things like paper on a board

is used mainly for fastening papers to boards or walls not defined by metal

How Secure

nail
184 1.0
staple
28 1.0
thumbtack
  • US
7 1.8
tape
277 1.0
paperclip
6 1.0

Surface Forms

thumbtack singular
thumbtacks plural

Morphology

thumbtack = thumb + tack (transparent) = thumb + tack

The meaning ('a small tack intended to be pressed with the thumb') is directly and predictably compositional from 'thumb' + 'tack'.

Etymology

Thumbtack comes from the parts thumb and tack, literally 'thumb' and 'small nail', because people push the pin in with their thumb. That's why a thumbtack is a short pin with a flat head used to fasten papers to a board.