belaying pin
- noun
- /bɪˈleɪɪŋ pɪn/
- Specialized
:
clavo de anclaje
- The sailor secured the rope to the mast using a belaying pin to prevent it from slipping.
Examples
-
I'll crack your skull with a belaying pin.
-
Ivor and the rest of his knights, however, wandered about the deck, looking at every fixture, pulling on the cables, hefting the belaying pins, and gathering around the single field piece, mounted on chocks amidships.
Fiction book (1990) -
You could have knocked me down with a belaying pin.
-
Both of the oversized mates wore both soft and hard knives and the ancient but dangerous belaying pins that were the symbol of their authority.
Fiction book (1991) -
Avast there, matey, or I'll belay you with this belaying pin.
-
I was careful to avoid the altercation still going on around the rear cargo hatch and picked my way through coils of rope, objects which I assumed to be belaying pins, and tumbled piles of sail fabric to a quiet spot in the bow.
Fiction book (1992) -
During the climbing lesson, the instructor showed us how to use a belaying pin to secure our ropes safely.
-
On the old ship, the crew relied on belaying pins to keep the sails firmly in place while at sea.
Synonyms
20
2.7
A small pin used to fasten or mark things
5
7.6
A strong metal loop with a spring gate that connects ropes or gear while climbing
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun is directly compositional: 'belay' means to secure or fasten a rope and 'pin' is a small fastener, so a 'belaying pin' is plainly a pin used to belay a rope. Although somewhat domain-specific (nautical/climbing), the meaning follows regular English compounding patterns and is predictable to a learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
The noun belaying pin comes from ships: a short wooden or metal pin set in the rail that sailors would wrap a rope around to hold a sail. Because sailors used the pin to 'secure a rope', the name now means the bar used to hold ropes on ships or in climbing.