drawing pin
- noun
- /ˈdrɔɪŋ pɪn/
- UK
:
chincheta
- She used a drawing pin to attach the note to the bulletin board.
Examples
-
He pulled the card from the wall, the drawing pin landing on the wooden floor with a delicate tinkle, the card also dropping to the floor.
Fiction book (2002) -
Subjects received two blocks of wood, a packet of paper slides, a ruler, strips of paper, drawing pins, and at least 100 washers.
Academic text (1991) -
"I don't suppose you have any drawing pins on you, Maestro?" I asked nonchalantly.
Fiction book (1994) -
As usual, it opened on the second kind of darkness, but something bad from the dark came in with it: a large sheet of paper fixed with a drawing pin to the door's outer surface and hanging slightly askew.
Fiction book (2000) -
Background paper, pink, white, and russet brown, hung drunkenly from poles, from the backs of chairs, and from drawing pins on the black-painted walls.
Fiction book (1990) -
He had no idea what I was talking about but answered immediately: "Drawing pins are a sop for the royalist, for their prick reminds him of the polyvalent psychography of his animal tissues."
Fiction book (1994) -
The teacher instructed us to secure our project papers with drawing pins before presenting.
-
He found a drawing pin on the floor, which he used to hang up a flyer.
Synonyms
153
1.0
A small metal or plastic object used to attach things to cloth
7
1.8
A short pin with a wide flat head used to hold papers on a board
1
1.6
A small pin with a round head used to hold paper on a board
1
2.6
A thin piece of metal with a sharp end that holds cloth or paper
How Secure
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is a straightforward noun + noun composition: a 'drawing pin' is literally a pin used to fasten drawings or papers. If a learner knows 'drawing' in the sense of a picture or paper and 'pin' as a small fastener, the meaning follows directly and is predictable, despite regional synonyms (thumbtack/pushpin).
Etymology
Drawing pin comes from the simple idea of using a small pin to hold a drawing or paper on a board. So the name tells its job: 'to fasten' papers to a wall or noticeboard.