straight pin
1
2.6
- noun
- /streɪt pɪn/
:
alfiler recto
- He hadn't come home after she'd sent him to the mall at four for a packet of straight pins and a carton of sherbet.
- tape and straight pins
- scissors and straight pins
- use straight pins
Examples
-
They found that straight pins worked better than glue alone.
Academic text (1994) -
I think mine currently consists of straight pins and a needle with an eye too tiny to actually thread and a thimble.
Blog text (28) -
"A straight pin just misses me, waist level."
Fiction book (1990) -
So it leaves like a loop, you know, And then I took a pin, a straight pin, and I attached it carefully to the top of the cage.
-
She was opening and closing the hem marker and making a row of straight pins around the dress.
Fiction book (1993) -
Even a standard vinyl LP can be played back using a Dixie cup and a straight pin... though not many times and not with great fidelity.
Blog text (9) -
She had dyed it solid purple and scratched a flowered pattern into it with a straight pin.
Fiction book (1996) -
She had small painful penances for these sins: pebbles in her shoes, ordered numbers of pricks with a straight pin.
Fiction book (1990) -
Visitors seeking good fortune deposited everything from scraps of cloth (left) to straight pins, hair, heather branches, and nail clippings (above).
Academic text (2008) -
She used a straight pin to fasten the hem of the dress.
Synonyms
153
1.0
A small metal or plastic object used to attach things to cloth
A short pin with a flat head that attaches paper to a wall or board
How Safe
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun phrase 'straight pin' is a simple adjective + noun combination whose meaning (a pin that is straight) is directly derivable from the known senses of 'straight' and 'pin'. It follows a basic, cross-linguistically common modifier + head pattern in English, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will understand the MWE.
Etymology
Straight pin is a short, pointed piece of wire used to hold cloth or paper in place. The word straight shows the wire is not bent and pin means a small fastener, so the name explains its use 'to fasten' or 'hold' things temporarily.