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Glite Dictionary
tenpin

tenpin

1 6.5
One of the ten pins in the game of bowling that you knock down with a ball
  • noun
  • /ˈtɛnˌpɪn/
translation icon : boliche
  • Yeah, well... nothing like watching the tenpins fall, huh?

Examples

  • The Elf-Eater p99 barged forward, barreling into the scattered pikemen and sending them tumbling like tenpins.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • Barney, Fred, and Piltdown roll right into the cops, who go flying like (what else?) tenpins, complete with appropriate sound.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • He also has a lousy disposition and runs through secretaries like a bowling ball through tenpins.

    Shining Through (1992)

  • Watching the bowling ball strike the tenpins was the highlight of the night.

  • He skillfully knocked down all the tenpins in just one throw.

  • The players cheered as the tenpins scattered across the lane.

Synonyms

pin
vstenpin
49 1.3

A wooden object shaped like a club set up to be knocked down in bowling

is the particular bottle-shaped target counted as one of ten in the game
bowling pin
vstenpin
3 1.4

A heavy wooden thing shaped like a club that players try to knock down in bowling

is one specific bottle-shaped target among those arranged in groups of ten

Compounds

tenpin bowling
2.5

A game where players roll a heavy ball down a lane to knock down ten pins arranged in a triangle

Surface Forms

tenpin singular
tenpins plural

Morphology

tenpin = ten + pin (transparent) = ten + pin

The word 'tenpin' is a clear compound of 'ten' and 'pin', referring to one of the ten pins used in bowling.

Etymology

Tenpin comes from the two parts ten and pin, where 'ten' is the number and 'pin' is a small wooden target shaped like a bottle used in bowling. So a tenpin is simply one of the ten pins a bowler tries to knock down.