See put a pin in in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for put a pin in meaning in English (5.5kB)
{
"etymology_text": "Metaphors that arise from various uses of pins, including popping a balloon, pinning in place, and marking with a pin (such as a map position) so that something can be found quickly later.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "puts a pin in",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "putting a pin in",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "put a pin in",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "put a pin in",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "puts a pin in",
"2": "putting a pin in",
"3": "put a pin in"
},
"expansion": "put a pin in (third-person singular simple present puts a pin in, present participle putting a pin in, simple past and past participle put a pin in)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1897 December, “Editorial: Bric-A-Brac”, in Music, volume 13, page 218",
"text": "Another has heard the Thomas orchestra play the overture, or remembers how well the orchestra under Mancinelli came out with the fine touches of the music, and this one puts a pin in the orchestra. The music critic, that microcosm of the tonal world, has heard all these things, and he puts a pin in every one of them and goes home and looks in the glass to find the halo due him for having performed a virtuous act .",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1973, Andreas Fuglesang, The Story of a Seminar in Applied Communication, page 12",
"text": "On the other hand, the lecture which puts a pin in professional egos and provokes opposition, may well turn out to carry the seed to future professional growth.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2008, Bethann Siviter, The Newly Qualified Nurse's Handbook, page 108",
"text": "Let me put a pin in a few hierarchical myths: ○ Doctors are smarter/better/more important than nurses: nope, they just have more knowledge and experience in a particular area than you do.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To discredit or ridicule; to deflate someone or something that is pompous or overly esteemed."
],
"id": "en-put_a_pin_in-en-verb-IsP2bDAr",
"links": [
[
"discredit",
"discredit"
],
[
"ridicule",
"ridicule"
],
[
"deflate",
"deflate"
],
[
"pompous",
"pompous"
]
]
},
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2012, Aaron Doolittle, Twenty-Nine, page 132",
"text": "Every time he seemed to have a notion of what, why and when, whenever he seemed to be able to put a pin in that ever elusive cause, that ghost that was to blame, whoever it belonged to it would suddenly and without warning disappear.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2015, Paul Prescott, Erin Sullivan, Shakespeare on the Global Stage, page 22",
"text": "As Boyce wrote: I could sense that there was some expectation that [the Opening Ceremony] would put a pin in the national identity, that we would have to decide — is Britain rural or urban, ancient or modern, riot or clean-up, roundhead or cavalier, multi-cultural or divided?",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To make something certain; to nail down."
],
"id": "en-put_a_pin_in-en-verb--o58v2GL",
"links": [
[
"certain",
"certain"
],
[
"nail down",
"nail down"
]
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "15 14 55 16",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2011, Stephen J. Cannell, Vigilante",
"text": "“Remember that gay unsub in Santa Monica who killed boys on their twenty-first birthdays? He brought them home, sat them up at his dinner table, and served the corpses birthday cake.” “Okay, let's put a pin in that for a minute. We don't know why he actually cooked a Cajun dinner, but let's assume he did.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2011, Christine O'Donnell, Troublemaker: Let's Do What It Takes to Make America Great Again, page 116",
"text": "As long as I'm on this subject, let me put a pin in the narrative for another few lines so I can close out the story of my undergraduate career, which by now had been dragging on for way longer than necessary.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2017, Dean Koontz, The Silent Corner, page 238",
"text": "Investigations of crimes continued 24/7, but in cases where no lives hung in the balance and national security was not an issue, the Bureau cranked down the intensity of its work on Saturday and Sunday. Nathan could justify putting a pin in the matter of Jane Hawk until Monday.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To postpone; to stop focusing or working on (something) until it can be finished at a later time."
],
"id": "en-put_a_pin_in-en-verb-YfAKJ9bV",
"links": [
[
"postpone",
"postpone"
],
[
"finish",
"finish"
]
]
},
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1949, Eugène Jolas, Transition Workshop, page 156",
"text": "A woman makes a wax man, puts a pin in its chest; and the man dies.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2005, Keith Dixon, Ghostfires",
"text": "They're going to put a pin in my femur.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2014, Jennifer Fulton, Quilting, page 194",
"text": "Lay down the binding on the left, and put a pin in the quilt to mark where it ends.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2015, Daniel Handler, We Are Pirates, page 215",
"text": "Every time we get a tip, we put a pin in this map.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see put, pin, in."
],
"id": "en-put_a_pin_in-en-verb-NmfTP6Nq",
"links": [
[
"put",
"put#English"
],
[
"pin",
"pin#English"
],
[
"in",
"in#English"
]
],
"related": [
{
"_dis1": "3 6 9 82",
"word": "put in the pin"
}
]
}
],
"word": "put a pin in"
}
{
"categories": [
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English verbs"
],
"etymology_text": "Metaphors that arise from various uses of pins, including popping a balloon, pinning in place, and marking with a pin (such as a map position) so that something can be found quickly later.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "puts a pin in",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "putting a pin in",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "put a pin in",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "put a pin in",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "puts a pin in",
"2": "putting a pin in",
"3": "put a pin in"
},
"expansion": "put a pin in (third-person singular simple present puts a pin in, present participle putting a pin in, simple past and past participle put a pin in)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"related": [
{
"word": "put in the pin"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1897 December, “Editorial: Bric-A-Brac”, in Music, volume 13, page 218",
"text": "Another has heard the Thomas orchestra play the overture, or remembers how well the orchestra under Mancinelli came out with the fine touches of the music, and this one puts a pin in the orchestra. The music critic, that microcosm of the tonal world, has heard all these things, and he puts a pin in every one of them and goes home and looks in the glass to find the halo due him for having performed a virtuous act .",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1973, Andreas Fuglesang, The Story of a Seminar in Applied Communication, page 12",
"text": "On the other hand, the lecture which puts a pin in professional egos and provokes opposition, may well turn out to carry the seed to future professional growth.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2008, Bethann Siviter, The Newly Qualified Nurse's Handbook, page 108",
"text": "Let me put a pin in a few hierarchical myths: ○ Doctors are smarter/better/more important than nurses: nope, they just have more knowledge and experience in a particular area than you do.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To discredit or ridicule; to deflate someone or something that is pompous or overly esteemed."
],
"links": [
[
"discredit",
"discredit"
],
[
"ridicule",
"ridicule"
],
[
"deflate",
"deflate"
],
[
"pompous",
"pompous"
]
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2012, Aaron Doolittle, Twenty-Nine, page 132",
"text": "Every time he seemed to have a notion of what, why and when, whenever he seemed to be able to put a pin in that ever elusive cause, that ghost that was to blame, whoever it belonged to it would suddenly and without warning disappear.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2015, Paul Prescott, Erin Sullivan, Shakespeare on the Global Stage, page 22",
"text": "As Boyce wrote: I could sense that there was some expectation that [the Opening Ceremony] would put a pin in the national identity, that we would have to decide — is Britain rural or urban, ancient or modern, riot or clean-up, roundhead or cavalier, multi-cultural or divided?",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To make something certain; to nail down."
],
"links": [
[
"certain",
"certain"
],
[
"nail down",
"nail down"
]
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2011, Stephen J. Cannell, Vigilante",
"text": "“Remember that gay unsub in Santa Monica who killed boys on their twenty-first birthdays? He brought them home, sat them up at his dinner table, and served the corpses birthday cake.” “Okay, let's put a pin in that for a minute. We don't know why he actually cooked a Cajun dinner, but let's assume he did.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2011, Christine O'Donnell, Troublemaker: Let's Do What It Takes to Make America Great Again, page 116",
"text": "As long as I'm on this subject, let me put a pin in the narrative for another few lines so I can close out the story of my undergraduate career, which by now had been dragging on for way longer than necessary.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2017, Dean Koontz, The Silent Corner, page 238",
"text": "Investigations of crimes continued 24/7, but in cases where no lives hung in the balance and national security was not an issue, the Bureau cranked down the intensity of its work on Saturday and Sunday. Nathan could justify putting a pin in the matter of Jane Hawk until Monday.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To postpone; to stop focusing or working on (something) until it can be finished at a later time."
],
"links": [
[
"postpone",
"postpone"
],
[
"finish",
"finish"
]
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1949, Eugène Jolas, Transition Workshop, page 156",
"text": "A woman makes a wax man, puts a pin in its chest; and the man dies.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2005, Keith Dixon, Ghostfires",
"text": "They're going to put a pin in my femur.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2014, Jennifer Fulton, Quilting, page 194",
"text": "Lay down the binding on the left, and put a pin in the quilt to mark where it ends.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2015, Daniel Handler, We Are Pirates, page 215",
"text": "Every time we get a tip, we put a pin in this map.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see put, pin, in."
],
"links": [
[
"put",
"put#English"
],
[
"pin",
"pin#English"
],
[
"in",
"in#English"
]
]
}
],
"word": "put a pin in"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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