safety pin

See synonyms for safety pin on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a pin bent back on itself to form a spring, with a guard to cover the point.

Origin of safety pin

1
First recorded in 1855–60

Words Nearby safety pin

Other definitions for safety-pin (2 of 2)

safety-pin
[ seyf-tee-pin ]

verb (used with object),safe·ty-pinned, safe·ty-pin·ning.
  1. to secure or affix with a safety pin: to safety-pin a child's mittens to his coat sleeve.

Origin of safety-pin

2
First recorded in 1915–20

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use safety pin in a sentence

  • About his body hung an old duck jacket, so rotted with rust and mildew as to lend scant anchorage for one brass safety pin.

  • It was of the safety-pin order, but made of gold and ornamented with small emeralds set as a four-leafed shamrock.

    The Pillar of Light | Louis Tracy
  • Now to divide for the neck: K 34, and slip these st on to a safety-pin.

  • Safety-pin employed in the toilet of Edward VI when an infant.

  • Already in the safety-pin and scarf-pin we have had instances of fastenings which at times are ornamental.

    The Heritage of Dress | Wilfred Mark Webb

British Dictionary definitions for safety pin

safety pin

noun
  1. a spring wire clasp with a covering catch, made so as to shield the point when closed and to prevent accidental unfastening

  2. another word for pin (def. 9)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012