thumbtack

[ thuhm-tak ]
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noun
  1. a tack with a large, flat head, designed to be thrust into a board or other fairly soft object or surface by the pressure of the thumb.

verb (used with object)
  1. to attach or tack by means of a thumbtack.

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Origin of thumbtack

1
An Americanism dating back to 1880–85; thumb + tack1

Words Nearby thumbtack

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

How to use thumbtack in a sentence

  • The latter she suspended by a thumbtack beside the mirror of her bureau.

    Out of the Air | Inez Haynes Irwin
  • She took the miniature, thumbtack and all, from the wall, 183 and put it in her wrist bag.

    Out of the Air | Inez Haynes Irwin

British Dictionary definitions for thumbtack

thumbtack

/ (ˈθʌmˌtæk) /


noun
  1. mainly US and Canadian a short tack with a broad smooth head for fastening papers to a drawing board, etc: Also called (esp in Britain): drawing pin

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