pinion
1 Americannoun
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Machinery.
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a gear with a small number of teeth, especially one engaging with a rack or larger gear.
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a shaft or spindle cut with teeth engaging with a gear.
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Metalworking. a gear driving a roll in a rolling mill.
noun
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the distal or terminal segment of the wing of a bird consisting of the carpus, metacarpus, and phalanges.
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a feather.
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the flight feathers collectively.
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Chiefly Literary. the wing of a bird.
verb (used with object)
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to cut off the pinion of (a wing) or bind (the wings), as in order to prevent a bird from flying.
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to disable or restrain (a bird) in such a manner.
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to bind (a person's arms or hands) so they cannot be used.
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to disable (someone) in such a manner; shackle.
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to bind or hold fast, as to a thing.
to be pinioned to one's bad habits.
noun
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poetic a bird's wing
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the part of a bird's wing including the flight feathers
verb
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to hold or bind (the arms) of (a person) so as to restrain or immobilize him
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to confine or shackle
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to make (a bird) incapable of flight by removing that part of (the wing) from which the flight feathers grow
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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pinionsimple
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pinionssimple
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have pinionedperfect
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has pinionedperfect
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am pinioningprogressive
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are pinioningprogressive
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is pinioningprogressive
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have been pinioningperfect progressive
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has been pinioningperfect progressive
Past
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pinionedsimple
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had pinionedperfect
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was pinioningprogressive
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were pinioningprogressive
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had been pinioningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pinion1
First recorded in 1650–60; from French pignon “cogwheel,” Middle French peignon, derivative of peigne “comb,” variant of pigne, from Latin pectin- (stem of pecten ) “comb”; see pecten
Origin of pinion2
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English pinion, pinoun, from Middle French, Old French penon, pignon “wing, pinion,” from Vulgar Latin pinniōn- (unattested), stem of pinniō, derivative of Latin pinna “feather, wing, fin”
Explanation
Many cars use rack-and-pinion steering, in which the steering wheel turns a small-toothed pinion gear, which engages the larger rack that turns the car's wheels. Pinions make steering easy and smooth. This is true for cars as well for birds — pinion can also refer to a bird's wing or a large wing feather. Pinion comes to English through Old French, but the word ultimately derives from Latin pinna, meant both "feather" and "battlement."
Vocabulary lists containing pinion
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Inside, there were displays of timepieces from labels that have received international attention, including Christopher Ward and Fears, alongside many less well-known brands, such as Geckota, Isotope Watches, Pinchbeck and Pinion.
From New York Times • Apr. 13, 2024
Decatur Police Chief Todd Pinion in October issued a public apology saying the department had initially given inaccurate information about the shooting.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 8, 2023
Pinion said Thursday that he and the mayor visited with Perkins’ family to deliver the news about the dismissals.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 8, 2023
“I ask for your patience until the investigative process is complete,” Pinion said.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 3, 2023
Pinion 6 slides up and down this shaft, which is square at this point, but round inside the loose pinion 4.
From How it Works Dealing in simple language with steam, electricity, light, heat, sound, hydraulics, optics, etc., and with their applications to apparatus in common use by Williams, Archibald
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
