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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pinions,
present (3rd person singular)
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pinioned,
past participle, past
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pinioning
present participle
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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.
See Examples For:
The loudest sounds were the rattling calls of red-shafted flickers flitting in pinion pines.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2022
Engineering-wise, the Next Gen car includes an independent rear suspension and rack and pinion steering that’s more reactive to slight driver adjustments.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 19, 2022
There are a few attempts to pinion Vera, but something in the character keeps sliding out and away.
From New York Times ● Feb. 20, 2019
WHY: The steering coupling can strip on the rack and pinion assembly and result in a loss of steering control and crash hazard.
From Seattle Times ● May 6, 2016
LeVisqueux attached a pulley to a pinion he’d staked into the cave floor, then looped a cord through the pulley’s wheels.
From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein
They are large, high-value parts with dozens of components, including ring gears and pinions, specifically made for GM’s trucks—and thus not easily substituted.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
Those presidents by and large left the architectural pinions of the institution intact.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 26, 2019
“I began to feel an invincible distaste for the same; & a longing to plume my pinions for a flight,” he explained.
From The New Yorker ● Jul. 22, 2019
Creating life from pinions and pivots and tiny screws may be the easy part.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 19, 2016
He faltered in the air as its pinions beat against his cheeks.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
She had her wings pinioned by previous owners, meaning she is unable to fly.
From BBC ● Dec. 9, 2025
Controversial newsmakers—Monica Lewinsky, Tonya Harding, Lorena Bobbitt among them—had the term pinioned to them like a scarlet letter, stripping away their accomplishments and leaving only scorned husks of their real selves.
From Salon ● Mar. 23, 2025
It was like peering onto another planet, one that was desolate and depleted and doomed, all of it pinioned by a noxious ozone.
From Slate ● Nov. 26, 2022
He had crewcut hair, a scar across his lip and lay as if pinioned to the bed, eyes wide with fear.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 22, 2019
This farmer took the goose home alive, pinioned it, bound up its leg, and turned it out with his own ducks and poultry in the farmyard.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
A plan called "Sea-sitter" envisioned pinioning minimissiles on a fleet of roving seaplanes.
From Time Magazine Archive
Matthias had relieved the sparrow of her brick hobble, pinioning her wings, make the going easier.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
Christopher loved his father, but it felt like being nailed down, pinioning them both to the ground.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
Before Hal could recover his composure, which had left him at being so suddenly accosted, the woman had thrown her arms around his neck, pinioning his hands to his side.
From The Boy Allies on the Firing Line Or, Twelve Days Battle Along the Marne by Clair W. (Clair Wallace) Hayes
Wogan gripped him the closer, pinioning his arms to his side.
From Parson Kelly by Andrew Lang
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