bobby pin

American  

noun

1. a flat, springlike metal hairpin having the prongs held close together by tension.

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bobby pin British  

noun

1. Brit terms: hairgrip.   kirby grip.  a metal hairpin bent in order to hold the hair in place

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Etymology

Origin of bobby pin

1935–40, perhaps Bobby (proper name), by association with bobbed hair ( bob ² ), in which such pins are used

Example Sentences

Once those are done, she will find someone to trade the house for a bobby pin and try her luck a second time.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 15, 2021

But there are threats that we haven’t evolved to perceive, and need to learn about, which is why your kid won’t eat broccoli but will happily toddle toward an electrical outlet, bobby pin in hand.

From Washington Post • Sep. 3, 2020

Once handcuffed in a bathtub, he extracts a bobby pin from the tub’s drain using his tongue to free himself.

From New York Times • Apr. 20, 2020

If surgeons move the electrode by as little as the width of a bobby pin, they hold Frankensteinian power to play with a person’s emotions.

From Science Magazine • Sep. 14, 2018

In any case, the point I am making here is that there was nothing at all under the Good Night, Sleep Tight bed, not even a bobby pin.

From "Louisiana's Way Home" by Kate DiCamillo