Synonyms

drawing pin

American

noun

British.

a thumbtack.

drawing pin British

noun

US and Canadian name: thumbtack. a short tack with a broad smooth head for fastening papers to a drawing board, etc

"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

Etymology

Origin of drawing pin

First recorded in 1855–60

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.

The parents of a boy who died after he swallowed a drawing pin said he had been "the light of their lives".

From BBC • Jan. 15, 2024

Collectively, the array has a resolution equivalent to being able to see a drawing pin in New York from London.

From The Guardian • Jan. 11, 2019

Rosalie was in the study looking for a drawing pin wherewith to affix her illuminated card to the wall.

From This Freedom by Hutchinson, A. S. M. (Arthur Stuart-Menteth)

Last of all, suspended from its tail by a drawing pin, came a clockwork mouse, which had originally been the property of the Dumpling and was now spending its declining years as a motor-mascot.

From A Knight on Wheels by Hay, Ian

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023