kingpin
Americannoun
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Bowling.
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Informal. the person of chief importance in a corporation, movement, undertaking, etc.
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Informal. the chief element of any system, plan, or the like.
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a kingbolt.
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either of the pins that are a part of the mechanism for turning the front wheels in some automotive steering systems.
noun
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the most important person in an organization
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the crucial or most important feature of a theory, argument, etc
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Also called (Brit): swivel pin. a pivot pin that provides a steering joint in a motor vehicle by securing the stub axle to the axle beam
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tenpin bowling the front pin in the triangular arrangement of the ten pins
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(in ninepins) the central pin in the diamond pattern of the nine pins
Etymology
Origin of kingpin
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.
“Less than 300 days ago, these cartel kingpins were free and unafraid,” Gordon said.
From Los Angeles Times
"We did not know that he was the kingpin," Hun Manet told AFP in Brussels, where he stopped as part of an international trip to shore up diplomatic support over a border conflict with Thailand.
From Barron's
The Mexican authorities and the US reported that US intelligence was involved in bringing down the kingpin, lending the operation a sense of cross-border cooperation which could benefit both governments.
From BBC
He has been Showtime’s forgotten kingpin, its lost leader, its missing warrior, a stylishly distant legend who had been overshadowed by the seven Lakers whose statues stand watch over the plaza outside Crypto.com Arena.
From Los Angeles Times
Hundreds of people dragged away suitcases, computer monitors, pets and furniture as they fled a suspected Cambodian cyberfraud centre, after the country's most wanted alleged scam kingpin was arrested and deported.
From Barron's
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.
