bobby pin

American  

noun

bobby pins plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• bobby pins
  plural

Etymology

Origin of bobby pin

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bobby pin

She secured the $80,000 two-bedroom house after 18 months of trades that started with a lone bobby pin.

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

I give the knob a shake and then put the bobby pin away.

From "All The Bright Places" by Jennifer Niven