ninepins
Americannoun
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(used with a singular verb) tenpins played without the head pin.
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ninepin, a pin used in this game.
noun
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(functioning as singular) another name for skittles See skittle
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(singular) one of the pins used in this game
Etymology
Origin of ninepins
1570–80; nine + pin ( def. 12 )
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.
Melanie wasn’t sure they ought to use up one of Marshall’s tenpins; but April pointed out that there was nothing wrong with the game of ninepins.
From Literature
Her sleek looks, and ability to flirt and make men laugh, saw them fall like ninepins at her high-heeled feet.
From The Guardian
Records tumbled like ninepins as cinemas bruised by 2014's lacklustre takings got the perfect pick-me-up: namely, one must-see blockbuster after another.
From BBC
“Haunted?” said I. “Yes, indeed. There’s an old story says there are little men up here who play ninepins right down in that gorge in the twilight.”
From Literature
The resignation had echoes of the disaster that was John Major's "back to basics" policy, which saw ministers and Tory MPs falling like ninepins as their private lives were exposed.
From The Guardian
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.
