ninepins

[nahyn-pinz]

noun

1. (used with a singular verb),  tenpins played without the head pin.

2. ninepin, a pin used in this game.

ninepins

/ ˈnaɪnˌpɪnz /

noun

1. (functioning as singular) another name for skittles See skittle

2. (singular) one of the pins used in this game

Word History and Origins

Origin of ninepins¹

1570–80; nine + pin ( def. 12 )

Example Sentences

‘They are all fifty feet high. They’d knock us down like ninepins!’

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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.

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Her sleek looks, and ability to flirt and make men laugh, saw them fall like ninepins at her high-heeled feet.

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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.

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“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.”

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