ninepins

[ nahyn-pinz ]
See synonyms for ninepins on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. (used with a singular verb) tenpins played without the head pin.

  2. ninepin, a pin used in this game.

Origin of ninepins

1
1570–80; nine + pin (def. 12)

Words Nearby ninepins

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use ninepins in a sentence

  • The result was rather bad for the Turks; they went down like a lot of ninepins before Mole's railway-like progression.

  • Three Brazilians went down like ninepins; the rest turned and fled precipitately.

    Martin Rattler | R.M. Ballantyne
  • Tom Richardson, the last man in for England, made sixty-two, while some who shall be nameless went down like ninepins in the van.

    Witching Hill | E. W. Hornung
  • Russian fortresses continued for another month to fall like ninepins before the Austro-German armies.

  • To quote one of our Fusiliers, "they fell like ninepins" at each discharge.

    Dixmude | Charles Le Goffic

British Dictionary definitions for ninepins

ninepins

/ (ˈnaɪnˌpɪnz) /


noun
  1. (functioning as singular) another name for skittles: See skittle (def. 2)

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

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