ninepins

[ nahyn-pinz ]

/ ˈnaɪnˌpɪnz /

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See synonyms for ninepins on Thesaurus.com

noun

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

ninepin, a pin used in this game.

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Origin of ninepins

1570–80; nine + pin (def. 12)

Words nearby ninepins

nine days' wonder, nine-eleven, ninefold, ninepence, ninepenny, ninepins, nine plus two array, nine plus zero array, niner, nine-spot, nineteen

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.
Jack Harkaway's Boy Tinker Among The Turks|Bracebridge Hemyng
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.
The New Gresham Encyclopedia|Various

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

(functioning as singular) another name for skittlesSee skittle (def. 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

ninepins

Origin of ninepins

Words nearby ninepins

Words related to ninepins

How to use ninepins in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for ninepins