pin money
noun
any small sum set aside for nonessential minor expenditures.
(formerly) an allowance of money given by a husband to his wife for her personal expenditures.
Nearby words
Origin of pin money
First recorded in 1535–45
Related formspin-mon·ey, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for pin money
British Dictionary definitions for pin money
pin money
noun
an allowance by a husband to his wife for personal expenditure
money saved or earned to be used for incidental expenses
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Idioms and Phrases with pin money
pin money
Small amounts of money for incidental expenses, as in Grandma usually gives the children some pin money whenever she visits. This expression originally signified money given by a husband to his wife for small personal expenditures such as pins, which were very costly items in centuries past. A will recorded at York in 1542 listed a bequest: “I give my said daughter Margarett my lease of the parsonage . . . to buy her pins.” [Early 1500s]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
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