a spotlight that produces a narrow beam of light illuminating a very small part of a stage, used especially to focus attention on a detail.
the beam of light so produced.
First recorded in 1945–50
v. use of pin spot
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The pin-spot of light grew and broadened, and, as they approached it, they saw it was the winter sky.
From Betty Gordon at Boarding School The Treasure of Indian Chasm by Emerson, Alice B.
But Kate came in,—Kate in one of her fresh-looking pin-spot print frocks.
From In the Mist of the Mountains by Macfarlane, J.
One striking plot point involves Lisa falling in love — with a dress: “a froth of red pin-spotted white organza with a low neck, a tight bodice, a few deep ruffles over the shoulders.”
From New York Times ● Feb. 11, 2020
The boom was started by automatic pin-spotting equipment, introduced successfully for the first time by American Machine & Foundry Co. in 1952.
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
