pinfeather

American

[pin-feth-er] / ˈpɪnˌfɛð ər /

noun

Ornithology.

an undeveloped feather before the web portions have expanded.
a feather just coming through the skin.

pinfeather British

/ ˈpɪnˌfɛðə /

noun

ornithol a feather emerging from the skin and still enclosed in its horny sheath

"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

Etymology

Origin of pinfeather

First recorded in 1765–75; pin + feather

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Poor eagle—he scarcely has a pinfeather left by the time that H. L. Mencken, William Allen White, Sherwood Anderson and their kind are through with him.

From Time Magazine Archive

Famished after their uphill fight, they fell to and swallowed many a pinfeather in their eagerness.

From Time Magazine Archive

Other pinfeather fliers, who turned their checkered caps backward when they climbed into their planes, called him "The Dude."

From Time Magazine Archive

Hospital Tommy drew a pinfeather toothpick from under his smock.

From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison

Now a dark pinfeather is a blot upon the fair surface of a fine chicken or duck, and the thrifty housewife in selecting her dinner will always leave the pins behind.

From Natural and Artificial Duck Culture by Rankin, James

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023