pinhole

[ pin-hohl ]

See synonyms for pinhole on Thesaurus.com

noun

a small hole made by or as by a pin.
a hole for a pin to go through; tiny aperture.

Origin of pinhole

First recorded in 1670–80; pin + hole

Words Nearby pinhole

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

How to use pinhole in a sentence

The pinhole camera on the front is 40MP, capable of shooting in 4K at 60fps.
Everything you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy S22 phones | Mike Epstein | February 9, 2022 | Popular-Science
The foundation’s staff had swept the place for bugs and found a camera hidden in the wall, pointed through a pinhole at Navalny’s desk.
The Man Putin Fears | Simon Shuster | January 19, 2022 | Time
Honestly, I’ve never loved the pinhole strategy for selfie cameras since I find it more intrusive than a notch at the edge of the screen.
Google Pixel 6 Pro smartphone review: Android’s homegrown hero | Stan Horaczek | October 25, 2021 | Popular-Science
The two compartments would be separated by a wall with a shutter covering a pinhole just large enough for a gas molecule to pass through.
Meet Maxwell’s gambling demon—smart enough to quit while it’s ahead | Jennifer Ouellette | March 4, 2021 | Ars Technica
Example: "Sam, you have no idea how big this thing was…It was like putting like a watermelon into a pinhole."
The Real Jersey Dictionary, Vol. 2 | Jaimie Etkin | October 21, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST

He has long worked with different types of photography, including pinhole cameras and camera obscura.
The Deadliest Art Ever | Jaimie Etkin | May 31, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
Let us say that such a thing occurs; you have pricked one pinhole too many round the corner of the mouth.
Stained Glass Work | C. W. Whall
(b) A small impurity in the rubber may dissolve in the acid and leave a minute pinhole.
The Automobile Storage Battery | O. A. Witte
Between eye and nostril, on either side, was the sinister "pinhole," that is the infallible mark of the poison-sac serpent.
Lad: A Dog | Albert Payson Terhune
The idea of photography as an art has been discussed no doubt ever since the invention of the pinhole.
Adventures in the Arts | Marsden Hartley
In a dark-room a light must be placed behind the pinhole, and a bit of ground glass held in front of the lens.
The Barnet Book of Photography | Various

British Dictionary definitions for pinhole

pinhole

/ (ˈpɪnˌhəʊl) /

noun

a small hole made with or as if with a pin
archery the exact centre of an archery target, in the middle of the gold zone

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

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