pinion

¹ American  

[pin-yuhn] / ˈpɪn yən /

noun

1. Machinery.

   1. a gear with a small number of teeth, especially one engaging with a rack or larger gear.

   2. a shaft or spindle cut with teeth engaging with a gear.

2. Metalworking. a gear driving a roll in a rolling mill.

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pinion ² American  

[pin-yuhn] / ˈpɪn yən /

noun

1. the distal or terminal segment of the wing of a bird consisting of the carpus, metacarpus, and phalanges.

2. a feather.

3. the flight feathers collectively.

4. Chiefly Literary. the wing of a bird.

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verb (used with object)

1. to cut off the pinion of (a wing) or bind (the wings), as in order to prevent a bird from flying.

2. to disable or restrain (a bird) in such a manner.

3. to bind (a person's arms or hands) so they cannot be used.

4. to disable (someone) in such a manner; shackle.

5. to bind or hold fast, as to a thing.

   to be pinioned to one's bad habits.

pinion ¹ British  

/ ˈpɪnjən /

noun

1. poetic a bird's wing

2. the part of a bird's wing including the flight feathers

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verb

1. to hold or bind (the arms) of (a person) so as to restrain or immobilize him

2. to confine or shackle

3. to make (a bird) incapable of flight by removing that part of (the wing) from which the flight feathers grow

pinion ² British  

/ ˈpɪnjən /

noun

1. a cogwheel that engages with a larger wheel or rack, which it drives or by which it is driven

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Other Word Forms

• pinionless adjective
• pinionlike adjective
• unpinioned adjective

Etymology

Origin of pinion¹

First recorded in 1650–60; from French pignon “cogwheel,” Middle French peignon, derivative of peigne “comb,” variant of pigne, from Latin pectin- (stem of pecten ) “comb”; pecten

Origin of pinion²

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English pinion, pinoun, from Middle French, Old French penon, pignon “wing, pinion,” from Vulgar Latin pinniōn- (unattested), stem of pinniō, derivative of Latin pinna “feather, wing, fin”

Explanation

Many cars use rack-and-pinion steering, in which the steering wheel turns a small-toothed pinion gear, which engages the larger rack that turns the car's wheels. Pinions make steering easy and smooth. This is true for cars as well for birds — pinion can also refer to a bird's wing or a large wing feather. Pinion comes to English through Old French, but the word ultimately derives from Latin pinna, meant both "feather" and "battlement."

Example Sentences

Engineering-wise, the Next Gen car includes an independent rear suspension and rack and pinion steering that’s more reactive to slight driver adjustments.

From Washington Post • Feb. 19, 2022

There are a few attempts to pinion Vera, but something in the character keeps sliding out and away.

From New York Times • Feb. 20, 2019

Following in the audaciously silly footsteps of "The Book of Mormon" and "Spamalot," "Something Rotten!" is a Broadway musical that sets out to pinion you with laughter.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 10, 2017

WHY: The steering coupling can strip on the rack and pinion assembly and result in a loss of steering control and crash hazard.

From Seattle Times • May 6, 2016

LeVisqueux attached a pulley to a pinion he’d staked into the cave floor, then looped a cord through the pulley’s wheels.

From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein

Related Words

• confine
• constrain
• control
• curb
• curtail
• detain
• deter
• govern
• hamper
• hinder
• inhibit
• keep down
• kill
• limit
• prevent
• repress
• restrict
• subdue
• suppress