pinion
1 Americannoun
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Machinery.
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a gear with a small number of teeth, especially one engaging with a rack or larger gear.
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a shaft or spindle cut with teeth engaging with a gear.
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Metalworking. a gear driving a roll in a rolling mill.
noun
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the distal or terminal segment of the wing of a bird consisting of the carpus, metacarpus, and phalanges.
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a feather.
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the flight feathers collectively.
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Chiefly Literary. the wing of a bird.
verb (used with object)
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to cut off the pinion of (a wing) or bind (the wings), as in order to prevent a bird from flying.
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to disable or restrain (a bird) in such a manner.
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to bind (a person's arms or hands) so they cannot be used.
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to disable (someone) in such a manner; shackle.
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to bind or hold fast, as to a thing.
to be pinioned to one's bad habits.
noun
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poetic a bird's wing
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the part of a bird's wing including the flight feathers
verb
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to hold or bind (the arms) of (a person) so as to restrain or immobilize him
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to confine or shackle
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to make (a bird) incapable of flight by removing that part of (the wing) from which the flight feathers grow
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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pinionsimple
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pinionssimple
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have pinionedperfect
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has pinionedperfect
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am pinioningprogressive
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are pinioningprogressive
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is pinioningprogressive
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have been pinioningperfect progressive
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has been pinioningperfect progressive
Past
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pinionedsimple
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had pinionedperfect
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was pinioningprogressive
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were pinioningprogressive
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had been pinioningperfect progressive
Future
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”; see 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."
Vocabulary lists containing pinion
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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.
Inside, there were displays of timepieces from labels that have received international attention, including Christopher Ward and Fears, alongside many less well-known brands, such as Geckota, Isotope Watches, Pinchbeck and Pinion.
From New York Times • Apr. 13, 2024
“I have pledged to take action to ensure something like this never happens in Decatur again, and that process has begun in earnest,” Pinion wrote in a statement.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 8, 2023
Decatur Police Chief Todd Pinion wrote in a statement Friday that the department has completed an internal investigation into the Sept. 29 shooting of Steve Perkins.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 19, 2023
Pinion said what actually happened is the officers identified themselves as “police” and ordered Perkins to “get on the ground.”
From Seattle Times • Oct. 12, 2023
Then came the news that there was a big steamer on the Pinion Rocks—that the lifeboat could not reach her.
From The Hand Of Fu-Manchu Being a New Phase in the Activities of Fu-Manchu, the Devil Doctor by Rohmer, Sax
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.
