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piton

American

[pee-ton] / ˈpi tɒn /

noun

Mountain Climbing.

a metal spike with an eye through which a rope may be passed.

piton British

/ pitɔ̃, ˈpiːtɒn /

noun

mountaineering a metal spike that may be driven into a crevice of rock or into ice and used to secure a rope

"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 piton

1895–1900; < French: ringbolt, peak (of a mountain)

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.

Where to hammer a piton into rock or ice to secure a rope on which life might hang?

From New York Times • Oct. 31, 2017

I got as far as Walkaway, and I want to stick a pin in the board there, or hammer a piton into the side of the cliff, to help me find the next step there.

From The Verge • Jul. 16, 2017

It was like rock climbing: one piton stake at a time.

From Salon • Mar. 6, 2016

Beautifully photographed in Switzerland, James Ramsey Ullman's Banner in the Sky has become a sort of alpine Huckleberry Finn, with James MacArthur as the main piton in a juvenile adventure.

From Time Magazine Archive

A small wandering rain storm drifted against the tallest piton and split in two, one half going away down the coast and the rest passing close enough to us to shower the decks with drops.

From Jungle Peace by Beebe, William

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