a spring wire clasp with a covering catch, made so as to shield the point when closed and to prevent accidental unfastening
another word for pin
First recorded in 1855–60
First recorded in 1915–20
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Adding insult to injury, to settle a debt, Hunt sold the 1849 patent rights for something that could have kept his legacy alive: the modern-day safety pin.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 12, 2026
The costume department must have used every safety pin in town.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 4, 2025
If the safety pin is still there the next time you declutter — meaning you haven’t worn the item in that time frame — it’s time to part ways.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 27, 2024
But when he continued, she realised that it was deliberate - and the safety pin she had used to keep her scarf in place "saved the day".
From BBC ● Mar. 19, 2023
With a big piece of cloth and a safety pin, my writing arm hangs in a sling.
From "Fish in a Tree" by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
The dozens of outfits to come hewed to the same concept — women in baby-themed dresses and suits, adorned with safety-pin earrings or teething rings, with whimsical matching handbags and gloves.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 9, 2021
There were reduxes of the famous spring 1994 safety-pin dress collection, and the candy-colored PVC Mod dresses of fall 1994, here, shown with clunky sneakers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 3, 2018
And on Sunday night in New York, Ms. Versace was at it again, reincarnating the notorious safety-pin gown of 1994.
From New York Times ● Dec. 3, 2018
A girl with spikily chopped hair and a safety-pin earring, a girl who was nonetheless Annagret.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 1, 2015
Then she would safety-pin the card to the front of your shirt, and you’d have to wear it for the rest of the school day.
From "Frindle" by Andrew Clements
He leaned on old ski poles with a blue washcloth safety-pinned to the back of his ball cap.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2025
He kept all his money safety-pinned in a little pocket inside his jacket and was constantly accusing people of having opened it up and stealing his money.
From National Geographic ● Apr. 14, 2018
From Beau Brummell’s commitment to dandyism in 1790s Mayfair to the safety-pinned punks stalking Camden in the 1970s, London has a long history of creating attention-grabbing menswear.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 13, 2015
The safety-pinned recollections of time spent in fashion designer Vivienne Westwood and punk impresario Malcolm McLaren's boutique Sex add texture to the story of punk fashion's beginnings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2014
The next day, just as soon as his grandfather drives out of sight, Boy21 reaches into his over-the-shoulder bag and pulls out a brown robe made from bath towels safety-pinned together.
From "Boy21" by Matthew Quick
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.
