safety pin
noun
a pin bent back on itself to form a spring, with a guard to cover the point.
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safety pin
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safety-pin
safety-pinverb (used with object)to secure or affix with a safety pin.
safety pin
1 Americannoun
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safety pins
plural
safety-pin
2
American
[seyf-tee-pin]
/ ˈseɪf tiˌpɪn /
verb (used with object)
safety-pinned,
safety-pinning
safety pin
British
noun
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a spring wire clasp with a covering catch, made so as to shield the point when closed and to prevent accidental unfastening
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another word for pin
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of safety pin1
First recorded in 1855–60
Origin of safety-pin2
First recorded in 1915–20
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.
See Examples For:
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
Maralyn crafted a fishing line, using a safety pin from a first-aid kit and a piece of string, and survived on raw fish, turtles and small sharks.
From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2025
The clothing items found with her remains included a dark-green sweater with a white safety pin attached to the front, dark-green trousers and a long-sleeved pink sweater.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 14, 2023
“My safety pin busted out of my pants, as I was running,” Glasper joked while pulling up his pants on the Microsoft Theater stage after winning the award on Sunday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2023
The last time he found himself in this situation he'd used a safety pin to keep the pants closed.
From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan
She’s finding creative ways to safety-pin them on.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
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
Gianni Versace's safety-pin dress practically made Elizabeth Hurley a household name in 1994, and the red harness gown that Hilary Rhoda wore in the Dior 2007 haute couture show also on display certainly turned heads.
From Seattle Times ● May 7, 2013
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
No Values hits right in your safety-pinned sweet spot.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2024
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
After the cashier gave her the money, Mom went into a corner of the bank and stuffed it into a sock she’d safety-pinned to her bra.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
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.
