Adjacent Words

Pinion definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PINION, n. pin'yon.
1. The joint of a fowl's wing, remotest from the body.
2. A fether; a quill.
3. A wing.
Hope humbly then, on trembling pinions soar.
4. The tooth of a smaller wheel, answering to that of a larger.
5. Fetters or bands for the arms.
PINION, v.t. pin'yon. To bind or confine the wings.
1. To confine by binding the wings.
2. To cut off the first joint of the wing.
3. To bind or confine the arm or arms to the body.
4. To confine; to shackle; to chain; as, to be pinioned by formal rules of state.
5. To bind; to fasten to.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a gear with a small number of teeth designed to mesh with a larger wheel or rack
2: any of the larger wing or tail feathers of a bird [syn: flight feather, pinion, quill, quill feather]
3: wing of a bird [syn: pennon, pinion] v
1: bind the arms of [syn: pinion, shackle]
2: cut the wings off (of birds)

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, probably modification of Anglo-French *empignon, enpenoun flight feathers, ultimately from Vulgar Latin *pinnion-, pinnio, from Latin pinna feather — more at pen Date: 15th century 1. the terminal section of a bird's wing including the carpus, metacarpus, and phalanges; broadly wing 2. feather, quill; also flight feathers • pinioned adjective II. transitive verb Date: 1558 1. a. to disable or restrain by binding the arms b. to bind fast ; shackle 2. to restrain (a bird) from flight especially by cutting off the pinion of one wing III. noun Etymology: French pignon, from Middle French peignon, from peigne comb, from Latin pecten — more at pectinate Date: 1659 1. a gear with a small number of teeth designed to mesh with a larger wheel or rack 2. the smaller of a pair or the smallest of a train of gear wheels

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. & v. --n. 1 the outer part of a bird's wing, usu. including the flight feathers. 2 poet. a wing; a flight-feather. --v.tr. 1 cut off the pinion of (a wing or bird) to prevent flight. 2 a bind the arms of (a person). b (often foll. by to) bind (the arms, a person, etc.) esp. to a thing. Etymology: ME f. OF pignon ult. f. L pinna: see PIN 2. n. 1 a small cog-wheel engaging with a larger one. 2 a cogged spindle engaging with a wheel. Etymology: F pignon alt. f. obs. pignol f. L pinea pine-cone (as PINE(1))

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Pinion Pin"ion, n. (Zo["o]l.) A moth of the genus Lithophane, as L. antennata, whose larva bores large holes in young peaches and apples.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Pinion Pin"ion, n. [OF. pignon a pen, F., gable, pinion (in sense 5); cf. Sp. pi[~n]on pinion; fr. L. pinna pinnacle, feather, wing. See Pin a peg, and cf. Pen a feather, Pennat, Pennon.] 1. A feather; a quill. --Shak. 2. A wing, literal or figurative. Swift on his sooty pinions flits the gnome. --Pope. 3. The joint of bird's wing most remote from the body. --Johnson. 4. A fetter for the arm. --Ainsworth. 5. (Mech.) A cogwheel with a small number of teeth, or leaves, adapted to engage with a larger wheel, or rack (see Rack); esp., such a wheel having its leaves formed of the substance of the arbor or spindle which is its axis. Lantern pinion. See under Lantern. Pinion wire, wire fluted longitudinally, for making the pinions of clocks and watches. It is formed by being drawn through holes of the shape required for the leaves or teeth of the pinions.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Pinion Pin"ion, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pinioned; p. pr. & vb. n. Pinioning.] 1. To bind or confine the wings of; to confine by binding the wings. --Bacon. 2. To disable by cutting off the pinion joint. --Johnson. 3. To disable or restrain, as a person, by binding the arms, esp. by binding the arms to the body. --Shak. Her elbows pinioned close upon her hips. --Cowper. 4. Hence, generally, to confine; to bind; to tie up. ``Pinioned up by formal rules of state.'' --Norris.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(pinions, pinioning, pinioned) If you are pinioned, someone prevents you from moving or escaping, especially by holding or tying your arms. At nine the next morning Bentley was pinioned, hooded and hanged. VERB: be V-ed, also V n

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

pin'-yun ('ebher, 'ebhrah): the Revised Version (British and American) has translated these Hebrew words uniformly by "pinion," where the King James Version uses either "wing" or "feathers," with which words they stand in parallelism in all passages. The shorter Hebrew word is found only once, in Yahweh's parable to Ezekiel: "A great eagle with great wings and long pinions (the King James Version "longwinged"), full of feathers, which had divers colors, came unto Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar" (Eze 17:3). The feminine form ('ebhrah) is used of the wings of the dove (Ps 68:13), of the ostrich (Job 39:13) and of the eagle (De 32:11). Once (Ps 91:4) it stands in a figurative expression for the protective care of Yahweh, which is bestowed on those that trust in Him.

H. L. E. Luering

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Wing, pennon. 2. Feather, quill, plume, pen. 3. Fetter (for the arms). II. v. a. Restrain (by binding the arms), bind, fasten, shackle, fetter, chain.

Moby Thesaurus

anchor, appendage, arm, bind, bough, branch, bridle, chain, crest, enchain, entrammel, fasten, feather, fetter, gyve, hackle, hamper, hand, handcuff, hobble, hog-tie, hopple, imp, joint, lash, leash, leg, limb, link, lobe, lobule, make fast, manacle, member, moor, offshoot, organ, panache, peg down, picket, pin down, plume, plumule, put in irons, quill, ramification, restrain, rope, runner, scapular, scion, secure, shackle, spray, sprig, spur, straitjacket, strap, switch, tail, tendril, tether, tie, tie down, tie up, topknot, trammel, tuft, twig, wing