Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A pin worn on the breast for a fastening or for ornament; a brooch; a scarf-pin.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A pin worn on the breast for a fastening, or for ornament; a brooch.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An ornamental pin attached to clothing in a person's upper chest area.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a decorative pin worn by women

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • He wore no ornaments, except ear-rings, a plain breastpin, and one or two rings on the fingers.

    Man's Rights: or, How Would You Like It? 1870

  • She wears an oldfashioned apron all the time and in cool weather there is always a little black cape around her frail shoulders and held together with a plain old gold "breastpin".

    Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Georgia Narratives, Part 1 Work Projects Administration

  • "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you use an arc-and-compass breastpin."

    Sole Music 2010

  • Most distinctly of all I see his breastpin, with a large bluish-white pearl in it.

    The Lady from the Sea 2008

  • Most distinctly of all I see his breastpin, with a large bluish-white pearl in it.

    The Lady from the Sea 2008

  • Wrapped in the little parcel was a breastpin worth at least two and one-half guilders, and ultramodern.

    Tales From The Secret Annex Frank, Anne 1983

  • Sally was in high feather at the success of her exploit, and danced about like an elf, as she put her night-gown on over her frock, braided her hair in funny little tails all over her head, and fastened the great red pin-cushion on her bosom for a breastpin in honor of the feast.

    An Old-Fashioned Girl 1950

  • But when you see your grandma or great-auntie wearing a lovely old-fashioned breastpin, bound around with gold, and holding a pink stone, shining like crystal, with a white carved head or other figure standing out from the lower stone, you may know it is a very valuable ornament, and was probably made from one of the finest shells found in the sea.

    Lord Dolphin Harriet A. Cheever

  • For where, pray, would Lord Dolphin wear a breastpin, or how would he look with a string of coral beads about his neck, or a bracelet pinched about his tail?

    Lord Dolphin Harriet A. Cheever

  • With the group was a lieutenant, buttoned close in his gray coat, -- one button gone, perhaps to make a breastpin for some fair traitorous bosom.

    The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 62, December, 1862 Various

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