Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A small firm cushion into which pins are stuck when not in use.
- noun An object of frequent criticism or hurtful treatment.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A cushion into which pins are stuck when not in use.
- noun A plant of the genus Scabiosa, the scabious: so called with reference to the soft convex flower-head.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A small cushion, in which pins may be stuck for use.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A small device designed to receive sewing
pins , usually pillow-like; more recently alsomagnetic . - noun colloquial Someone who receives regular hypodermic needle injections.
- noun A flowering plant in genus
Chaenactis . - verb To multiply stick or jab, as with pins into a pincushion.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a small stiff cushion into which pins are stuck ready for use
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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For Weekend Herb Blogging, Cyndi shares a cute photo of something she calls a pincushion plant, botanical name Nertera Granadensis.
Weekend Herb Blogging #14 Herb Blogging Around the World Two Herb Bloggers Are Finalists! Kalyn Denny 2006
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She had to take the pins out of her mouth before she could speak, which was inconvenient, for no pincushion is ever so handy.
Kirsteen: The Story of a Scotch Family Seventy Years Ago Margaret 1891
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I also got some other presents, most of them not quilting related, though I did get a magnetic pincushion, which is something I've wanted for a while.
Archive 2006-11-01 katelnorth 2006
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I also got some other presents, most of them not quilting related, though I did get a magnetic pincushion, which is something I've wanted for a while.
Happy birthday dear me... katelnorth 2006
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The double sun Aptut belongs to the so-called pincushion sector of the 14th central galactic arm, per Arkonide catalogue notation.
Duel Under the Double Sun Scheer, Karl 1977
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MADISON; _a small work-box containing a thimble and thread, -- and stuck in the pincushion are a couple of needles, threaded.
The Easiest Way Representative Plays by American Dramatists: 1856-1911 Eugene Walter 1907
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The knot — what I've called the "pincushion" — is formed by wrapping the hair around a piece of fabric.
Memoirs of a Geisha Golden, Arthur, 1957- 1997
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Then, as if her troubles were all to come in a lump -- as they have a way of doing -- she stepped squarely into a bunch of "pincushion" cactus.
Chip, of the Flying U B. M. Bower 1905
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When the party in power attends one of these single issue “debates” they are always the pincushion, which is the reason so few PIP MP’s ever show up.
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Mr. Smith said, calling the province a "pincushion" of oil exploration.
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