pinion

CEFRB2

/ˈpɪnjən/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A bird's wing, especially its outer part.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Any of the outermost primary feathers on a bird's wing.

Examples

  • The gear system consists of a large wheel and a small pinion.

  • The mechanic replaced the damaged pinion in the gearbox.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
1

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The joint of a bird's wing farthest from the body.

  2. A moth of the genus Lithophane.

verb

Extra meaning

  1. To cut off the pinion of a bird’s wing, or otherwise disable or bind its wings, in order to prevent it from flying.

More examples

In context

  • They decided to pinion the bird's wings to prevent it from flying.

  • Suppoſe, thou Fortune could to tameneſs bring, / And clip or pinion her wing; / Suppoſe thou could’ſt on Fate ſo far prevail / As not to cut off thy Entail.

  • The Swanners gette up the younge swannes about midsummer [24 June] and footemarke them for the owners, and then doe they allsoe pinnion them, cuttinge a joynte of theire right winges, and then att Michaellmasse [29 Sept.] doe they bringe them hoame, or else b...

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The mechanic replaced the damaged blank in the gearbox to restore proper rotation.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English pynyon, from Old French pignon, from Latin penna (“feather”).