PINNING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does pinning mean? 

• PINNING (noun)
  The noun PINNING has 1 sense:

1. a mutual promise of a couple not to date anyone else; on college campuses it was once signaled by the giving of a fraternity pin

  Familiarity information: PINNING used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PINNING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A mutual promise of a couple not to date anyone else; on college campuses it was once signaled by the giving of a fraternity pin

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("pinning" is a kind of...):

promise (a verbal commitment by one person to another agreeing to do (or not to do) something in the future)

 Context examples 

The fiend pinning down the thief's pack behind him, I passed over quickly: it was an object of terror.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The heavier Spaniard threw himself upon his enemy, and pinning him down beneath him raised his sword to slay him, while a shout of triumph rose from the ranks of his countrymen.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This balance is, however, depending on the stability provided by the Ross Island pinning point, which the new study identifies as a point of future vulnerability.

(Rapid melting of the world’s largest ice shelf linked to solar heat in the ocean, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Meg drew her aside, under pretense of pinning up a loose braid, and said approvingly, "It was dreadfully provoking, but you kept your temper, and I'm so glad, Jo."

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The point of vulnerability lies in the fact that that solar heated surface water flows into the cavity near a stabilising pinning point, which could be undermined if basal melting intensifies further.

(Rapid melting of the world’s largest ice shelf linked to solar heat in the ocean, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)