pinion
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Etymology 1
From Latin penna, meaning feather
[edit] Noun
pinion (plural pinions)
- A wing.
- 1597, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, II.v
- Therefore do nimble-pinion'd doves draw Love, / And therefore hath the wind-swift Cupid wings.
- 1839, Edgar Allan Poe, The Fall of the House of Usher
- Never seraph spread a pinion / Over fabric half so fair.
- 1597, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, II.v
- The joint of a bird's wing farthest from the body
- The outermost primary feathers on a bird's wing.
- 1607, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra, III.xii
- An argument that he is pluck'd, when hither / He sends so poor a pinion of his wing ...
- 1607, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra, III.xii
[edit] Verb
pinion (third-person singular simple present pinions, present participle pinioning, simple past and past participle pinioned)
- To remove the joint of a bird's wing farthest from the body to prevent the bird from flying.
- To restrain by binding or holding the arms.
- 1607, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra, V.ii
- Know, sir that I / Will not wait pinion'd at your master's court, / Nor once be chastis'd with the sober eye / Of dull Octavia.
- 1916, James Joyce, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Macmillan Press Ltd, paperback, page 80
- Nash pinioned his arms behind while Boland seized a long cabbage stump which was lying in the gutter.
- 1918, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Land That Time Forgot Chapter IX
- I was suddenly seized from behind and thrown to earth. As I fell, a warm body fell on top of me, and hands grasped my arms and legs. When I could look up, I saw a number of giant fingers pinioning me down, while others stood about surveying me.
- 1607, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra, V.ii
[edit] Etymology 2
[edit] Noun
pinion (plural pinions)
- The smallest gear in a gear drive train.
- 1844, Edgar Allan Poe, The Premature Burial
- A certain period elapses, and some unseen mysterious principle again sets in motion the magic pinions and the wizard wheels.
- 1844, Edgar Allan Poe, The Premature Burial
[edit] Translations
gear in a gear drive train
