Pinion

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Pinion \Pin"ion\, n. (Zool.)
     A moth of the genus {Lithophane}, as {Lithophane antennata},
     whose larva bores large holes in young peaches and apples.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:



  Pinion \Pin"ion\, n. [OF. pignon a pen, F., gable, pinion (in
     sense 5); cf. Sp. pi[~n]on pinion; fr. L. pinna pinnacle,
     feather, wing. See {Pin} a peg, and cf. {Pen} a feather,
     {Pennat}, {Pennon}.]
     1. A feather; a quill. --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A wing, literal or figurative.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Swift on his sooty pinions flits the gnome. --Pope.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. The joint of bird's wing most remote from the body.
        --Johnson.
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     4. A fetter for the arm. --Ainsworth.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. (Mech.) A cogwheel with a small number of teeth, or
        leaves, adapted to engage with a larger wheel, or rack
        (see {Rack}); esp., such a wheel having its leaves formed
        of the substance of the arbor or spindle which is its
        axis.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Lantern pinion}. See under {Lantern}.
  
     {Pinion wire}, wire fluted longitudinally, for making the
        pinions of clocks and watches. It is formed by being drawn
        through holes of the shape required for the leaves or
        teeth of the pinions.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Pinion \Pin"ion\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Pinioned}; p. pr. & vb.
     n. {Pinioning}.]
     1. To bind or confine the wings of; to confine by binding the
        wings. --Bacon.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To disable by cutting off the pinion joint. --Johnson.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. To disable or restrain, as a person, by binding the arms,
        esp. by binding the arms to the body. --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Her elbows pinioned close upon her hips. --Cowper.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. Hence, generally, to confine; to bind; to tie up.
        "Pinioned up by formal rules of state." --Norris.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  pinion
       n 1: a gear with a small number of teeth designed to mesh with a
            larger wheel or rack
       2: any of the larger wing or tail feathers of a bird [syn: {flight
          feather}, {quill}, {quill feather}]
       3: wing of a bird [syn: {pennon}]
       v 1: bind the arms of [syn: {shackle}]
       2: cut the wings off (of birds)

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  70 Moby Thesaurus words for "pinion":
     anchor, appendage, arm, bind, bough, branch, bridle, chain, crest,
     enchain, entrammel, fasten, feather, fetter, gyve, hackle, hamper,
     hand, handcuff, hobble, hog-tie, hopple, imp, joint, lash, leash,
     leg, limb, link, lobe, lobule, make fast, manacle, member, moor,
     offshoot, organ, panache, peg down, picket, pin down, plume,
     plumule, put in irons, quill, ramification, restrain, rope, runner,
     scapular, scion, secure, shackle, spray, sprig, spur, straitjacket,
     strap, switch, tail, tendril, tether, tie, tie down, tie up,
     topknot, trammel, tuft, twig, wing