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lynchpin love

lynchpin

Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun a pin inserted through holes at the end of an axle, so as to secure a wheel
  • noun figuratively a central cohesive source of stability and security; a person or thing that is critical to a system or organisation.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun pin inserted through an axletree to hold a wheel on
  • noun a central cohesive source of support and stability

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English lynspin, from Old English lynis (a pin securing a wheel to an axle). Figurative use attested from the mid 20th Century.

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Examples

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hypernyms (2)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. pin
  2. support

Comments

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  • sonofgroucho commented on the word lynchpin

    What a solid, reliable little word!

    December 10, 2007

  • qroqqa commented on the word lynchpin

    The OED added this spelling only in 1997 (with first citation from 1988), yet on Google it's almost equally common as 'linchpin' on UK sites. (Worldwide it's lagging at under 3:1.) However, Google Books shows examples in the early nineteenth century, e.g. lynch pin in Catherine Hutton, Oakwood Hall, 1819.

    July 31, 2008

  • Prolagus commented on the word lynchpin

    Baby wants a new spin

    Baby wants a broken heart

    Hear you found the lynchpin

    To keep it all from falling apart.

    (All arise!, by The Decemberists)

    January 19, 2011