noun
- Bowling.
- Informal. the person of chief importance in a corporation, movement, undertaking, etc.
- Informal. the chief element of any system, plan, or the like.
- a kingbolt.
- either of the pins that are a part of the mechanism for turning the front wheels in some automotive steering systems.
noun
- the most important person in an organization
- the crucial or most important feature of a theory, argument, etc
- Also called (Brit): swivel pin a pivot pin that provides a steering joint in a motor vehicle by securing the stub axle to the axle beam
- tenpin bowling the front pin in the triangular arrangement of the ten pins
- (in ninepins) the central pin in the diamond pattern of the nine pins
also king-pin, 1801 as the name of the large pin in the game of kayles (similar to bowls except a club or stick was thrown instead of a ball; cf. “Games, Gaming and Gamesters’ Laws,” Frederick Brandt, London, 1871), from king with a sense of “chief” + pin (n.). The modern use is mainly figurative and is perhaps from the word’s use as another name for the king-bolt (itself from 1825) in a machinery, though the figurative use is attested earlier (1867) than the literal.