linchpin or lynch·pin [linch-pin] ExamplesWord Origin See more synonyms for linchpin on Thesaurus.com noun
- a pin inserted through the end of an axletree to keep the wheel on.
- something that holds the various elements of a complicated structure together: The monarchy was the linchpin of the nation’s traditions and society.
Origin of linchpin 1350–1400; unexplained alteration of Middle English lynspin, equivalent to lyns, Old English lynis axle-pin (cognate with German Lünse) + pin pin Related Words for linchpin pillar, backbone, bulwark, linchpin, mainstay, foundation, keystone, essential, strength, buttress, standby, sinew, prop, supporter, crutch, stay, brace, anchor, staff, maintainer Examples from the Web for linchpin Contemporary Examples of linchpin
At the moment, Yisrael Beiteinu is the linchpin of the coming rightist government.
Brent E. Sasley
December 13, 2012
Bolshevism was the linchpin that held all the other facets of conspiracy together.
Soviet Communism’s Collapse Left America’s Far Right Without a Real Foe
Lee Siegel
April 12, 2012
It was one courier in particular that proved the linchpin in Sunday night’s operation that killed the al Qaeda leader.
Osama bin Laden’s Courier: The Man Who Led the U.S. to bin Laden
Josh Dzieza
May 3, 2011
Historical Examples of linchpin
When the linchpin comes out on his side, there’ll be a jerk, I tell you!
The Professor at the Breakfast Table
Oliver Wendell Holmes (Sr.)
I will try to be brave, ma’am; but I really did try to put the linchpin back.
Charles Bruce
If an axle had broken or a linchpin loosened the race would have been lost.
Emily Inez Denny
A linchpin had fallen out, and permitted one of the wheels to slide off.
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Linchpin, linsh′pin, n. a pin used to keep the wheel of a carriage on the axle-tree.
Chambers’s Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M)
Various
British Dictionary definitions for linchpin linchpin lynchpin noun
- a pin placed transversely through an axle to keep a wheel in position
- a person or thing regarded as an essential or coordinating elementthe linchpin of the company
Word Origin for linchpin C14 lynspin, from Old English lynis Word Origin and History for linchpin n.
also linch-pin, late 14c., earlier linspin, from Middle English lins “axletree” (see linch) + pin (n.). The peg that holds a wheel on an axle; now mainly figurative.