linchpin
nounEtymology
From Middle English lynspin, compound of lins (“axletree”) and pin, from Old English lynis (“lynchpin”), from Proto-West Germanic *lunis, from Proto-Germanic *lunaz – compare German Lünse and Dutch luns – from Proto-Indo-European. Possible further cognates are Welsh olwyn (“wheel”), Old Armenian ողն (ołn, “back; spine, backbone”) and Sanskrit आणि (āṇí, “lynchpin”). Figurative use attested from the mid-20th century.
Definitions
A pin inserted through holes at the end of an axle or shaft, so as to secure a wheel or…
A pin inserted through holes at the end of an axle or shaft, so as to secure a wheel or shaft-mounted device.
- In ij camellis ferri vocatis lynspins emptis pro carectis iiijᵈ.
- The axles were attached to the wooden floors with leather straps, the floor projecting on each side to take the wheels which were secured by linchpins to their outer faces.
A central cohesive source of stability and security
A central cohesive source of stability and security; a person or thing that is critical to a system or organisation.
- What is difficult to appreciate, however, is the discrepancy between his statement to the 'Manchester Guardian' correspondent and his known abhorance for party politics, which is the lynchpin of modern democracy.
- Community nurses have been described as the lynchpins of palliative care in the community.
- Second, QAnon, whose adherents have deep ties to countless other large communities, has become a linchpin in that ecosystem, and the absurdity of its claims in no way reduces its political influence.
To adopt as, or serve as, a central cohesive source of stability and security.
The neighborhood
- neighborkingpin
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for linchpin. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA