pin on

verb

To place the blame for (something) on (someone), especially unjustly.

“The police pinned the theft on my brother.”

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Meanings

verbpin on (third-person singular simple present pins on, present participle pinning on, simple past and past participle pinned on)

present singular third person pins on · participle present pinning on · participle past pinned on · past pinned on

  1. UStransitiveTo place the blame for (something) on (someone), especially unjustly.

    The police pinned the theft on my brother.

    1 more example

    "Righto! However, if you have some neat little scheme to pin the murder on me, I'd advise you to abandon it. If I hadn't had water-tight alibis, all along the line—" / "Keep your water-tight alibis in a dry place till you need them," Sam advised.

    1928, Kay Cleaver Strahan, The Desert Moon Mystery, page 189
Cite this entry
APA

pin on. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pin%20on

MLA

“pin on.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pin%20on. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pin on,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pin%20on.

Source: pin on on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.