Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A locking pin inserted in the end of a shaft, as in an axle, to prevent a wheel from slipping off.
- n. A central cohesive element: Reduced spending is the linchpin of their economic program.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A pin inserted in the spindle of the axle of a vehicle to prevent the wheel from slipping off. Also axle-pin.
Wiktionary
- n. a pin inserted through holes at the end of an axle, so as to secure a wheel
- n. figuratively a central cohesive source of stability and security; a person or thing that is critical to a system or organisation.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A pin used to prevent the wheel of a vehicle from sliding off the axletree.
WordNet 3.0
- n. pin inserted through an axletree to hold a wheel on
- n. a central cohesive source of support and stability
Etymologies
- Middle English lynspin, compound of lins 'axletree' and pin, from Old English lynis 'linchpin', from Proto-Germanic *luniso (compare German Lünse), from Proto-Indo-European (compare Welsh olwyn 'wheel', Armenian ołn 'shoulder', Sanskrit āṇís). Figurative use attested from the mid-20th century. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English linspin : lins, linchpin (from Old English lynis) + pin, pin (from Old English pinn; see pin). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“More to the point, it would have to survive without McShane as Silas, continue to function dramatically even after the Saul counterpart dies and its linchpin is gone — which seems, at the moment, inconceivable.”
“Outlook: The reigning Class AA State Federation champions may run three guards but their linchpin is 6-0 Mike Coburn (16.5 ppg, 6 apg).”
“Maintaining the impossibly high standards set by previous releases from the Bug and soon to be legendary Burial, label linchpin Kode 9 reverts to the format reserved for his own alchemical productions.”
“Their alleged aim is to provoke confrontations to split the people and the army, which the council calls the linchpin of the nation's safety and security.”
Voice of America: Egyptian Protesters Plan 'Second Revolution' Rally
“McChrystal's departure played out against a faltering campaign in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, rising U.S. and NATO casualties on the battlefield, and delays in a Kandahar offensive that has been described as the linchpin to the war effort.”
The Washington Post: Gen. McChrystal is dismissed as top U.S. commander in Afghanistan
“Hudson ruled that the so-called linchpin of the law -- the requirement that most Americans obtain insurance -- exceeds the authority granted to Congress under the Commerce Clause.”
The Huffington Post: Dr. Quentin Young: A Judge's Assist to Single Payer?
“The linchpin was their ability to personify and appeal to a great yearning in the souls of the American people in a time of crisis and use that yearning to affect change.”
“Of course, the US wouldn't be accused of double-speak if it hadn't made a Dadaist term the linchpin of its anti-terrorist programme.”
Ali Eteraz: US Supports Terrorists That are Also Not Terrorists
“We are hoping to use his experience," said Mr. Terbil, who some called the linchpin of the revolt.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘linchpin’.
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EN-HU - important words for a HU inte...
Words only (I left out the expressions) from Geza Kerenyi's EN-HU interpreters' dictionary. Most of them pose some difficulty when interpreted between HU and EN in either or both directions.
abalone, abrasive, abstractionist, abstruse, abysmal, academia, accessibility, accessible, acclimate, accolade, accompanist, achiever and 1469 more...
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WF - nominal compounds (figurative)
An extensive list I have been working on for quite some time. Feel free to add more of the kind if you miss any.
brainstorming, upside, downside, goldplating, bikeshedding, mudslinging, downgrading, headhunter, streamlining, mainstreaming, gerrymandering, frontloading and 503 more...
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phrontistery - l
from phrontistery.info
lacis, laches, labret, labile, lability, labarum, labefactation, labeorphily, lux, luff, lour, limn and 496 more...
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miscellany
extrapolate, effluvium, maelstrom, ecclesiastic, potentiate, prestidigitation, verisimilitude, innocuous, octogenarian, interlocutor, proselytize, ubiquitous and 138 more...
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MiaLuthien's list ♥
gambit, prehensile, coquetry, impunity, genuflect, ensconce, clavicle, delude, beget, castigate, life caching, convoluted and 478 more...
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Aequoria's list
affect, deleterious, nuance, pliant, verbatim, pertinent, latter, municipality, provincial, voyeuristic, circumlocution, wane and 798 more...
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Tolland's list
Those I've come across and try to keep fresh within my mind.
clandestine, dysphoric, indictive, vigil, fractious, assiduous, indefatigable, ubiquitous, insidious, paroicous, aplomb, sangfroid and 654 more...
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Number 9 Dream
By David Mitchell
slag-heap, coracle, unsilt, aquiline, crispen, treatise, hippocampus, fortuitous, megalomania, malinger, dreck, escarpment and 97 more...
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KaeZoo's Words
flingers, unhinged, driven, flanked, arboreal, venerable, endearing, iconoclastic, fletcher, competent, fireproof, cavernous and 215 more...
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5-0
Hecko, words! I’m so happy I’ve found you. I want to keep you all and never want to lose you again. I hope you like it here.
amscray, thistledown, tine, tinsel, pungent, snarl, wail, lanky, viscid, dawdle, luminous, stow and 2719 more...
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new words
faulty parallelism, antebellum, lucubrate, retronym, asyndeton, polysyndeton, chiasmus, laconic, dysphemism, zeugma, subpoena, dialectic and 130 more...
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vivek's list
flibbertigibbet, droll, reticence, prelude, erinaceous, brinkmanship, depone, inaniloquent, limerance, pronk, onomatopoeia, oxymoron and 385 more...
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Watchmen (2009)
Words from 2009 'Watchmen' film.
adversary, certitude, deterrent, stockpile, posturing, minuteman, vigilante, toss, flip, spook, carcass, tread and 174 more...
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GRE 3500 K
killjoy, kindred, knave, knit, knoll, knotty, lachrymose, lampoon, languid, languish, languor, lap and 37 more...
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Superfluoshu -1
wrangle, plurality, ersatz, dongle, melancholia, mephistophelian, wurlitzer, mangonel, weeaboo, non-euclidean, chunder, whosawhatsit and 4 more...
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Poetrie: The Deacon's Masterpiece, or...
By Oliver Wendell Holmes (sr.?). Thanks to slumry for pointing out the link (a long time ago) to this.
Have you heard of the wonderful one-hoss shay,
That was built in such a log...dunce, perplexed, huddup, ewe-necked, rat-tailed, encore, back-crossbar, whippletree, masterpiece, dasher, bison-skin, linchpin and 19 more...
Tweets
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