pin

(of a young man at a US university) to give a girlfriend his fraternity badge as a sign that the two are a serious couple.

• go steady with

  broader and more current; not tied to fraternity culture

to mark a digital item — for example a chat message, a file, a social-media post, or a website link — so it stays at the top of a list or sits in a fixed spot on your screen for easy access.

• bookmark

  saves for later access but does not fix it visually at the top

• favourite

  marks as liked; doesn't always reorder the list

• save

  general; doesn't imply visual fixing

• unpin

  removes from the fixed position

to press a person or thing against a surface with such force that they cannot move away.

• trap

  broader; doesn't always involve direct pressure

• hold down

  more general; less forceful connotation

• immobilise

  formal; emphasises the inability to move

• release

  the action of letting someone go free

• free

  general

in wrestling and similar contact sports, to keep both shoulders of your opponent flat on the mat long enough to win the round.

• hold down

  informal; doesn't necessarily mean a winning move

• escape

  the opponent's reverse action

a thin straight rod of metal that joins or holds two parts together, such as inside a machine, a hinge, or a broken bone after surgery.

• rod

  longer and thicker than a pin; used for similar joining purposes in larger structures

• bolt

  has threads and uses a nut; a pin is plain and slides in

a small, casual decoration — usually mass-produced enamel or metal — with a short sharp point on the back that pushes through clothing or fabric, worn to show a fan interest, a campaign, a job role, or a souvenir.

• badge

  more common in British English for the same kind of small clip-on decoration

• button

  American English for a round campaign or souvenir pin worn on clothing

a brooch — a piece of fine jewellery, usually with stones or detailed metalwork, fastened to clothing by a hinged clasp at the back.

• brooch

  the standard British term; in American English the two are interchangeable for fine jewellery

in tenpin bowling, one of ten tall bottle-shaped objects set up at the far end of the lane as targets for the heavy ball.

• skittle

  British term for the same kind of pin in the older game of skittles

in golf, the tall stick topped with a small flag, placed inside each hole to show distant players exactly where to aim their shot.

• flagstick

  the official term used in golf rules; 'pin' is the everyday word

• flag

  informal shorthand referring to the same object by its visible top piece

a picture posted to the website Pinterest, where users keep collections of photos and links so other people can view, save, or share them.

• post

  general social media term, not Pinterest-specific

• bookmark

  saved link, but not necessarily image-based

a leg, used as a casual or playful word — usually said in the plural to talk about both of someone's legs.

• legs

  neutral, all registers

• stems

  very informal, often refers to attractive legs

in chess, a situation where one of your pieces threatens an enemy piece that is stuck in place: if it moved, a more valuable piece directly behind it (often the king or queen) would be captured.

• fork

  different chess tactic — attacking two pieces at once

a short personal number — usually four to six digits — that you tap into a phone, smart lock, gym locker, hotel safe, or any everyday device to unlock it or prove the device belongs to you.

• passcode

  interchangeable for phones; 'passcode' is the term Apple uses on iPhone

• unlock code

  explicit and slightly technical; same idea, less common in speech

Describing wood, leather, or a similar material whose surface pattern looks like many tiny pin heads packed close together, giving a finely dotted texture.

• pebble-grained

  leather only; describes a similar dotted surface

• smooth-grained

  without any visible dotted pattern