Ask Difference

Bin vs. Pin — What's the Difference?

Edited by Tayyaba Rehman — By Maham Liaqat — Updated on May 1, 2024
Bin is primarily used as a storage container, while a pin is a small, slender piece of metal used for fastening or as a peg.
Bin vs. Pin — What's the Difference?

Difference Between Bin and Pin

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Key Differences

A bin is a container used for storing or organizing items, commonly found in households and industries for holding trash or other materials. Whereas, a pin is a device used for attaching or holding materials together, typically made of metal or plastic and used in sewing or for fastening papers.
Bins are usually larger and designed for bulk or larger item storage, including waste bins or storage bins. On the other hand, pins are small and designed for precision tasks like holding fabric pieces together or marking positions on a map.
In terms of usage, bins help in managing waste or storing bulk items in a concealed manner, promoting cleanliness and organization. In contrast, pins are crucial in tailoring, crafts, and temporary attachment tasks, where small size and the ability to be easily hidden are beneficial.
The design of bins often includes features like lids, wheels, and sometimes compartments to facilitate better waste management and storage. Conversely, pins are designed with sharp ends to pierce through materials and a head to provide a grip or decorative element.
Material-wise, bins are typically made from plastic, metal, or wood, depending on their specific use and placement. Pins, however, are generally crafted from steel, brass, or plastic, emphasizing their need for strength and flexibility in a compact form.
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Comparison Chart

Usage

Storage of items, especially waste
Fastening or attaching materials together

Size

Generally large
Very small

Material

Often plastic, metal, wood
Typically metal, sometimes plastic

Design Features

May include lids, wheels, compartments
Sharp end for piercing, head for handling

Typical Locations

Homes, offices, public areas
Sewing kits, office settings, craft areas

Compare with Definitions

Bin

A container used to store or dispose of items.
Please throw the wrappers in the trash bin.

Pin

A thin piece of metal with a sharp point at one end.
She used a pin to attach the note to the board.

Bin

A compartment for the storage of goods in a warehouse.
Stack those boxes in the storage bin.

Pin

A device used for fastening objects or material together.
Secure the papers with a push pin.

Bin

A term used in computing for a temporary storage area.
Deleted files go to the recycle bin.

Pin

A symbol of recognition or achievement, often worn on clothing.
He wore a pin for twenty years of service.

Bin

A large receptacle used for collecting recyclable materials.
The blue bin is for recycling paper.

Pin

An identifier used in secure transactions.
Enter your PIN to complete the transaction.

Bin

A unit of measurement in data analysis.
This histogram has ten bins for frequency distribution.

Pin

A peg or a bolt, usually used in mechanical settings.
Insert the pin into the hole to assemble the shelf.

Bin

A container or enclosed space for storage.

Pin

A pin is a device used for fastening objects or material together, and can have three sorts of body: a shaft of a rigid inflexible material meant to be inserted in a slot, groove, or hole (as with pivots, hinges, and jigs); a shaft connected to a head and ending in a sharp tip meant to pierce one or more pieces of soft materials like cloth or paper (the straight or push pin); a single strip of a rigid but flexible material (e.g. a wire) whose length has been folded into parallel prongs in such fashion that the middle length of each curves towards the other so that, when anything is inserted between them, they act as a clamp (e.g.

Bin

To place or store in a bin.

Pin

An identifying number allocated to an individual by a bank or other organization and used for validating electronic transactions.

Bin

A box, frame, crib, or enclosed place, used as a storage container.
A corn bin
A wine bin
A coal bin

Pin

Attach or fasten with a pin or pins
Her hair was pinned back
He pinned the badge on to his lapel

Bin

A container for rubbish or waste.
A rubbish bin
A wastepaper bin
An ashes bin

Pin

Hold (someone) firmly in a specified position so they are unable to move
Richards pinned him down until the police arrived
She was standing pinned against the door

Bin

(statistics) Any of the discrete intervals in a histogram, etc

Pin

Hinder or prevent (a piece or pawn) from moving because of the danger to a more valuable piece standing behind it along the line of an attack
The black rook on e4 is pinned

Bin

Any of the fixed-size chunks into which airspace is divided for the purposes of radar.

Pin

A short, straight, stiff piece of wire with a blunt head and a sharp point, used especially for fastening.

Bin

Jail or prison.

Pin

Something, such as a safety pin, that resembles such a piece of wire in shape or use.

Bin

(in Arabic names) son of; equivalent to Hebrew tr=ben.

Pin

A whit; a jot
Didn't care a pin about the matter.

Bin

(computing) binary

Pin

A thin rod for securing the ends of fractured bones.

Bin

To dispose of (something) by putting it into a bin, or as if putting it into a bin.

Pin

A peg for fixing the crown to the root of a tooth.

Bin

To throw away, reject, give up.

Pin

A cotter pin.

Bin

(statistics) To convert continuous data into discrete groups.

Pin

The part of a key stem entering a lock.

Bin

(transitive) To place into a bin for storage.
To bin wine

Pin

(Music) One of the pegs securing the strings and regulating their tension on a stringed instrument.

Bin

Alternative form of been

Pin

(Nautical) A belaying pin.

Bin

A box, frame, crib, or inclosed place, used as a receptacle for any commodity; as, a corn bin; a wine bin; a coal bin.

Pin

(Nautical) A thole pin.

Bin

To put into a bin; as, to bin wine.

Pin

An ornament fastened to clothing by means of a clasp.

Bin

An old form of Be and Been.

Pin

A rolling pin.

Bin

A container; usually has a lid

Pin

One of the wooden clubs at which the ball is aimed in bowling.

Bin

The quantity contained in a bin

Pin

A flagstick.

Bin

An identification number consisting of a two-part code assigned to banks and savings associations; the first part shows the location and the second identifies the bank itself

Pin

See fall.

Bin

Store in bins

Pin

Pins(Informal) The legs
Is steady on his pins.

Pin

(Electronics) A lead on a device that plugs into a socket to connect the device to a system.

Pin

Any of the pegs on the platen of a printer, which engage holes at the edges of paper.

Pin

Any of the styluses that form a dot matrix on a printer.

Pin

Any of the small metal prongs at the end of a connector that fit into the holes in a port.

Pin

To fasten or secure with or as if with a pin or pins.

Pin

To transfix.

Pin

To place in a position of trusting dependence
He pinned his faith on an absurdity.

Pin

To hold fast; immobilize
He was pinned under the wreckage of the truck.

Pin

(Sports) To win a fall from in wrestling.

Pin

To give (a woman) a fraternity pin in token of attachment.

Pin

Having a grain suggestive of the heads of pins. Used of leather.

Pin

A needle without an eye (usually) made of drawn-out steel wire with one end sharpened and the other flattened or rounded into a head, used for fastening.

Pin

A small nail with a head and a sharp point.

Pin

A cylinder often of wood or metal used to fasten or as a bearing between two parts.
Pull the pin out of the grenade before throwing it at the enemy.

Pin

The victory condition of holding the opponent's shoulders on the wrestling mat for a prescribed period of time.

Pin

A slender object specially designed for use in a specific game or sport, such as skittles or bowling.

Pin

A leg.
I'm not so good on my pins these days.

Pin

(electricity) Any of the individual connecting elements of a multipole electrical connector.
The UK standard connector for domestic mains electricity has three pins.

Pin

A piece of jewellery that is attached to clothing with a pin.

Pin

(US) A simple accessory that can be attached to clothing with a pin or fastener, often round and bearing a design, logo or message, and used for decoration, identification or to show political affiliation, etc.

Pin

(chess) Either a scenario in which moving a lesser piece to escape from attack would expose a more valuable piece to being taken instead, or one where moving a piece is impossible as it would place the king in check.

Pin

(golf) The flagstick: the flag-bearing pole which marks the location of a hole

Pin

(curling) The spot at the exact centre of the house (the target area)
The shot landed right on the pin.

Pin

(archery) The spot at the exact centre of the target, originally a literal pin that fastened the target in place.

Pin

(obsolete) A mood, a state of being.

Pin

One of a row of pegs in the side of an ancient drinking cup to mark how much each person should drink.

Pin

Caligo.

Pin

A thing of small value; a trifle.

Pin

A peg in musical instruments for increasing or relaxing the tension of the strings.

Pin

(engineering) A short shaft, sometimes forming a bolt, a part of which serves as a journal.

Pin

The tenon of a dovetail joint.

Pin

A size of brewery cask, equal to half a firkin, or eighth of a barrel.

Pin

(informal) A pinball machine.
I spent most of my time in the arcade playing pins.

Pin

(locksmithing) A small cylindrical object which blocks the rotation of a pin-tumbler lock when the incorrect key is inserted.

Pin

(often followed by a preposition such as "to" or "on") To fasten or attach (something) with a pin.

Pin

To cause (a piece) to be in a pin.

Pin

(wrestling) To pin down (someone).
He pinned his opponent on the mat.

Pin

To enclose; to confine; to pen; to pound.

Pin

To attach (an icon, application, message etc.) to another item so that it persists.
To pin a folder to the taskbar

Pin

To fix (an array in memory, a security certificate, etc.) so that it cannot be modified.
When marshaling data, the interop marshaler can copy or pin the data being marshaled.

Pin

5.0|page=244

Pin

(transitive) To cause an analog gauge to reach the stop pin at the high end of the range.

Pin

To peen.

Pin

To inclose; to confine; to pen; to pound.

Pin

To fasten with, or as with, a pin; to join; as, to pin a garment; to pin boards together.

Pin

A piece of wood, metal, etc., generally cylindrical, used for fastening separate articles together, or as a support by which one article may be suspended from another; a peg; a bolt.
With pins of adamantAnd chains they made all fast.

Pin

Especially, a small, pointed and headed piece of brass or other wire (commonly tinned), largely used for fastening clothes, attaching papers, etc.

Pin

Hence, a thing of small value; a trifle.
He . . . did not care a pin for her.

Pin

That which resembles a pin in its form or use

Pin

One of a row of pegs in the side of an ancient drinking cup to mark how much each man should drink.

Pin

The bull's eye, or center, of a target; hence, the center.

Pin

Mood; humor.

Pin

Caligo. See Caligo.

Pin

An ornament, as a brooch or badge, fastened to the clothing by a pin; as, a Masonic pin.

Pin

The leg; as, to knock one off his pins.

Pin

A piece of jewelry that is pinned onto the wearer's garment

Pin

When a wrestler's shoulders are forced to the mat

Pin

Small markers inserted into a surface to mark scores or define locations etc.

Pin

A number you choose and use to gain access to various accounts

Pin

Informal terms of the leg;
Fever left him weak on his sticks

Pin

Axis consisting of a short shaft that supports something that turns

Pin

Cylindrical tumblers consisting of two parts that are held in place by springs; when they are aligned with a key the bolt can be thrown

Pin

Flagpole used to mark the position of the hole on a golf green

Pin

A small slender (often pointed) piece of wood or metal used to support or fasten or attach things

Pin

A holder attached to the gunwale of a boat that holds the oar in place and acts as a fulcrum for rowing

Pin

A club-shaped wooden object used in bowling; set up in groups as a target

Pin

To hold fast or prevent from moving;
The child was pinned under the fallen tree

Pin

Attach or fasten with pins

Pin

Pierce with a pin;
Pin down the butterfly

Pin

Immobilize a piece

Common Curiosities

What materials are bins made from?

Bins are commonly made from materials like plastic, metal, or wood.

What is a pin commonly used for?

Pins are commonly used for fastening or attaching materials together.

What is the primary use of a bin?

Bins are primarily used for storing or disposing of items, especially waste.

Are pins used in any specific industries?

Yes, pins are widely used in sewing, crafts, and office settings for fastening materials.

Can bins be used for recycling?

Yes, bins are often specifically designed for collecting recyclable materials.

Where would you typically find bins?

Bins are commonly found in homes, offices, and public areas.

What are some typical features of bins?

Bins may feature lids, wheels, and compartments for better utility.

How do the sizes of bins and pins compare?

Bins are generally much larger than pins, which are small and slender.

What types of pins are there?

Types include sewing pins, push pins, and safety pins.

How does the design of a pin facilitate its use?

Pins are designed with a sharp end for piercing and a head for handling or decorative purposes.

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Author Spotlight

Written by
Maham Liaqat
Tayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.

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