Nail vs. Pin — What's the Difference?

To arrest or catch something or someone.

A piece of jewelry or ornament that attaches to clothing with a clasp.

A slender metal spike with a broadened flat head, driven into wood or other materials.

To immobilize someone by holding them down.

Used metaphorically to describe something done precisely.

A symbol of recognition or achievement.

An essential or crucial point of something.

A small slender piece of metal used to fasten or align parts.

To finalize or complete decisively.

To fix or attach something firmly.

A slim, pointed piece of metal hammered into material as a fastener.

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.

A fingernail or toenail.

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

A claw or talon.

Attach or fasten with a pin or pins

Something resembling a nail in shape, sharpness, or use.

Hold (someone) firmly in a specified position so they are unable to move

A measure of length formerly used for cloth, equal to 1/16 yard (5.7 centimeters).

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

To fasten, join, or attach with or as if with a nail.

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

To cover, enclose, or shut by fastening with nails

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

To keep fixed, motionless, or intent

A whit; a jot

To stop and seize; catch

A thin rod for securing the ends of fractured bones.

To detect and expose

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

To strike or bring down

A cotter pin.

To perform successfully or have noteworthy success in

The part of a key stem entering a lock.

(Baseball) To put out (a base runner).

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

The thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals.

(Nautical) A belaying pin.

The basal thickened portion of the anterior wings of certain hemiptera.

(Nautical) A thole pin.

The terminal horny plate on the beak of ducks, and other allied birds.

An ornament fastened to clothing by means of a clasp.

The claw of a bird or other animal.

A rolling pin.

A spike-shaped metal fastener used for joining wood or similar materials. The nail is generally driven through two or more layers of material by means of impacts from a hammer or other device. It is then held in place by friction.

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

A round pedestal on which merchants once carried out their business, such as the four nails outside The Exchange, Bristol.

A flagstick.

An archaic English unit of length equivalent to 20 of an ell or 16 of a yard (4 inches or 5.715 cm).

See fall.

(transitive) To fix (an object) to another object using a nail.

Pins(Informal) The legs

(intransitive) To drive a nail.

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

(transitive) To stud or boss with nails, or as if with nails.

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

(slang) To catch.

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

To expose as a sham.

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

To accomplish (a task) completely and successfully.

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

To hit (a target) effectively with some weapon.

To transfix.

(military) To spike, as a cannon.

To place in a position of trusting dependence

(transitive) To nail down: to make certain, or confirm.

To hold fast; immobilize

The horny scale of plate of epidermis at the end of the fingers and toes of man and many apes.

(Sports) To win a fall from in wrestling.

The basal thickened portion of the anterior wings of certain hemiptera.

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

A slender, pointed piece of metal, usually with a head{2}, used for fastening pieces of wood or other material together, by being driven into or through them.

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

A measure of length, being two inches and a quarter, or the sixteenth of a yard.

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.

To fasten with a nail or nails; to close up or secure by means of nails; as, to nail boards to the beams.

A small nail with a head and a sharp point.

To stud or boss with nails, or as with nails.

A cylinder often of wood or metal used to fasten or as a bearing between two parts.

To fasten, as with a nail; to bind or hold, as to a bargain or to acquiescence in an argument or assertion; hence, to catch; to trap.

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

To spike, as a cannon.

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

Horny plate covering and protecting part of the dorsal surface of the digits

A leg.

A thin pointed piece of metal that is hammered into materials as a fastener

(electricity) Any of the individual connecting elements of a multipole electrical connector.

A former unit of length for cloth equal to 1/16 of a yard

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

Attach something somewhere by means of nails;

(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.

Take into custody;

(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.

Hit hard;

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

Succeed in obtaining a position;

(curling) The spot at the exact centre of the house (the target area)

Succeed at easily;

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

Locate exactly;

(obsolete) A mood, a state of being.

Complete a pass

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

Caligo.

A thing of small value; a trifle.

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

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

The tenon of a dovetail joint.

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

(informal) A pinball machine.

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

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

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

(wrestling) To pin down (someone).

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

To attach (an icon, application, message etc.) to another item so that it persists.

To fix (an array in memory, a security certificate, etc.) so that it cannot be modified.

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

To peen.

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

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

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.

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

Hence, a thing of small value; a trifle.

That which resembles a pin in its form or use

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

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

Mood; humor.

Caligo. See Caligo.

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

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

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

When a wrestler's shoulders are forced to the mat

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

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

Informal terms of the leg;

Axis consisting of a short shaft that supports something that turns

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

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

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

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

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

To hold fast or prevent from moving;

Attach or fasten with pins

Pierce with a pin;

Immobilize a piece

Yes, there are several types including framing, roofing, and finishing nails.

Tools like hammers or nail guns are typically required to drive nails.

Nails are typically made from metals like steel, copper, or aluminum.

While technically reusable, nails are often damaged or bent upon removal, reducing reusability.

Pins are commonly used in sewing, crafts, and as temporary fasteners or aligners.

Pins are not designed for heavy-duty support but are suitable for light materials and temporary placements.

A nail usually has a flat, broad head, while a pin's head can be small and round or non-existent.

Nails are generally stronger and capable of handling more weight and stress than pins.

Pins are generally shorter, with many less than three inches long.

Nails provide strong, durable holds ideal for construction and building.

Unlike pins, nails are generally not used decoratively but are crucial in structural applications.

Pins can be made from metals like steel or brass, and some are even made from plastics.

Pins are commonly stored in pincushions or attached to magnets for easy access and safety.

Straight pins are typically used for temporary placement in sewing.

Pins are not suitable for heavy construction; they are better for crafts and light fastening tasks.