pinions

Noun (1)

pinion (plural pinions)

1. A wing.
   • Therefore do nimble Pinion'd Doues draw Loue,
     And therefore hath the wind-ſwift Cupid wings:c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
2. The joint of a bird's wing farthest from the body.
3. Any of the outermost primary feathers on a bird's wing.
   • An argument that he is pluckt, when hither / He ſends ſo poore a Pinnion of his Wing,c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
4. A moth of the genus Lithophane.

Noun (2)

pinion (plural pinions)

1. (transitive) The smallest gear in a gear train.
   • A certain period elapses, and some unseen mysterious principle again sets in motion the magic pinions and the wizard wheels.1844, Edgar Allan Poe, The Premature Burial

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