Library / English Dictionary

HAIRPIN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A double pronged pin used to hold women's hair in place

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("hairpin" is a kind of...):

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

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hairpin"):

bobby pin; grip; hairgrip (a flat wire hairpin whose prongs press tightly together; used to hold bobbed hair in place)

bodkin (formerly a long hairpin; usually with an ornamental head)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The conserved domain structure has been described as side-by-side anti-parallel alpha helices connected by intervening beta hairpin motifs or as beta, alpha, alpha, beta secondary structures or as an L-shaped beta-hairpin and two alpha-helices.

(Ankyrin Repeat, NCI Thesaurus)

Meg's high-heeled slippers were very tight and hurt her, though she would not own it, and Jo's nineteen hairpins all seemed stuck straight into her head, which was not exactly comfortable, but, dear me, let us be elegant or die.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)