pincushion

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a small stuffed or magnetic holder in which sewing pins and needles are kept

   She pushed the needle back into the pincushion after mending the sleeve.

2. 2
   noun

   figurative: a person or thing repeatedly pierced by needles or other sharp objects

   After several blood tests, he joked that his arm felt like a pincushion.

3. 3
   noun

   any of several plants whose rounded flowers resemble a pincushion

   Bright pincushions bloomed along the garden path.

A compound of pin + cushion, first naming a small cushion used to store pins safely. Its shape and function later inspired figurative uses for repeatedly pierced people or objects and names for rounded, radiating flowers.

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