Definition of pinion

• n. - A moth of the genus Lithophane, as L. antennata, whose larva bores large holes in young peaches and apples.
• n. - A feather; a quill.
• n. - A wing, literal or figurative.
• n. - The joint of bird's wing most remote from the body.
• n. - A fetter for the arm.
• n. - A cogwheel with a small number of teeth, or leaves, adapted to engage with a larger wheel, or rack (see Rack); esp., such a wheel having its leaves formed of the substance of the arbor or spindle which is its axis.
• v. t. - To bind or confine the wings of; to confine by binding the wings.
• v. t. - To disable by cutting off the pinion joint.
• v. t. - To disable or restrain, as a person, by binding the arms, esp. by binding the arms to the body.
• v. t. - Hence, generally, to confine; to bind; to tie up.