PIN MONEY Definition & Meaning

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pin money

noun

any small sum set aside for nonessential minor expenditures.
(formerly) an allowance of money given by a husband to his wife for her personal expenditures.

pin money

noun

an allowance by a husband to his wife for personal expenditure
money saved or earned to be used for incidental expenses

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Other 51�Թ� Forms

pin-money adjective

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of pin money¹

First recorded in 1535–45

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Idioms and Phrases

Small amounts of money for incidental expenses, as in Grandma usually gives the children some pin money whenever she visits. This expression originally signified money given by a husband to his wife for small personal expenditures such as pins, which were very costly items in centuries past. A will recorded at York in 1542 listed a bequest: “I give my said daughter Margarett my lease of the parsonage . . . to buy her pins.” [Early 1500s]

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Though I used to write cryptic puzzles for pin money, I don’t think I ever wrote any as tricky and compelling as “The Underlying Chris.”

From

“The new villain was the woman who worked for ‘pin money’” — extra cash they didn’t need, Collins writes.

From

Writing for Schoolsweek, former government adviser on education Jonathan Simons said Mr Hammond's announcement was phrased "in the manner of which a 1950s husband may have given his wife some pin money".

From

While Boulogne relied on pin money, Calais relied on needle – or more exactly bobbin – money.

From

The lower cost of living there than in, say, California means freelance bughunting can be a sensible career, not just a source of pin money.

From

pin mark pinna

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