pinprick

1 of 2

noun

pin·​prick ˈpin-ˌprik How to pronounce pinprick (audio)
1
: a small puncture made by or as if by a pin
2
: a petty irritation or annoyance

pinprick

2 of 2

verb

pinpricked; pinpricking; pinpricks

transitive verb

: to administer pinpricks to

intransitive verb

: to administer pinpricks

Examples of pinprick in a Sentence

Noun He felt a pinprick in his leg. the nurse kindly put a decorated bandage over the pinprick from the injection
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Now, nearly half a millennium after Galileo marveled at the myriad pinpricks of light—moons, planets, and stars—in Earth’s skies, his successors are getting acquainted with the brightest tip of the iceberg of darker objects adrift between them. Charlie Wood, WIRED, 31 Dec. 2023 Attacks on Russian infrastructure are pinpricks given Russia’s size and resources. TIME, 24 Feb. 2024 It’s all documented on small pieces of paper that pile up back at Save the Rhino Trust headquarters in the pinprick of a town, Palmwag. Melanie Stetson Freeman, The Christian Science Monitor, 25 Jan. 2024 In what is now guaranteed to be the last home game for the Detroit Lions this season, a sea of Honolulu blue swallowed the few pinpricks of Buccaneer red as fans washed Ford Field in waves of roars. Arpan Lobo, Detroit Free Press, 21 Jan. 2024 Vines cross your path, a leaf dances in a pinprick of sun, a patch of turbid water like polished gunmetal promises a clearing in the distance. Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 24 Jan. 2024 The dishes were a wan pink, with pinpricks in them; each pinprick was a colony of minimal cells—a version called JCVI-syn3A. Cook gestured to a nearby microscope. James Somers, The New Yorker, 28 Feb. 2022 What investigators found particularly suspicious was a pinprick mark on Maria Muñoz's right elbow crease, the type someone would get after getting an IV. Webb County District Attorney's Office Sgt. Erin Moriarty, CBS News, 16 Dec. 2023 All from a pinprick and the extraction of a small, but bloody meal. Paul Richards, Field & Stream, 9 Nov. 2023
Verb
At this height, the real thing looks fake, a composite of toy skyscrapers, tinfoil rivers, pinprick traffic lights, Central Park the size of a welcome mat, and some sort of nature in the hazy distance. Justin Davidson, Curbed, 21 Oct. 2021 The teeny pinpricks force the skin to heal and build up stronger than before, while the device also deposits serum deeper into the skin. Leah Prinzivalli, Allure, 9 Nov. 2018 Device testing was conducted at a refugee camp in Kakuma, Kenya, where pinprick blood samples were examined for antibodies to measles and rubella. Helen Branswell, STAT, 25 Apr. 2018 Distorting drops of water pinpricked my face in the basin’s mirror. Dan Chiasson, The New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2017 Bonobo played an aquatically chill set of slow-moving dance music, followed by Four Tet, who kept his tempo but shifted to pinprick-precise, bucolic house. Jon Caramanica, New York Times, 16 May 2016 Distorting drops of water pinpricked my face in the basin’s mirror. Dan Chiasson, The New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2017

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pinprick.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1755, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1871, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of pinprick was in 1755

Dictionary Entries Near pinprick

Cite this Entry

“Pinprick.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pinprick. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

pinprick

noun
pin·​prick
ˈpin-ˌprik
: a small puncture made by or as if by a pin
also : a small but unpleasant sensation
the steady pinprick of a guilty conscience
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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