pincushion

Meanings

1. A device, originally like a small, stuffed cushion, designed to have sewing pins and needles stuck into it to store them safely; some modern pincushions hold the objects magnetically.
2. The names of various plants with flowers or other parts resembling a pincushion.
3. A flowering plant in the genus Leucospermum.
4. A flowering plant in the genus Scabiosa.
5. A coral bead plant, coral moss, or English baby tears (Nertera granadensis), an ornamental plant.
6. A dustymaiden, a flowering plant in the genus Chaenactis.
7. A pincushion cactus, of the genera Escobaria or Mammillaria.
8. A pincushionplant, a flowering plant in the genus Navarretia.
9. A person who is pricked or stabbed multiple times with sharp objects; specifically, someone who receives regular hypodermic needle injections.

1. To jab or stick repeatedly with one or more sharp objects, as with pins into a pincushion.
2. To assume the shape of a pincushion; specifically, of the image on a computer display, television, etc., to exhibit pincushion distortion, where the sides curve inwards.

Etymology

The noun is derived from pin + cushion. The verb is derived from the noun.

Translations