Definition of linchpin
1 : a locking pin inserted crosswise (as through the end of an axle or shaft)
2 : one that serves to hold together parts or elements that exist or function as a unit the linchpin in the defense's case
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Examples of linchpin in a Sentence
This witness is the linchpin of the defense's case.
Recent Examples of linchpin from the Web
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Since the U.S. is the linchpin of the global economy, that means U.S. sanctions can isolate Iran no matter what the Germans, Russians, or Chinese think.
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Banco Delta Asia—infuriated Pyongyang because BDA was a linchpin in the laundering of North Korean funds.
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The receipts, from a long list of issuers who often stamp them with holograms and secret codes, have become the linchpin of bank loans backed by the metal as collateral.
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The linchpin of both operations is the cult of personality surrounding their respective leaders.
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For Mexico, natural gas is a linchpin of its future.
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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Draymond Green, the linchpin of the Golden State Warriors' championship defense, was named Defensive Player of the Year Monday night.
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Bedoya will serve as a veteran leader and linchpin.
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Mexico sends a vast majority of its exports north to the U.S. and considers the agreement a linchpin of its economy.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'linchpin.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
There was the good old custom of taking the linch-pins out of the farmers' and bagmens' gigs at the fairs, and a cowardly blackguard custom it was. That custom, described by British writer Thomas Hughes in his 1857 novel Tom Brown's School Days, was "blackguard" indeed. The linchpin in question held the wheel on the carriage and removing it made it likely that the wheel would come off as the vehicle moved. Such a pin was called a "lynis" in Old English; Middle English speakers added "pin" to form "lynspin." Modern English speakers modified it to "linchpin" and, in the mid-20th century, began using the term figuratively for anything as critical to a complex situation as a linchpin is to a wagon.
Origin and Etymology of linchpin
Middle English lynspin, from lyns linchpin (from Old English lynis) + pin; akin to Middle High German luns linchpin
Other Mechanical Engineering Terms
LINCHPIN Defined for English Language Learners
linchpin
playDefinition of linchpin for English Language Learners
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: a person or thing that holds something together : the most important part of a complex situation or system
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