linchpin
noun
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In his 1857 novel, Tom Brown’s School Days, Thomas Hughes describes the “cowardly” custom of “taking the linch-pins out of the farmers’ and bagmens’ gigs at the fairs.” 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. By the early 20th century, English speakers were using linchpin for anything as critical to a complex situation as a linchpin is to a wagon, as when Winston Churchill, in 1930, wrote of Canada and the role it played in the relationship between Great Britain and the United States, that “no state, no country, no band of men can more truly be described as the linchpin of peace and world progress.”
Examples of linchpin in a Sentence
ArsTechnica, 13 May 2026
Playing for manager Craig Counsell again, Hoby quickly became a linchpin in the Cubs bullpen as injuries mounted.
—Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune, 11 May 2026
In October 1999, as the Braves were about to play in their fifth World Series in nine years, Kasten identified the linchpins of their success.
—Mark Bradley For The Ajc, AJC.com, 9 May 2026
And Kelsey Plum, as of 2025 the standout guard on the Los Angeles Sparks and linchpin of their hope to return to the playoffs after five years on the outside looking in.
—Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 6 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for linchpin
Cite this Entry
“Linchpin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/linchpin. Accessed 15 May. 2026.
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linchpin
noun
