pin money

pin money
noun
cash for day-to-day spending on incidental expenses
Hypernyms: ↑cash, ↑hard cash, ↑hard currency

* * *

noun [noncount]
old-fashioned : money that is used for small expenses

She had a babysitting job to earn pin money.

* * *

ˈpin money noun uncountable
a small amount of money that you earn, especially when this is used to buy things that you want rather than things that you need

She earns a little pin money doing ironing for other people.

 
Word Origin:
[pin money] late 17th cent.: from pin in the sense ‘decorative clasp for the hair or a garment’ + money. The term originally denoted an allowance made to a woman for dress and other personal expenses by her husband.

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Pin money — Pin Pin, n. [OE. pinne, AS. pinn a pin, peg; cf. D. pin, G. pinne, Icel. pinni, W. pin, Gael. & Ir. pinne; all fr. L. pinna a pinnacle, pin, feather, perhaps orig. a different word from pinna feather. Cf. {Fin} of a fish, {Pen} a feather.] 1. A… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • pin money — pin .money n [U] BrE a small amount of extra money which someone earns to spend on things which they want but do not really need ▪ She helped her uncle out sometimes just to earn a bit of pin money …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • pin money — (UK) If you work for pin money, you work not because you need to but because it gives you money for extra little luxuries and treats …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • pin money — n. 1. Archaic an allowance of money given to a wife for small personal expenses 2. any small sum of money, as for incidental expenses …   English World dictionary

  • pin money — pin money, adj. 1. any small sum set aside for nonessential minor expenditures. 2. (formerly) an allowance of money given by a husband to his wife for her personal expenditures. [1535 45] * * * …   Universalium

  • pin money — pin ,money noun uncount INFORMAL a small amount of money that you can spend for pleasure …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • pin money — ► NOUN ▪ a small sum of money for spending on inessentials. ORIGIN originally denoting an allowance to a woman from her husband for dress and other personal expenses …   English terms dictionary

  • pin money — N UNCOUNT Pin money is small amounts of extra money that someone earns or gets in order to buy things that they want but that they do not really need. [INFORMAL] She d do anything for a bit of pin money …   English dictionary

  • pin money — noun Date: 1697 1. a. money given by a man to his wife for her own use b. money set aside for the purchase of incidentals 2. a trivial amount of money < worked for pin money > …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • pin money — extra money, money to spend on candy etc.    Janet used to earn pin money by painting signs …   English idioms

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