pin money

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Sense 1

Meaning · English

Money for personal or discretionary use

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Tiền cho sử dụng cá nhân hoặc tùy ý

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: money for buying pins
Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

She used her pin money to buy a new dress

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Sense 2

Meaning · English

An allowance settled on a married woman for her pocket expences.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Khoản tiền cho phụ nữ đã kết hôn để chi tiêu cá nhân

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Era: ca. 1811 (Georgian)

Where it’s used: Origin British & Irish English
Sources & notes

Historical definition reproduced from Grose’s Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1811 edition, public domain; Project Gutenberg #5402, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.

Common questions

What does “pin money” mean?

Money for personal or discretionary use Literally: money for buying pins

Is “pin money” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.