linchpin
noun
- fastener used to prevent a wheel or other part from sliding off the axle upon which it is riding
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈlɪnt͡ʃˌpɪn/
noun
Etymology: From Middle English lynspin, compound of lins (“axletree”) and pin, from Old English lynis (“lynchpin”), from Proto-West Germanic *lunis, from Proto-Germanic *lunaz – compare German Lünse and Dutch luns – from Proto-Indo-European. Possible further cognates are Welsh olwyn (“wheel”), Old Armenian ողն (ołn, “back; spine, backbone”) and Sanskrit आणि (āṇí, “lynchpin”). Figurative use attested from the mid-20th century.
- A pin inserted through holes at the end of an axle or shaft, so as to secure a wheel or shaft-mounted device.
“In ij camellis ferri vocatis lynspins emptis pro carectis iiijᵈ.”
“Every design that villany could suggest was had recourse to in the hopes of nobbling Wild Dayrell; but never being left for an hour by either his trainer or jockey, he escaped the intended “coopering,” even when the lynchpins of the wheels of his van had been tampered with.”
- A central cohesive source of stability and security; a person or thing that is critical to a system or organisation.
“What is difficult to appreciate, however, is the discrepancy between his statement to the 'Manchester Guardian' correspondent and his known abhorance for party politics, which is the lynchpin of modern democracy.”
“Community nurses have been described as the lynchpins of palliative care in the community.”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English lynspin, compound of lins (“axletree”) and pin, from Old English lynis (“lynchpin”), from Proto-West Germanic *lunis, from Proto-Germanic *lunaz – compare German Lünse and Dutch luns – from Proto-Indo-European. Possible further cognates are Welsh olwyn (“wheel”), Old Armenian ողն (ołn, “back; spine, backbone”) and Sanskrit आणि (āṇí, “lynchpin”). Figurative use attested from the mid-20th century.
- To adopt as, or serve as, a central cohesive source of stability and security.
“The poems turn fear of individual death into an audit of the costs of an aristocratic status quo which is linchpinned by a monarchy indulging in paradigms of social redress that have become cosmetic, opportunities for self-display rather than genuine justice.”