pin money

noun

1

a

dated : money given by a man to a woman in his family (such as his wife or daughter) for her own use

… when a New York girl wanted some pin money, she telegraphed to her father, and he sent it up in a wagon.

—Howard Bronson

b

: money set aside for the purchase of incidentals

It will take all my pin money for a month. No more soda water for a while, unless someone treats me.

—Amy Ellen Blanchard

2

: a trivial amount of money

And Joe said that even if there had been a risk, ten thousand would have been pin money to a man in Bruce's position.

—Susan Isaacs

Synonyms

• chicken feed [slang]
• chump change
• dime
• hay
• mite
• peanuts
• pittance
• shoestring
• song
• two cents

Examples of pin money in a Sentence

She had a babysitting job to earn pin money.

the summer intern made only pin money but gained valuable work experience

Recent Examples on the Web

Bonnie and Andrea pocket around $100 a month for spending two hours a week taking surveys, which gives each of them extra pin money. —Maria Carter, Woman's Day, 22 May 2017

Word History

First Known Use

1674, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

pin money

noun

: money for small expenses