linchpin
A pin inserted through holes at the end of an axle or shaft, so as to secure a wheel…A pin inserted through holes at the end of an axle or shaft, so as to secure a wheel or shaft-mounted device.
» The army is the linchpin of North Korean dictatorship.
Meaning
2 sensesA pin inserted through holes at the end of an axle or shaft, so as to secure a wheel or shaft-mounted device.
Achsnagel, Lünse
чека́čeká
pin inserted through an axletree to hold a wheel on
(figuratively)A central cohesive source of stability and security; a person or thing that is critical to a system or organisation.
Angelpunkt
опо́раopóra
a central cohesive source of support and stability
Examples
3 sentencesThe army is the linchpin of North Korean dictatorship.
Algeria is the central linchpin of the Maghreb region both economically and politically.
The EU initially planned to use AstraZeneca as a linchpin in its vaccination campaign.
Translations
6 languagesBy meaning 2
By meaning 2
Origin
From Middle English lynspin, compound of lins (“axletree”) and pin, from Old English lynisFrom 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.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source