Dictionary

pinsetter en · NOUN

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *pinnaz Proto-West Germanic *pinn Old English pinn Middle English pinne English pin Proto-Indo-European *sed- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Proto-Indo-European *sodéyeti Proto-Germanic *satjaną Proto-West Germanic *sattjan Old English settan Middle English setten Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere Middle English settere English setter English pinsetter From pin + setter.

Meanings

1. (qualifier:originally) The person who clears fallen pins and resets them in tenpin bowling or candlepin bowling.
   • “I was working as a pinsetter in a bowling alley down in Tampa.” 2019, Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys, Fleet, page 92:
2. The machine that clears fallen pins and resets them in tenpin bowling or candlepin bowling.
   • They have twelve lanes of candlepin bowling with cranky automatic pinsetters that usually take the last three days of the week off […] 1985, Stephen King, Nona:

Forms