Tack vs. Pin — What's the Difference?

A short nail with a broad head.

Can be decorative.

Used for upholstery.

A thin, sharp piece of metal for fastening.

For temporary attachment.

Requires careful removal.

Easily removed for adjustments.

Used in sewing and crafts.

Requires a hammer for insertion.

Inserted by hand.

A short, light nail with a sharp point and a flat head.

A pin is a device used for fastening objects or material together, and can have three sorts of body: a shaft of a rigid inflexible material meant to be inserted in a slot, groove, or hole (as with pivots, hinges, and jigs); a shaft connected to a head and ending in a sharp tip meant to pierce one or more pieces of soft materials like cloth or paper (the straight or push pin); a single strip of a rigid but flexible material (e.g. a wire) whose length has been folded into parallel prongs in such fashion that the middle length of each curves towards the other so that, when anything is inserted between them, they act as a clamp (e.g.

A rope for holding down the weather clew of a course.

An identifying number allocated to an individual by a bank or other organization and used for validating electronic transactions.

A rope for hauling the outer lower corner of a studdingsail to the boom.

Attach or fasten with a pin or pins

The part of a sail, such as the weather clew of a course, to which this rope is fastened.

Hold (someone) firmly in a specified position so they are unable to move

The lower forward corner of a fore-and-aft sail.

Hinder or prevent (a piece or pawn) from moving because of the danger to a more valuable piece standing behind it along the line of an attack

The position of a vessel relative to the trim of its sails.

A short, straight, stiff piece of wire with a blunt head and a sharp point, used especially for fastening.

The act of changing from one position or direction to another.

Something, such as a safety pin, that resembles such a piece of wire in shape or use.

The distance or leg sailed between changes of position or direction.

A whit; a jot

An approach to accomplishing a goal or a method of dealing with a problem.

A thin rod for securing the ends of fractured bones.

A large, loose stitch made as a temporary binding or as a marker.

A peg for fixing the crown to the root of a tooth.

Stickiness, as that of a newly painted surface.

A cotter pin.

Food, especially coarse or inferior foodstuffs.

The part of a key stem entering a lock.

The harness for a horse, including the bridle and saddle.

(Music) One of the pegs securing the strings and regulating their tension on a stringed instrument.

To fasten or attach with a tack or tacks

(Nautical) A belaying pin.

To fasten or mark (cloth or a seam, for example) with a loose basting stitch.

(Nautical) A thole pin.

To put together loosely and arbitrarily

An ornament fastened to clothing by means of a clasp.

To add as an extra item; append

A rolling pin.

(Nautical) To bring (a vessel) into the wind in order to change course or direction.

One of the wooden clubs at which the ball is aimed in bowling.

To change the direction of a sailing vessel, especially by turning the bow into and past the direction of the wind

A flagstick.

To sail a zigzag course upwind by repeatedly executing such a maneuver.

See fall.

To change tack

Pins(Informal) The legs

To change one's course of action.

(Electronics) A lead on a device that plugs into a socket to connect the device to a system.

A small nail with a flat head.

Any of the pegs on the platen of a printer, which engage holes at the edges of paper.

A thumbtack.

Any of the styluses that form a dot matrix on a printer.

(sewing) A loose seam used to temporarily fasten pieces of cloth.

Any of the small metal prongs at the end of a connector that fit into the holes in a port.

(nautical) The lower corner on the leading edge of a sail relative to the direction of the wind.

To fasten or secure with or as if with a pin or pins.

(nautical) A course or heading that enables a sailing vessel to head upwind.

To transfix.

(figurative) A direction or course of action, especially a new one.

To place in a position of trusting dependence

(nautical) The maneuver by which a sailing vessel turns its bow through the wind so that the wind changes from one side to the other.

To hold fast; immobilize

(nautical) The distance a sailing vessel runs between these maneuvers when working to windward; a board.

(Sports) To win a fall from in wrestling.

(nautical) A rope used to hold in place the foremost lower corners of the courses when the vessel is close-hauled; also, a rope employed to pull the lower corner of a studding sail to the boom.

To give (a woman) a fraternity pin in token of attachment.

Any of the various equipment and accessories worn by horses in the course of their use as domesticated animals.

Having a grain suggestive of the heads of pins. Used of leather.

The stickiness of a compound, related to its cohesive and adhesive properties.

A needle without an eye (usually) made of drawn-out steel wire with one end sharpened and the other flattened or rounded into a head, used for fastening.

Food generally; fare, especially of the bread kind.

A small nail with a head and a sharp point.

That which is attached; a supplement; an appendix.

A cylinder often of wood or metal used to fasten or as a bearing between two parts.

(obsolete) Confidence; reliance.

The victory condition of holding the opponent's shoulders on the wrestling mat for a prescribed period of time.

A stain; a tache.

A slender object specially designed for use in a specific game or sport, such as skittles or bowling.

(obsolete) A peculiar flavour or taint.

A leg.

(colloquial) That which is tacky; something cheap and gaudy.

(electricity) Any of the individual connecting elements of a multipole electrical connector.

A contract by which the use of a thing is set, or let, for hire; a lease.

A piece of jewellery that is attached to clothing with a pin.

To nail with a tack small nail with a flat head.

(US) A simple accessory that can be attached to clothing with a pin or fastener, often round and bearing a design, logo or message, and used for decoration, identification or to show political affiliation, etc.

To sew/stitch with a tack loose seam used to temporarily fasten pieces of cloth.

(chess) Either a scenario in which moving a lesser piece to escape from attack would expose a more valuable piece to being taken instead, or one where moving a piece is impossible as it would place the king in check.

(nautical) To maneuver a sailing vessel so that its bow turns through the wind, i.e. the wind changes from one side of the vessel to the other.

(golf) The flagstick: the flag-bearing pole which marks the location of a hole

To add something as an extra item.

(curling) The spot at the exact centre of the house (the target area)

To place the tack on a horse; often paired with "up".

(archery) The spot at the exact centre of the target, originally a literal pin that fastened the target in place.

A stain; a tache.

(obsolete) A mood, a state of being.

A peculiar flavor or taint; as, a musty tack.

One of a row of pegs in the side of an ancient drinking cup to mark how much each person should drink.

A small, short, sharp-pointed nail, usually having a broad, flat head.

Caligo.

A rope used to hold in place the foremost lower corners of the courses when the vessel is closehauled (see Illust. of Ship); also, a rope employed to pull the lower corner of a studding sail to the boom.

A thing of small value; a trifle.

A contract by which the use of a thing is set, or let, for hire; a lease.

A peg in musical instruments for increasing or relaxing the tension of the strings.

Confidence; reliance.

(engineering) A short shaft, sometimes forming a bolt, a part of which serves as a journal.

To fasten or attach.

The tenon of a dovetail joint.

Especially, to attach or secure in a slight or hasty manner, as by stitching or nailing; as, to tack together the sheets of a book; to tack one piece of cloth to another; to tack on a board or shingle; to tack one piece of metal to another by drops of solder.

A size of brewery cask, equal to half a firkin, or eighth of a barrel.

In parliamentary usage, to add (a supplement) to a bill; to append; - often with on or to; as, to tack on a non-germane appropriation to a bill.

(informal) A pinball machine.

To change the direction of (a vessel) when sailing closehauled, by putting the helm alee and shifting the tacks and sails so that she will proceed to windward nearly at right angles to her former course.

(locksmithing) A small cylindrical object which blocks the rotation of a pin-tumbler lock when the incorrect key is inserted.

The heading or position of a vessel relative to the trim of its sails

(often followed by a preposition such as "to" or "on") To fasten or attach (something) with a pin.

A short nail with a sharp point and a large head

To cause (a piece) to be in a pin.

Gear for a horse

(wrestling) To pin down (someone).

(nautical) a line (rope or chain) that regulates the angle at which a sail is set in relation to the wind

To enclose; to confine; to pen; to pound.

(nautical) the act of changing tack

To attach (an icon, application, message etc.) to another item so that it persists.

Sailing a zigzag course

To fix (an array in memory, a security certificate, etc.) so that it cannot be modified.

Fasten with tacks;

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Turn into the wind;

(transitive) To cause an analog gauge to reach the stop pin at the high end of the range.

Make by putting pieces together;

To peen.

Sew together loosely, with large stitches;

To inclose; to confine; to pen; to pound.

Fix to; attach;

To fasten with, or as with, a pin; to join; as, to pin a garment; to pin boards together.

Reverse (a direction, attitude, or course of action)

A piece of wood, metal, etc., generally cylindrical, used for fastening separate articles together, or as a support by which one article may be suspended from another; a peg; a bolt.

Especially, a small, pointed and headed piece of brass or other wire (commonly tinned), largely used for fastening clothes, attaching papers, etc.

Hence, a thing of small value; a trifle.

That which resembles a pin in its form or use

One of a row of pegs in the side of an ancient drinking cup to mark how much each man should drink.

The bull's eye, or center, of a target; hence, the center.

Mood; humor.

Caligo. See Caligo.

An ornament, as a brooch or badge, fastened to the clothing by a pin; as, a Masonic pin.

The leg; as, to knock one off his pins.

A piece of jewelry that is pinned onto the wearer's garment

When a wrestler's shoulders are forced to the mat

Small markers inserted into a surface to mark scores or define locations etc.

A number you choose and use to gain access to various accounts

Informal terms of the leg;

Axis consisting of a short shaft that supports something that turns

Cylindrical tumblers consisting of two parts that are held in place by springs; when they are aligned with a key the bolt can be thrown

Flagpole used to mark the position of the hole on a golf green

A small slender (often pointed) piece of wood or metal used to support or fasten or attach things

A holder attached to the gunwale of a boat that holds the oar in place and acts as a fulcrum for rowing

A club-shaped wooden object used in bowling; set up in groups as a target

To hold fast or prevent from moving;

Attach or fasten with pins

Pierce with a pin;

Immobilize a piece

While pins can temporarily hold materials together, they lack the holding power of tacks for heavier or more permanent applications.

Tacks are primarily used for securing fabrics, carpets, and light materials to surfaces, often in upholstery or construction projects.

A tack can be removed by prying it out with a tack lifter or a flat tool, leveraging its broad head.

Pins can have heads, but they are usually smaller and not as flat as tack heads, and sometimes decorative.

Yes, tacks can often be reused if they are not bent or damaged upon removal.

Yes, there are specialized pins, such as safety pins and sewing pins, designed for specific tasks.

Tacks are mostly made of metal, while pins can be made of metal, wood, or plastic, offering a wider range of uses.

Yes, but care should be taken with delicate fabrics to avoid leaving holes or marks.

Yes, both tacks and pins come in various sizes to suit different projects and materials.

Pins are generally easier to insert by hand into soft materials, while tacks require a hammer but provide a stronger hold.

Yes, both can be used in crafting, but the choice depends on the material and the permanence of the attachment needed.

Tacks can cause small holes, so their use on walls should be considered based on the wall material and the acceptability of minor damage.

Consider the material, the permanence of the attachment, and whether the item will bear weight to decide.

Some pins, especially sewing pins, can be made of magnetic materials, making them easy to collect with a magnet.

Professionals often prefer tacks for upholstery due to their strength and durability in holding fabrics to furniture frames.