cotter pin

1. 1.

   a cotter consisting of a split pin that is secured (after passing through a hole) by splitting the ends apart

   Broadercotter

Questions about cotter pin

What does cotter pin mean?

cotter pin means "a cotter consisting of a split pin that is secured (after passing through a hole) by splitting the ends apart".

Is cotter pin a common word?

cotter pin is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.