lynchpin

Other forms of lynchpin

plural

lynchpins·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about lynchpin

What does lynchpin mean?

lynchpin means "a central cohesive source of support and stability". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in lynchpin?

lynchpin has 2 syllables: lynch-pin. The stress falls on "lynch".

What is another word for lynchpin?

Close synonyms include anchor, mainstay, keystone, backbone, linchpin. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is lynchpin a common word?

lynchpin 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.