Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(a) of a man, to have sexual intercourse; thus take the pin v., of a woman, to have sexual intercourse [note pin n. (1a)].

c.1540		J. Heywood Four P.P. in Farmer Dramatic Writings (1905) 37: But prick them and pin them as nice as ye will, And yet will they look for pinning still.
1966		R.H. Rimmer Harrad Experiment 48: ‘Why didn’t you pin her and get it over with?’ [...] ‘I’ve got principles. I’m not using my pin to seduce virgins.’.

(b) (US teen) to stab.

1956

H. Ellison ‘I’ll Bet You a Death’ in Deadly Streets (1983) 37: Pin him with your switchblade.

(a) to snatch, to steal.

1768		Carlisle in Jesse George Selwyn (1843) II 340: I am sure they intended to pin my money, but I disappointed them.
1864, 1867, 1870		Hotten Sl. Dict.

(b) to seize, to catch, to arrest.

c.1790		‘Luke Caffrey’s Ghost’ in Chap Book Songs 2: You know, in Ram-alley, dey pin’d him.
1797		M. Leeson Memoirs (1995) III 162: The unfortunate Misset was accordingly pinned and lodged in the Sheriffs Gaol.
1845		J. Lindridge Sixteen-String Jack 258: You are pinned at last.
1858		‘A. Pendragon’ Queen of the South 40: [of a dog] ‘Sh– I thought I heard a footstep.’ ‘Never mind,’ said Wilson, ‘Smasher’ll pin him.’.
1869		J. Greenwood Seven Curses of London 105: Bull hung his ears and pawed uncomfortably in a puddle [...] as though in his heart resenting being ‘pinned’ after this fashion.
1870		Paisley Herald 21 May 2/6: One of the young men rushed out and pinned him, and a police constable [...] secured [him].
1880		Liverpool Mail 5 Sept. 6/5: ’It’s getting hot as h—ll round here, I’ll have to cut or they’ll pin me’.
1895		C. Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 58: Pinned, arrested.
1909		A. Quiller-Couch True Tilda 57: [of a dog] Dolph’ll wait by you an’ see you come to no ’arm. Understand, Dolph? I’m goin’ inside for a minute [...] but if anybody touches Arthur Miles you pin ’im!
1935		A.J. Pollock Und. Speaks n.p.: Pin, to accuse; to implicate.
1990		(con. 1930s–60s) H. Huncke Guilty of Everything (1998) 236: He just began to hand the package to her when they pinned him.

(c) to obtain something from someone.

1837

‘The Wide Awake Club’ in Bentley’s Misc. Feb. 209: My eye! how precious drunk he made Snatch’em, the bum, and I, one night as we pinned him coming home in his cab from the Opera to give a champaign supper at The Clarendon.

(a) (Aus.) to target someone for one’s (often amatory) attentions.

1965		H. Rhodes Chosen Few (1966) 41: I ain’t never seen her pin anybody th’ way she pinned you jus’ now.
1969		‘Iceberg Slim’ Pimp 86: Out of the corner of my eye I saw him pinning me.

(b) to mark down visually, to notice.

1947		M.H. Boulware Jive and Sl. n.p.: Pin ... To look.
1958		Mad mag. May–June 20: So old Romeo, if they didn’t pin him Romeo, / Would still be the end.
1967		K. Kolb Getting Straight 3: I pinned you for a head, man.
1979		‘Iceberg Slim’ Airtight Willie and Me 36: That redhead white ’ho at the bar is pinning you.
1981		H. Gould Fort Apache, The Bronx 270: They pinned him as a cop right away.
2007		N. ‘Razor’ Smith Raiders 238: Chucky was pinned by Scotland Yard as having an outstanding Interpol warrant.

(c) (US black) to stare at (aggressively).

1953		E. Hunter ‘Vicious Circle’ Jungle Kids (1967) 34: He [...] pinned me with his eyes again.
1967		L. Bruce Essential Lenny Bruce 254: I can clock you, I can pin you.
1971		H.E. Roberts Third Ear n.p.: pin v. 1. to stare.
1983		N. Heard House of Slammers 87: Honky Tonk pinned as the cat moved in / And measured him up for size.
1997		E. Little Another Day in Paradise 109: He pauses [...] pinning me hard. Got a good psychotic mad dog.
2001		(con. 1975–6) E. Little Steel Toes 165: I look over at Phil [...] pin Abe for a second, and say, ‘Twenty on delivery.’.

(d) (US black) to draw someone else’s attention to, to point out.

1971

H.E. Roberts Third Ear n.p.: pin v. [...] 2. to see. 3. to call someone’s attention to.

(e) (US) to identify.

1971		E.E. Landy Underground Dict. (1972) 150: pin [...] Catch someone doing something and blame him for it.
1972		E. Grogan Ringolevio 43: Kenny [...] was curious about how Solly pinned him.
1981		H. Gould Fort Apache, The Bronx 8: A kid with tattoos like that. If he had any kind of rap sheet at all, and you knew he did, he could be pinned in a minute.

(f) (US prison) of a female prisoner, to act as a lookout.

1965		Ward & Kassebaum Women’s Prison 100: The usual practice is for lovers to utilize a [...] a trusted inmate to act as a lookout, referred to as pinning.
1992		Bentley & Corbett Prison Sl. 40: Pin is also used as a verb. ‘Will you pin for us while we smoke this joint?’.