noun

• 1A small cushion into which pins are stuck for convenient storage.

  ‘Or have you stuck them like pincushions with all your needles?’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Frowning, she takes the pin out of her mouth and sticks it into a soft strawberry-shaped pincushion.’
  • ‘They began to make floral designs with their glass beads and applied these new shapes to many useful things, including pincushions, handbags, sewing cases, and clothing.’

  1. 1.1A form of optical distortion in which straight lines along the edge of a screen or a lens bulge toward the center.
     ‘Examining the camera we noted no astigmatism, curvature of field, rolling distortion, or pincushion distortion.’
     More example sentences

     • ‘Focusing the scopes on the distant brick wall with its very distinct vertical and horizontal lines, we checked for pincushion distortion (lines bowing in) and barrel distortion (lines bowing out).’
     • ‘However I did note a small amount of pincushion distortion.’
     • ‘During testing I noted no spherical aberration, no astigmatism, no curvature of field, no barrel or pincushion, and no rolling distortion.’