pin vs shoehorn

pin

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

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

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

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

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

  • To pin down (someone). 

  • To fasten or attach (something) with a pin. 

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

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

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

  • 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. 

  • Any of the individual connecting elements of a multipole electrical connector. 

  • The flagstick: the flag-bearing pole which marks the location of a hole 

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

  • A thing of small value; a trifle. 

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

  • A pinball machine. 

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

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

  • A short shaft, sometimes forming a bolt, a part of which serves as a journal. 

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

  • 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. 

  • 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. 

  • The tenon of a dovetail joint. 

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

  • A small nail with a head and a sharp point. 

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

  • A leg. 

shoehorn

verb
  • To force (something) into (a tight space); to squeeze (something) into (a schedule, etc); to exert great effort to insert or include (something); to include (something) despite potent reasons not to. 

  • To use a shoehorn. 

  • To force some current event into alignment with some (usually unconnected) agenda, especially when it is fallacious. 

noun
  • A smooth tool that assists in putting the foot into a shoe, by sliding the heel in after the toe is in place. This reduces discomfort and damage to the back of the shoe. By slipping it into the back of the shoe behind the heel, the user prevents the heel from squashing down the back of the shoe and causing difficulty; instead the heel slides down the smooth shoehorn, which then comes out easily once the foot is in place. 

  • Anything by which a transaction is facilitated; a medium. 

How often have the words pin and shoehorn occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )