1
general::
Phrase(s): pin something on someone
Fig. Inf. to blame something on someone; to frame someone for a crime; to make it appear that an innocent person has actually committed a crime. (See also pin something on someone or something.) • Don’t try to pin that crime on me! I didn’t do it. • The gang member tried to pin the crime on a rival gang., Phrase(s): pin something on someone or something
to hang something on someone or something by pinning. (See also pin something on someone.) • The mayor pinned the medal on the boy who had rescued the swimmer. • I pinned a yellow ribbon on my lapel.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs
2
general::
Attribute to someone, especially a wrongdoing or crime. For example, They pinned the murder on the wrong man. This expression uses pin in the sense of "attach." [First half of 1900s]
American Heritage Idioms