coin
noun
a piece of metal stamped and issued by the authority of a government for use as money.
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coin
1 American
[koin]
/ kɔɪn /
noun
-
coins
plural
-
a piece of metal stamped and issued by the authority of a government for use as money.
-
a number of such pieces.
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Informal. money; cash.
He's got plenty of coin in the bank.
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Architecture. quoin.
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Archaic. a corner cupboard of the 18th century.
adjective
verb (used with object)
-
coins,
present (3rd person singular)
-
coined,
past participle, past
-
coining
present participle
-
to make (coinage) by stamping metal.
The mint is coining pennies.
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to convert (metal) into coinage.
The mint used to coin gold into dollars.
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to make; invent; fabricate.
to coin an expression.
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Metalworking. to shape the surface of (metal) by squeezing between two dies.
verb (used without object)
-
coins,
present (3rd person singular)
-
coined,
past participle, past
-
coining
present participle
idioms
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the other side of the coin, the other side, aspect, or point of view; alternative consideration.
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pay someone back in his / her own coin, to reciprocate or behave toward in a like way, especially inamicably; retaliate.
If they persist in teasing you, pay them back in their own coin.
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coin money, to make or gain money rapidly.
Those who own stock in that restaurant chain are coining money.
COIN
2
American
[koin]
/ kɔɪn /
noun
coin
British
/ kɔɪn /
noun
-
a metal disc or piece used as money
-
metal currency, as opposed to securities, paper currency, etc
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architect a variant spelling of quoin
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to treat a person in the way that he has treated others
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the opposite view of a matter
verb
-
(tr) to make or stamp (coins)
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(tr) to make into a coin
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(tr) to fabricate or invent (words, etc)
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informal (tr) to make (money) rapidly (esp in the phrase coin it in )
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said ironically after one uses a cliché
coin
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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coinsimple
-
coinssimple
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have coinedperfect
-
has coinedperfect
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am coiningprogressive
-
are coiningprogressive
-
is coiningprogressive
-
have been coiningperfect progressive
-
has been coiningperfect progressive
Past
-
coinedsimple
-
had coinedperfect
-
was coiningprogressive
-
were coiningprogressive
-
had been coiningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of coin1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English coyn(e), coygne, from Anglo-French; Middle French coin, cuigne “wedge, corner, die,” from Latin cuneus “wedge”
Origin of COIN2
co(unter) in(surgency)
Explanation
If you coin a phrase, that means you come up with a new way to say something, like the person who coined "webizens" to describe people who constantly use the Internet. The verb coin literally refers to making coins, the change you probably have in your pocket. The word can be used in a broader sense — creating something new, usually something related to language. For example, you could coin a phrase or a new word for “joke.” The language authorities would be proud — unlike federal authorities if you tried to coin money. That kind of coining is a criminal offense.
Vocabulary lists containing coin
Vocabulary from the Constitution of the United States
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Somehow Serra upset Sherman Oaks Notre Dame last week, then won a coin flip to finish in third place in the Mission League.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026
"It was by chance - a day off. I was walking along the beach with my metal detector on a day off, and I came across a coin," the 69-year-old said.
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026
When the student is done, De La Cruz hugs her and presents her with an American flag pin and a personalized Monica De La Cruz challenge coin.
From Slate ● Nov. 2, 2026
MarketWatch: What should a parent teach a teenager about crypto before the teenager buys their first coin?
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026
A coin that hadn’t even had a wish to it.
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
And in March 2017, Futurism reported that “An AI Completed 360,000 Hours of Finance Work in Just Seconds,” in a story of JPMorgan’s “machine learning” successes due to its new program called COIN, Contract Intelligence.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 8, 2018
The strategy, known by its acronym COIN, would require as many as 40,000 additional American men and women in uniform in Afghanistan, his advisers told him.
From New York Times ● Jan. 1, 2017
Governor Hickenlooper, in his 2011 statement announcing COIN, described it as a “roadmap for making Colorado the best state for innovation and where every road must lead to new jobs.”
From Forbes ● Nov. 6, 2014
According to Demaree, Tunnell barred his soldiers from using the term COIN, shorthand for "counterinsurgency."
From Washington Post ● Oct. 14, 2010
Gold dust there was in plenty, but no COIN.
From Sally Dows by Bret Harte
He requested two coins, referring to the ancient Greek tradition of putting two coins on the eyes of the dead to pay for their transportation to the underworld.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
The Finds Liaison Officer will help you get the coins assessed by experts to determine if they meet the legal definition of "treasure" under the Treasure Act 1996, external.
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026
With grilled chicken and sweet potato coins glossed with maple syrup and orange zest.
From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2026
Industrialist John D. Rockefeller was famous for his distribution of the coins, carrying them in his pocket everywhere he went.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026
We both dig the coins out of our pockets and begin to count.
From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko
California is about to enter the “Becerra era,” though the governor-elect who coined that phrase has dropped few hints about what will define it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026
He hearkened back to the idea of “bond vigilantes,” a famous term coined by economist Ed Yardeni to describe investors who shun debt until yields rise and they get paid more.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026
It was a mantra coined by the tech giant Meta and used until 2012, which came to define the bad old days of social media running riot in a feeding frenzy of user data.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
I’m not entirely convinced that the term genocide, coined in 1944, properly applies to more than one crime in history, the Holocaust, but Myanmar’s campaign against the Rohingyas might qualify to a reasonable person.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
Galton coined the memorable phrase nature versus nurture to discriminate hereditary and environmental influences.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
In 2019, Trump praised the CEO for Apple’s domestic investments, accidentally coining the nickname “Tim Apple” in the process.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026
Ahmed: Well, I was really proud to be part of the conversation, when we were kind of collectively coining that term, right, going from diversity to representation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026
“Our fans’ love for McDonald’s beverages runs deep, from rallying for the return of Hi-C Orange Lavaburst to coining the iconic ‘Spicy Sprite,’” McDonald’s said in a statement to Barron’s.
From Barron's ● Apr. 13, 2026
Mr. Ashton, a tech figure known for coining the phrase “the Internet of Things,” seems to regard himself as something of a progressive visionary.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 25, 2026
In any case, their meaning mattered little as long as the letter arrived, telling her aunt that Papá had been killed at sea and her niece and nephew were coining to Indio to find her.
From "Lupita Mañana" by Patricia Beatty
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
