lid
Americannoun
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lids
plural
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a removable or hinged cover for closing the opening, usually at the top, of a pot, jar, trunk, etc.; a movable cover.
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an eyelid.
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a restraint, ceiling, or curb, as on prices or news.
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Slang. a hat, cap, or other head covering.
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(in mosses)
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the cover of the capsule; operculum.
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the upper section of a pyxidium.
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Slang. one ounce of marijuana.
verb (used with object)
idioms
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blow / flip one's lid, to lose control, especially to rage hysterically: Also flip one's wig.
He nearly flipped his lid over the way they damaged his car.
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blow the lid off, to expose to public view, especially to reveal something scandalous, illegal, etc.
noun
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a cover, usually removable or hinged, for a receptacle
a saucepan lid
a desk lid
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short for eyelid
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botany another name for operculum
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slang short for skidlid
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old-fashioned a quantity of marijuana, usually an ounce
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informal to raise one's hat as a greeting, etc
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slang to become crazy or angry
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informal
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to be the final blow to
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to curb, prevent, or discourage
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informal to make startling or spectacular revelations about
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of lid
before 1000; Middle English; Old English hlid; cognate with Dutch, German lid, Old Norse hlith gate, gateway
Explanation
A lid is a top, or a cap — some kind of removable or hinged cover for a container. If you forget to put the lid on your tin of cat food, you may discover that your cat and dog have eaten it all by the end of the day. The lid on your trash can keeps raccoons out of it, and the lid on your travel mug keeps your tea hot for hours. Another lid is your eyelid, the skin that moves over your eyeball like a lid: "Her heavy lids told me she didn't sleep at all." A lid is also slang for a hat or a helmet, and if someone says, "Put a lid on it," they're telling you (somewhat rudely) to quiet down.
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:
Markets are currently expecting more rate increases than Goldman strategists, who believe limited pressure from nonfood and energy prices will keep a lid on central bank tightening.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026
Its eggs contain an unusual structural lid that has not previously been documented in any stick insect or its closest relatives.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 1, 2026
SINGAPORE—The crowd gasped as the brokers swung the wooden mallets on the lid of the sake barrel, cracking it open in celebration.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
That tension added to the summer surge in U.S. bond yields, which prompted Treasury Secretary Bessent in August to intervene with plans to increase Treasury buybacks of long-dated bonds to keep a lid on rates.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026
And be so kind as to fasten the lid.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
Bratz dolls, all lip gloss and heavy lids, were suddenly cooler than Barbie, who looked conservative by comparison.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026
The pink, mouse-like creatures lived in craters covered by dustbin lids - the lids' noisy "clang" gave the show its name.
From BBC ● Apr. 2, 2026
One of the quiet tragedies of the potluck is that perfectly good food often remains trapped in its travel container — lids half removed, plastic corners fogged with condensation.
From Salon ● Mar. 15, 2026
At others, embers from the blazes landed on trash and recycling bins close to the houses, sometimes burning holes through the plastic lids and igniting the material inside.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 10, 2025
Tato rattled lids and dropped a spoon on the new cement floor.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
Everything Sprouts said Friday that it was recalling 5 oz. lidded plastic containers of alfalfa sprouts that were distributed after May 26.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Mix it all together and deliver in a lidded deli tub.
From Salon ● Jan. 19, 2026
Auctioneers originally thought the lidded vase was from the 20th Century but now believe it to be a "superb quality" 18th Century creation from the Qianlong period.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2023
Learn to make cork objects, carve surface textures on wooden knobs, make elegant lidded boxes, or choose another niche skill to tackle with your dad.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 15, 2023
Dark as her sister was fair, with heavily lidded eyes and a strong jaw, she did not take her gaze from Snape as she moved to stand behind Narcissa.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
Seattle City Councilmember Dan Strauss and some of his City Council colleagues want to explore lidding Interstate 5.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 15, 2023
The spectrum of highway-skeptical advocacy is broad — on behalf of the wholesale removal of a portion of 99, the redesign of Aurora Avenue, the lidding of I-5 near downtown Seattle, against U.S.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 19, 2022
Kirwan is never loath to combat a political foe by lidding his barrel.
From Time Magazine Archive
The light had retreated at the insistence of the darkness—a scrap of cloud lidding the blank eye of the moon—and Bone Gap was still.
From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby
"I can all but read your thoughts," he went on, lidding his green eyes a number of times.
From Peter the Brazen A Mystery Story of Modern China by Gayle Porter Hoskins
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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.
