rind
1 Americannoun
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a thick and firm outer coat or covering, as of certain fruits, cheeses, and meats.
watermelon rind; orange rind; bacon rind.
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the bark of a tree.
noun
noun
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a hard outer layer or skin on bacon, cheese, etc
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the outer layer of a fruit or of the spore-producing body of certain fungi
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the outer layer of the bark of a tree
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of rind1
before 900; Middle English, Old English rind ( e ) tree bark, crust; cognate with German Rinde
Origin of rind2
1300–50; Middle English rynd; cognate with Middle Dutch rijn, Middle Low German rīn
Explanation
A rind is a thick, inedible peel. You'll have to remove the rind of your orange before you eat it. Most rinds occur naturally, growing to cover and protect a fruit or a plant. You can also call the thick, waxy covering on a wheel of cheese a rind, or the inedible skin on a sausage or another food. The Old English root rinde originally meant "bark or crust," and later also "peel of a fruit or vegetable."
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.
Next door, Noble Rind plates up the most stunning cheese boards.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 3, 2025
Aside from requiring a medical diagnosis of obesity, they might insist on people having other weight-related health issues or restrict the duration of coverage, Rind says.
From Scientific American • Oct. 16, 2023
In an interview, David Rind, ICER’s chief medical officer, said $10,000 to $15,000 a year would be reasonable.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 13, 2023
“We should be excited to have a therapy like Zynteglo,” Rind says.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 9, 2022
While Hermod was in the underworld, Odin had had a son to replace Balder; this son, named Vali, was the son of Odin and the goddess Rind.
From "Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
