chin
noun
the lower extremity of the face, below the mouth.
Jump To:
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chin
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ch'in
ch'innouna Chinese zither consisting of an oblong, slightly curved wooden box over which are stretched strings that are stopped with one hand and plucked with the other.
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Chin
ChinnounAlso Tsin any of three dynasties that ruled in China, a.d. 265–316 (the Western Chin), a.d. 317–420 (the Eastern Chin), and a.d. 936–46 (the Later Chin).
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Ch'in
Ch'innouna dynasty in ancient China, 221–206 b.c., marked by the emergence of a unified empire and the construction of much of the Great Wall of China.
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Chin.
Chin.abbreviationChina.
chin
1 American
[chin]
/ tʃɪn /
noun
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chins
plural
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the lower extremity of the face, below the mouth.
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the prominence of the lower jaw.
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Informal. chin-up.
verb (used with object)
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chins,
present (3rd person singular)
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chinned,
past participle, past
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chinning
present participle
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Gymnastics.
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to bring one's chin up to (a horizontal bar, from which one is hanging by the hands), by bending the elbows.
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to raise (oneself ) to this position.
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to raise or hold to the chin, as a violin.
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Archaic. to talk to; chatter with.
verb (used without object)
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chins,
present (3rd person singular)
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chinned,
past participle, past
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chinning
present participle
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Gymnastics. to chin oneself.
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Slang. to talk; chatter.
We sat up all night chinning about our college days.
idioms
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keep one's chin up, to maintain a cheerful disposition in spite of difficulties, disappointments, etc. Also chin up.
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take it on the chin,
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to suffer defeat; fail completely.
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to endure suffering or punishment.
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ch'in
2
American
[chin, cheen]
/ tʃɪn, tʃin /
noun
Chin
3
American
[jin]
/ dʒɪn /
(Pinyin)
Jin
noun
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Also Tsin any of three dynasties that ruled in China, a.d. 265–316 (the Western Chin), a.d. 317–420 (the Eastern Chin), and a.d. 936–46 (the Later Chin).
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a dynasty that ruled in China 1115–1234.
Ch'in
4
American
[chin, cheen]
/ tʃɪn, tʃin /
(Pinyin)
Qin
noun
Chin.
5
American
Or
Chin.
abbreviation
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China.
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Chinese.
chin
1
British
/ tʃɪn /
noun
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the protruding part of the lower jaw
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the front part of the face below the lips
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Sometimes shortened to: chin up!. to keep cheerful under difficult circumstances
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informal to face squarely up to a defeat, adversity, etc
verb
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gymnastics to raise one's chin to (a horizontal bar, etc) when hanging by the arms
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informal (tr) to punch or hit (someone) on the chin
Chin.
2
British
abbreviation
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China
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Chinese
chin
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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chinsimple
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chinssimple
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have chinnedperfect
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has chinnedperfect
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am chinningprogressive
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are chinningprogressive
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is chinningprogressive
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have been chinningperfect progressive
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has been chinningperfect progressive
Past
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chinnedsimple
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had chinnedperfect
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was chinningprogressive
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were chinningprogressive
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had been chinningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of chin1
before 1000; Middle English; Old English cin ( n ); cognate with Dutch kin, German Kinn chin, Old Norse kinn, Gothic kinnus cheek, Latin gena, Greek génus chin, gnáthos jaw ( see genial 2, -gnathous), Sanskrit hanus jaw
Origin of ch'in2
From Chinese (Wade-Giles) ch'in2, (Pinyin) qín
Explanation
Your chin is the somewhat pointy part of your jaw at the bottom of your face, below your mouth. When a man has a bushy beard, it usually covers his cheeks and his chin. Humans are unique in having a chin — it's thought to have evolved in part from our habit of using speech. When chin is a verb, it means to do a pull up on an exercise bar, lifting your full weight until your chin touches the bar. In the late 16th century, to chin meant to affectionately rub chins with someone else, and in 1880s American slang, it also meant "to gossip."
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:
At conferences, he was known to balance heavy objects, like chairs, on his chin.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
Dressed in a dark suit and white shirt with no tie, the former president sat with his chin resting on his hands as proceedings opened.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
He yawned in his booking photograph, which showed the tattoos that cover his face and head: A “B” on his chin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
There had also been questions over his chin, simply because it had never really been tested.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
One of the camp dogs jumped on top of her, showering her with snow, and nudging his cold nose under her chin.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
"The lines composed by cousin Pao ch'in are indeed devised in a too pigheaded and fast-and-loose sort of way," she observed.
From Hung Lou Meng, Book II Or, the Dream of the Red Chamber, a Chinese Novel in Two Books by H. Bencraft Joly
They were ch'in ping, or body-guard troops, in sky-blue tunics, and this retirement was the most significant of all.
From Indiscreet Letters From Peking Being the Notes of an Eye-Witness, Which Set Forth in Some Detail, from Day to Day, the Real Story of the Siege and Sack of a Distressed Capital in 1900—The Year of Great Tribulation by B. L. (Bertram Lenox) Putnam Weale
Besides adopting the reading of sin for ch'in from the Ch'ang, and modifying their arrangements of the text, Chu Hsi made other innovations.
From The Chinese Classics: with a translation, critical and exegetical notes, prolegomena and copious indexes (Shih ching. English) — Volume 1 by James Legge
These tunings were both borrowed by the Japanese from the Chinese by whom they were used as special tunings of the ch'in, or kin, one of the most ancient of musical instruments.
From The Tinguian Social, Religious, and Economic Life of a Philippine Tribe by Fay-Cooper Cole
In extreme situations, Chin said, it helps to think objectively about the difference between real risk and perceived risk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Exports are expected to remain supported through year-end by resilient manufactured-goods shipments, particularly electrical and electronic products, alongside continued strength in commodity exports, RHB senior economist Chin Yee Sian says in a note.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
“Everest: The Other Side,” from filmmakers Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, follows mountaineers Hilaree Nelson and Jim Morrison as they prepare to climb Everest’s north face and attempt an unprecedented ski descent.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
After seeing it, she says, she ran into Chin and blurted out, “I’m so glad you’re alive.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
Dr. Chin is East Asian, and you can see that a little bit in the shape of Rae’s eyes, but said eyes are green and she’s got a lot of freckles.
From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone
Let’s say you wanted to remember the names of Chinese dynasties: Zhou, Ch’in, Han, Tang, Ming.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 8, 2023
In the 3rd century B.C., he forcibly united most of China around the northeastern state of Ch'in and established a tyrannical rule that was soon swept away in civil war.
From Time Magazine Archive
Even more astonishing, a poem circulated at the protest read: "Gone for good is Ch'in Shih Huang feudal society."
From Time Magazine Archive
Shensi is reverenced as the birthplace of the Chinese nation, and when the country was first unified by the Ch'in dynasty in 221 B.C., its capital was near present-day Sian.
From Time Magazine Archive
Even on the road to Ch'in we are told that he practised ceremonies with his disciples beneath the shadow of a tree by the wayside in Sung.
From The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 01 by John Rudd
“It’s nice to meet you, Dr. Chin. I’m Courtney.”
From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone
Thus the Chin. yu, originally go, is equated with Akkad gu, to speak; ye with ge, night, and so on.
From Man, Past and Present by Alfred Court Haddon
Hope, hard work and American ingenuity kept chins high and eyes shining as the ceremonial Parade of Ships set sail across the Delaware River.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2025
That might be giving too much credit to one player’s influence after nearly 50 years of clean chins, but come opening day, the smart money will be on Williams wearing a beard.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 21, 2025
Chinstrap penguins get their name from the thin black line under their chins, which looks like a strap holding on a black hat or helmet.
From NewsForKids.net ● Dec. 12, 2023
But she disliked the experience, which, she said, left the company “in hysterics — people twitching, slobber running down their chins, screaming from nerves and exhaustion.”
From New York Times ● Jun. 15, 2023
The two men who walked out felt their way carefully and scratched their rough and scrubbily-stubbled chins.
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
"Taking interim fights, you can get chinned by anyone."
From BBC ● Apr. 12, 2026
A guy in Philadelphia chinned 24 pullups in a row at age 90, which is roughly 23 more than I’ve done in my entire life.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 26, 2019
Double chinned faces are usually categorized under the round and wide face.
From Forbes ● Sep. 28, 2014
But it was either them or the blessedly chinned Bruce Forsyth.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 13, 2010
I sprang up, grabbed it, and then, in a fumbling and perhaps grotesque offering to Phineas, I chinned myself.
From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles
Outside is a chinning bar dating to Tolstoy’s day.
From New York Times ● Sep. 21, 2016
Jobs as a mechanic in Vermont and Detroit and a brief love affair with his ex-secretary in Washington soon had him chinning himself on his own self-confidence.
From Time Magazine Archive
In Higashi Village, Japan, the women's youth corps put 50 youths through a husband qualification test which included a marathon run, a rice-bag-carrying race, chinning the bar and plowing, flunked all 50.
From Time Magazine Archive
After chinning itself intellectually on King Lear, an audience is presumed to be so exhausted that it can only cope with the slack-jawed humors of Comedy of Errors.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Englishmen had also been lifting weights and chinning themselves for years.
From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut
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.
