chin
noun
the lower extremity of the face, below the mouth.
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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:
Kessler thought Spengler a “fat priest with a fat chin and brutal mouth” and his theories “the most hackneyed, trivial stuff,” but Kessler sensed the ominous turn in Germany’s cultural politics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
The mask extends from the hairline to underneath the chin.
From Slate ● Oct. 7, 2026
It’s now thick and reaches inches below his chin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
Two smaller scars on his chin and a missing tooth are other visible marks of his ordeal.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
I held out my paper cup, but she lifted her chin at the crumpled-up cup on her own tray.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
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
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
"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
Yet investors can take comfort that the “underlying appetite” for artificial intelligence has not changed since the midterms elections, Chin added; rather, the regulatory pathway has “become more tricky.”
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2026
Stifel analyst Brian Chin labeled Friday’s action a “volatility whipsaw” reaction.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2026
The agreement has turned out to be "just not worth the paper it was signed on", says James Chin, professor of Asian studies at the University of Tasmania.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026
That sentiment echoed in my mind throughout “Everest: The Other Side,” the remarkable new documentary from National Geographic, helmed by “Free Solo” and “Nyad” co-directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin.
From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2026
She didn’t look at all like the Ximena Chin we were used to seeing in school.
From "Auggie & Me" by R. J. Palacio
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
How strange, I mused, that the conductor would invoke the legendary rebel turned emperor of the Ch'in dynasty through whom the Kings of Hell reported their doings to heaven.
From Time Magazine Archive
The ruling powers in Ch'ing, however, showed no disposition to employ even a man possessing such marked characteristics, and before long he removed to Ch'in, where he remained a year.
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
While Lord Wynstowe fusses around measuring chins and noses, Charlie and Alice are concerned with the grosser features of the human body.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Wales were 14 points down, but, having had a Blair Murray try chalked off, their chins were still up.
From BBC ● Mar. 15, 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
They clung to each other—big sister to little sister, bosom to bosom, their chins wrapped around each other’s necks.
From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
"Taking interim fights, you can get chinned by anyone."
From BBC ● Apr. 12, 2026
On a recent afternoon he chinned himself from a high bar and did an assortment of lifts with 30-pound weights on cables.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 2, 2016
Double chinned faces are usually categorized under the round and wide face.
From Forbes ● Sep. 28, 2014
His last ride, he got chinned on the line.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 2, 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
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
Four times a week he dons a pair of steel and foam-rubber Gravity Boots that each weigh three pounds and dangles from his heels from a chinning bar for five minutes.
From Time Magazine Archive
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
I remember chinning myself on the top of a fence to see one such comedy show filled with gallows humor.
From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson
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