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)
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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
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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
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(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
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coinssimple
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have coinedperfect
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has coinedperfect
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am coiningprogressive
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are coiningprogressive
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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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Unit 4
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Charles and Emma
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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:
Called the Grasshopper Club, members get a plaque, patch, pin and a coin.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
The 66-year-old was known for creating a highly-coveted coin amulet.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
"Or maybe the two of them will just team up and flip a coin and decide who's first."
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
As of Wednesday morning, the new meme coin $LAPTOP has been officially minted on a blockchain developed by Coinbase and made available for users to buy and trade across exchanges like Pump and Fomo.
From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2026
“He was right behind her, the scheming hyena! Not a coin in his pockets, not a cow to his name.”
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
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
Before Colorado’s creation of COIN, communication between entrepreneurs, start up businesses, academia, and big business was turbulent and rarely effective.
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
That is the real lesson of the week, and it has nothing to do with coins.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
Meme coins carry no intrinsic value, and most tumble in price within days or even hours after their launch.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026
When you join, you hatch a pet bird, and as you complete real-life tasks, your Finch is rewarded with rainbow coins that can be spent on outfits and furniture.
From Slate ● Sep. 6, 2026
After Sol’s business partner died of a heart attack while sitting at his Chrysler Building desk, he and his partner’s son flipped coins to divvy up envelopes with dozens of properties.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
At the doorway, I held out one of the coins the way I had held out the shawl, covering it so only the baker could see what I was holding.
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
No one seems to know who coined the term, but the label wasn’t what mattered; it was the idea that the military was hiding a device that could fix everything wrong with you.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
Whether he’s pressing interviewers about their glibness or just holding eye contact for an inordinate amount of time, Cruise — the last movie star, as he’s been coined — is the definition of passion.
From Salon ● Sep. 17, 2026
But her observation that the adjective “selfy” was coined by a 17th-century Scottish minister and meant to deride self-centeredness comes across as unnecessarily avuncular information.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
One luxury that the girls shared was a camera, and they were snapping selfies before the word was even coined.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
They could be used as "standard candles"–a term she coined and still in universal use.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
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
The Canadian psychoanalyst and management consultant Elliott Jaques is often credited with coining the term “midlife crisis” in 1965.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 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
But even after coining R&Bieber in 2019, he’s struggled to be taken seriously.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2025
Dear God, Shug Avery is coining to town!
From "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker
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.
