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.
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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)
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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:
Observing something that small on the Sun is roughly equivalent to identifying a one euro coin from 180 kilometers away.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026
Joe Thompson joined the app to reconnect with his childhood hobby of coin collecting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
At the heart of Britain's coin factory, old Bank of England telephones are stripped down and dipped into giant vats to recover a hidden treasure: the gold in their circuits.
From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026
To coin a phrase, you can’t make this stuff up.
From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2026
For a moment I could see the glint of the coin, and then it was gone, down, down into water so deep no one would ever find it.
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
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
Governor Hickenlooper, in his 2011 statement announcing COIN, described it as a “roadmap for making Colorado the best state for innovation and where every road must lead to new jobs.”
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 Harte, Bret
He planned to buy undervalued Morgan silver dollars—iconic coins with a buzzing collector market—get them professionally graded and flip them for profit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
They drew Silicon Valley investors, and the pair added Pokémon and sports cards, coins and eventually fashion, electronics and a wide range of other items, including knives, horse tack and live plants.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Scavengers would dig up artifacts like gold coins and porcelain doll heads, and Bayouth admired their aged, archival qualities, a theme that takes shape in her ceramics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
It is possible to trade the cards and build up in-game "coins" without using real money, but it is generally seen as a slower and less effective way to play.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
A scuffle behind him made Razi start, and Zheng dropped the coins he was holding.
From "The Boy Who Met a Whale" by Nizrana Farook
A Japanese journalist coined the term cosplay -- combining costume and play -- in 1984 after seeing people dressed as monsters and aliens at a sci-fi convention in Los Angeles.
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
The doctrine at the center of all this has a name: the Purcell principle, a term coined by Slate contributor Richard L. Hasen after a 2006 case, Purcell v.
From Slate ● Jul. 30, 2026
A year before Sire Records founder Seymour Stein coined the term “new wave” to describe the pop-flavored punk bands emerging in 1977, Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers had already launched the movement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
The stagnant condition of the labor market is so unusual that economists have even coined a phrase to describe it: “low-hire and low-fire,” a new phenomenon that emerged less than two years ago.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 11, 2026
Njemile had coined that one a long time ago, and the name had stuck.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
“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
Mr. Ashton, a tech figure known for coining the phrase “the Internet of Things,” seems to regard himself as something of a progressive visionary.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 25, 2026
Much of the deadpan dialogue was improvised and the film became a cult classic, coining phrases such as "turn it up to eleven".
From BBC ● Dec. 15, 2025
Wheeler was an ideological leader in developing quantum cosmology and is memorialized by his many contributions to the field, including coining the term black holes.
From Salon ● Jan. 17, 2025
As Ignatius pulled himself angrily up and out of the taxi, he saw his mother coining down the street.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
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.
