coin

[ koin ]

/ kɔɪn /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR coin ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a piece of metal stamped and issued by the authority of a government for use as money.

a number of such pieces.

Informal. money; cash: He's got plenty of coin in the bank.

Architecture. quoin(defs 1, 2).

Archaic. a corner cupboard of the 18th century.

adjective

operated by, or containing machines operated by, inserting a coin or coins into a slot: a coin laundry.

verb (used with object)

to make (coinage) by stamping metal: The mint is coining pennies.

to convert (metal) into coinage: The mint used to coin gold into dollars.

to make; invent; fabricate: to coin an expression.

Metalworking. to shape the surface of (metal) by squeezing between two dies.Compare emboss(def 3).

verb (used without object)

British Informal. to counterfeit, especially to make counterfeit money.

Nearby words

coil, coil spring, coiled, coimbatore, coimbra, coin, coin box, coin changer, coin lesion of lungs, coin lock, coin machine

Idioms

coin money, Informal. to make or gain money rapidly: Those who own stock in that restaurant chain are coining money.

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.

the other side of the coin, the other side, aspect, or point of view; alternative consideration.

Origin of coin

1300–50; Middle English coyn(e), coygne < Anglo-French; Middle French coin, cuigne wedge, corner, die < Latin cuneus wedge

Related forms

coin·a·ble, adjectivecoin·er, nounmis·coin, verbre·coin, verb (used with object)

un·coined, adjectivewell-coined, adjective

Definition for coin (2 of 2)

COIN

[ koin ]

/ kɔɪn /

noun, adjective

counterinsurgency.

Origin of COIN

co(unter) in(surgency)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for coin

She was gambling on a coin toss where somehow “heads, you win” would have been politically more advantageous than “tails, I lose.”
Keystone Senate Failure Is Environmental Kabuki Theater|Ben Jacobs|November 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But the other side of the coin would be, inevitably, the flowering of crime and corruption around the gambling business.
Putin's Crimea Is a Big Anti-Gay Casino|Anna Nemtsova|September 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Backstage, a coin toss determined the order for each of the battles.
America’s Poets: Battle Rap Gets Real|Rich Goldstein|July 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
For much of Hollywood history, stars like Cruise were the coin of the realm; now the industry has stopped minting new models.
How Tom Cruise Can Get His Groove Back|Andrew Romano|June 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST

However, Vladimir Putin has stepped it up and is giving us the opportunity to coin a new phrase connoting residency in crazy town.
Some 4 a.m. Brainstorming on How to Make Obama Tougher Than Putin|Annabelle Gurwitch|May 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Jake smiled quaintly as he fingered the coin with deliberation.
Tales of Northumbria|Howard Pease
If a man treats you badly in any way, you threaten to pay him back in his own coin by saying, 'The cat hasn't eaten the year yet.'
English As We Speak It in Ireland|P. W. Joyce
With this solace and the coin he took his way back to the waiting Jisuké.
Bakemono Yashiki (The Haunted House)|James S. De Benneville
The effect of all the coin that we took to and left in the country must have had a curious economic effect on Tibet.
To Lhassa at Last|Powell Millington
They cannot make the laws, monsieur; they cannot coin a conception of justice for your people.
The Sleuth of St. James's Square|Melville Davisson Post

British Dictionary definitions for coin

coin

/ (kɔɪn) /

noun

a metal disc or piece used as money

metal currency, as opposed to securities, paper currency, etcRelated adjective: nummary

architect a variant spelling of quoin

pay a person back in his own coin to treat a person in the way that he has treated others

the other side of the coin the opposite view of a matter

verb

(tr) to make or stamp (coins)

(tr) to make into a coin

(tr) to fabricate or invent (words, etc)

(tr) informal to make (money) rapidly (esp in the phrase coin it in)

to coin a phrase said ironically after one uses a cliché

Derived Formscoinable, adjectivecoiner, noun

Word Origin for coin

C14: from Old French: stamping die, from Latin cuneus wedge

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for coin (1 of 2)

coin

c.1300, "a wedge," from Old French coing (12c.) "a wedge; stamp; piece of money; corner, angle," from Latin cuneus "a wedge." The die for stamping metal was wedge-shaped, and the English word came to mean "thing stamped, a piece of money" by late 14c. (a sense that already had developed in French). Cf. quoin, which split off from this word 16c. Modern French coin is "corner, angle, nook." Coins were first struck in western Asia Minor in 7c. B.C.E.; Greek tradition and Herodotus credit the Lydians with being first to make and use coins of silver and gold.

Word Origin and History for coin (1 of 2)

coin

"to coin money," mid-14c., from coin (n.). Related: Coined; coining. To coin a phrase is late 16c. A Middle English word for minter was coin-smiter.

Idioms and Phrases with coin

coin

In addition to the idiom beginning with coin

coin money

also see:

other side of the coin
pay back (in someone's own coin)

coin

noun

adjective

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Idioms

Origin of coin

Definition for coin (2 of 2)

COIN

noun, adjective

Origin of COIN

Examples from the Web for coin

British Dictionary definitions for coin

coin

noun

verb

Word Origin for coin

Word Origin and History for coin (1 of 2)

coin

Word Origin and History for coin (1 of 2)

coin

Idioms and Phrases with coin

coin