shim

[shim]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR shim ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a thin slip or wedge of metal, wood, etc., for driving into crevices, as between machine parts to compensate for wear, or beneath bedplates, large stones, etc., to level them.

verb (used with object), shimmed, shim·ming.

to fill out or bring to a level by inserting a shim or shims.

Origin of shim

First recorded in 1715–25; origin uncertain

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

Related Words for shim

chunk, stuffing, mixture, layer, dressing, cusp, taper, spire, quoin, cleat, lump, keystone, prong, block, cotter, chock, insides, cylinder, center, cartridge

Examples from the Web for shim

Historical Examples of shim

No, the big elevation rudder was still in place, but it seemed to have no effect on the shim.
Tom Swift and his Airship
Victor Appleton

British Dictionary definitions for shim

shim

noun

a thin packing strip or washer often used with a number of similar washers or strips to adjust a clearance for gears, etc

physics a thin strip of magnetic material, such as soft iron, used to adjust a magnetic field

verb shims, shimming or shimmed

(tr) to modify a load, clearance, or magnetic field by the use of shims

Word Origin for shim

C18: origin unknown

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 shim

1723, a Kentish word of unknown origin. Originally a piece of iron fitted to a plow for scraping soil; meaning "thin slip of wood to fill up a space or raise a level" is from 1860.

"to wedge up a surface by means of a shim," 1877, from shim (n.). Related: Shimmed; shimming.