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tain

American  
[teyn] / teɪn /

noun

  1. a thin tin plate.

  2. tin foil for the backs of mirrors.

tain British  
/ teɪn /

noun

  1. tinfoil used in backing mirrors

"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

Etymology

Origin of tain

1855–60; < French: silvering, foil, aphetic variant of étain tin

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.

So at a cer tain point along the way I got over it and just regarded it as a literary problem and an opportunity.

From Slate • Feb. 6, 2020

Chakrabarty knew that cer tain bacteria are able to break up hydrocarbons.

From Time Magazine Archive

If Anderson can main tain 10% in the polls, Reagan figures he has the edge in electoral votes, however close the popular tally, and should go to the White House.

From Time Magazine Archive

Whatever else it may be, it does con tain some of the most beautiful poetry in the language.

From Time Magazine Archive

And the magic flowed and flowed from the old witch into the new, the way water flows down the mourn tain.

From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill

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.