Chemistry. a low-melting, malleable, ductile metallic element nearly approaching silver in color and luster: used in plating and in making alloys, tinfoil, and soft solders. Symbol: Sn; atomic weight: 118.69; atomic number: 50; specific gravity: 7.31 at 20°C.
Chiefly British. a hermetically sealed can containing food.
Slang. a small quantity of an illicit drug, especially from two to five grams of cocaine: usually sold in a small plastic bag, a glassine envelope, or often a small tin container.
false; worthless; counterfeit: a set of tin values.
indicating the tenth event of a series, as a wedding anniversary.
verb (used with object),tinned,tin·ning.
Metallurgy.
to cover or coat with tin.
to coat with soft solder.
Chiefly British. to preserve or pack (especially food) in cans; can.
to cover (windows and doors in an abandoned or unoccupied building or apartment) with sheets of tin to prevent vandalism or occupancy by vagrants, squatters, etc.
Origin of tin
before 900; (noun) Middle English,Old English; cognate with Dutch,Old Norsetin,GermanZinn; (v.) Middle Englishtinnen, derivative of the noun
Related formstin·like, adjectivere·tin, verb (used with object),re·tinned,re·tin·ning.
a metallic element, occurring in cassiterite, that has several allotropes; the ordinary malleable silvery-white metal slowly changes below 13.2°C to a grey powder. It is used extensively in alloys, esp bronze and pewter, and as a noncorroding coating for steel. Symbol: Sn; atomic no: 50; atomic wt: 118.710; valency: 2 or 4; relative density: 5.75 (grey), 7.31 (white); melting pt: 231.9°C; boiling pt: 2603°CRelated adjectives: stannic, stannous
Also called (esp US and Canadian): canan airtight sealed container of thin sheet metal coated with tin, used for preserving and storing food or drink
any container made of metallic tin
fill her tinsNZto complete a home baking of cakes, biscuits, etc
Also called: tinfulthe contents of a tin or the amount a tin will hold
British, Australian and NZcorrugated or galvanized irona tin roof
any metal regarded as cheap or flimsy
Britisha loaf of bread with a rectangular shape, baked in a tin
slangmoney
it does exactly what it says on the tinit lives up to expectations
verbtins, tinningortinned(tr)
to put (food, etc) into a tin or tins; preserve in a tin
to plate or coat with tin
to prepare (a metal) for soldering or brazing by applying a thin layer of solder to the surface
Derived Formstinlike, adjective
Word Origin for tin
Old English; related to Old Norse tin, Old High German zin
Old English tin, from Proto-Germanic *tinom (cf. Middle Dutch and Dutch tin, Old High German zin, German Zinn, Old Norse tin), of unknown origin, not found outside Germanic.
Other Indo-European languages often have separate words for "tin" as a raw metal and "tin plate;" e.g. French étain, fer-blanc. Pliny refers to tin as plumbum album "white lead," and for centuries it was regarded as a form of silver debased by lead.
The chemical symbol Sn is from Late Latin stannum (see stannic). Tin-type in photography is from 1864. Tin ear "lack of musical discernment" is from 1909. Tin Lizzie "early Ford, especially a Model T," first recorded 1915.
A malleable, silvery metallic element that occurs in igneous rocks. It has a crystalline structure and crackles when bent. Tin is used as an anticorrosion agent and is a part of numerous alloys, including bronze. Atomic number 50; atomic weight 118.71; melting point 231.89°C; boiling point 2,270°C; specific gravity 7.31; valence 2, 4. See Periodic Table. See Note at element.
