tin
[tin]
- 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.
- tin plate.
- any shallow pan, especially one used in baking.
- any pot, box, can, or other container or vessel made of tin or tin plate.
- Squash. telltale(def 8).
- 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.
- British Slang. money.
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- made or consisting of tin or tin plate.
- false; worthless; counterfeit: a set of tin values.
- indicating the tenth event of a series, as a wedding anniversary.
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- 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.
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Origin of tin
before 900; (noun) Middle English, Old English; cognate with Dutch, Old Norse tin, German Zinn; (v.) Middle English tinnen, derivative of the noun
TIN
[tin]
- taxpayer identification number.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for tin
Contemporary Examples
The raw materials— tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold—were dubbed “conflict minerals.”
One and all, they come shaking their tin cups at election time then run like the wind when a critical vote comes up.
“I have personally been to gold recyclers in Japan, tin smelters in Indonesia and fold refiners in Canada,” she said.
In China, for example, tungsten, tantalum, tin and gold are mined and ore is imported from other countries.
I had to retrieve the tin from a special compacter before it was crushed, an exercise in timing.
Historical Examples
Then he tossed his tin dishes away and they fell clattering on the rocks.
Way of the LawlessMax Brand
A tin cup and a cracked pitcher of spring water stood on the window-sill.
KMary Roberts Rinehart
The cooking was done in a tin basin on the top of the hot stove.
In the Midst of AlarmsRobert Barr
On top of the barrel was a tin coffeepot, a china cup, and half a loaf of bread.
The UnderdogF. Hopkinson Smith
I played with clay gods and goddesses instead of tin soldiers.
It Happened in EgyptC. N. Williamson
tin
- 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): can an 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 tins NZ to complete a home baking of cakes, biscuits, etc
- Also called: tinful the contents of a tin or the amount a tin will hold
- British, Australian and NZ corrugated or galvanized irona tin roof
- any metal regarded as cheap or flimsy
- British a loaf of bread with a rectangular shape, baked in a tin
- slang money
- it does exactly what it says on the tin it lives up to expectations
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- 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
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Word Origin
Old English; related to Old Norse tin, Old High German zin
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 tin
n.
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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
tin
(tĭn)- A malleable metallic element used to coat other metals to prevent corrosion. Atomic number 50.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
tin
[tĭn]
- 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.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.