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. Sn; 118.69; 50; 7.31 at 20°C.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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°C
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
to complete a home baking of cakes, biscuits, etc
Also called: tinful. the contents of a tin or the amount a tin will hold
corrugated or galvanized iron
a tin roof
any metal regarded as cheap or flimsy
a loaf of bread with a rectangular shape, baked in a tin
slang money
it lives up to expectations
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
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
before 900; (noun) Middle English, Old English; cognate with Dutch, Old Norse tin, German Zinn; (v.) Middle English tinnen, derivative of the noun
Tin is a kind of metal that is soft and silver-colored. The most common use of tin today is in solder, the hot, liquid metal that holds pipes and other metal pieces together. You may think of common items like tin foil and tin cans when you contemplate the uses of tin. Actually, so-called tin cans and tins are made of steel or other metals that are coated in tin. Before the middle of the 20th century, the foil used for covering food was made of thin sheets of tin. It was stiffer than today's foil (which is made of aluminum), and left food with a metallic, "tinny" taste.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A staffer for Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders offered a Kennedy aide a tobacco pouch from a custom gold tin at a dinner in Washington this spring.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 19, 2026
The problem with the snack tin craze lies in its rhetoric.
From Salon • May 17, 2026
Among their finds is a fire extinguisher dating from 1942, newspapers from the week after D-Day, and a tin of "whole chicken in jelly" - fortunately empty.
From BBC • May 4, 2026
The unique blend from Yame, Japan, has a nutty taste, umami finish and comes in a bright orange tin.
From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026
Alexander had even filled a small, portable tin kettle with water from a nearby stream so Penelope could put it on to boil for tea.
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
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.
