tinfoil

[tin-foil]

noun

tin, or an alloy of tin and lead, in the form of a thin sheet, much used as a wrapping for drugs, foods, tobacco, etc.

Origin of tinfoil

First recorded in 1425–75, tinfoil is from the late Middle English word tynfoile. See tin, foil²

Also called, British, silver paper.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for tinfoil

Contemporary Examples of tinfoil

So don your tinfoil hat and learn all about TrapWire, Stratfor, and what you should really be worrying about.
TrapWire: The Less-Than-Advertised System To Spy On Americans
Sarah Hedgecock
August 14, 2012

Historical Examples of tinfoil

The yeast is then pressed, cut into cakes, and wrapped in tinfoil.
Human Foods and Their Nutritive Value
Harry Snyder
"You will find them mild," said he with a smile, as he lifted the tinfoil cover.
A Village of Vagabonds
F. Berkeley Smith
And therefore identical with the foil of tinfoil, counterfoil, etc.
The Romance of Words (4th ed.)
Ernest Weekley
I offered them to her just as they were, wrapped in black paper and tinfoil.
The Confession of a Fool
August Strindberg
It has 126 sheets of tinfoil, 18 by 8¾ inches, separated by two sheets of varnished paper.
The Galaxy, May, 1877
Various

British Dictionary definitions for tinfoil

tinfoil

noun

thin foil made of tin or an alloy of tin and lead
thin foil made of aluminium; used for wrapping foodstuffs

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 tinfoil

late 15c., from tin (n.) + foil (n.).