tin can
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of tin can
An Americanism dating back to 1760–70
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.
Residents have responded in kind, posting a picture of a tin can phone to signal their slide back to the pre-digital age.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 14, 2026
He was a mostly self-taught golfer who had fashioned a swing using a branch from a guava tree for a club and a crushed tin can for a ball.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2024
Movies to be watched on planes, making bearable the three or nine hours spent in a tin can, squashed on all sides, munching tiny pretzels and trying not to order yet another gin and tonic.
From New York Times ● Apr. 18, 2024
To imagine why these issues arise, picture yourself in a tin can with a small crew, a deadly environment outside, a monotonous schedule, an unnatural daytime-nighttime cycle and mission controllers constantly on your case.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 19, 2023
I stuffed the tin can in my back pocket.
From "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan
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.
