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Fin

 - 15 dictionary results

fin

1  [fin] noun, verb, finned, fin⋅ning.
Use Fin in a Sentence
–noun
1. a membranous, winglike or paddlelike organ attached to any of various parts of the body of fishes and certain other aquatic animals, used for propulsion, steering, or balancing.
2. Nautical.
a. a horizontal, often adjustable, winglike appendage to the underwater portion of a hull, as one for controlling the dive of a submarine or for damping the roll of a surface vessel.
b. fin keel.
3. Also called vertical stabilizer. Aeronautics. any of certain small, subsidiary structures on an aircraft, designed to increase directional stability.
4. any of a number of standing ridges on an ordinarily hot object, as a radiator, a cylinder of an internal-combustion engine, etc., intended to maximize heat transfer to the surrounding air by exposing a large surface area.
5. any part, as of a mechanism, resembling a fin.
6. Metallurgy. a ridge of metal squeezed through the opening between two rolls, dies, or halves of a mold in which a piece is being formed under pressure. Compare flash (def. 11).
7. Automotive. an ornamental structure resembling an aeronautical fin that is attached to the body of an automobile, as on each rear fender (tail fin).
8. Slang. the arm or hand.
9. Usually, fins. flipper (def. 2).
–verb (used with object)
10. to cut off the fins from (a fish); carve or cut up, as a chub.
11. to provide or equip with a fin or fins.
–verb (used without object)
12. to move the fins; lash the water with the fins, as a whale when dying.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME, OE finn; c. D vin, LG finne; akin to Sw fena

Related forms:
finless, adjective
finlike, adjective

fin

2  [fin]
–noun
Slang. a five-dollar bill.
Origin:
1865–70; earlier finnip, finnup, fin(n)if(f) a five-pound note < Yiddish fin(e)f five < MHG vumf, vimf; see five

Fin.

 
1. Finland.
2. Finnish.

fin.

 
1. finance.
2. financial.
3. finish.

flip⋅per

  [flip-er]
–noun
1. a broad, flat limb, as of a seal or whale, especially adapted for swimming.
2. Also called fin. one of a pair of paddlelike devices, usually of rubber, worn on the feet as an aid in scuba diving and swimming.
3. Theater. a narrow flat hinged or attached at right angles to a larger flat.
4. Slang. the hand.
5. someone or something that flips.
Origin:
1815–25; flip 1 + -er 1

vertical stabilizer

 
–noun Aeronautics.
the fixed vertical surface of an aircraft empennage, to which the rudder is hinged.
Also called fin, vertical fin.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Fin
fin 1   (fĭn)   
n.  

  1. A membranous appendage extending from the body of a fish or other aquatic animal, used for propelling, steering, or balancing the body in the water.

  2. Something resembling a fin in shape or function, as:

    1. A fixed or movable airfoil used to stabilize an aircraft, missile, or projectile in flight.

    2. A thin, usually curved projection attached to the rear bottom of a surfboard for stability.

    3. A projecting vane used for cooling, as on a radiator or an engine cylinder.

    4. See tail fin.

  3. See flipper.

v.   finned, fin·ning, fins

v.   tr.
To equip with fins.
v.   intr.

  1. To emerge with the fins above water.

  2. To swim, as a fish.

  3. To lash the water with the fins. Used of a dying whale.


[Middle English, from Old English finn.]
fin 2   (fĭn)   
n.   Slang
A five-dollar bill.

[Yiddish finf, five, from Old High German funf, finf; see penkwe in Indo-European roots.]
flip·per   (flĭp'ər)   
n.  

  1. A wide flat limb, as of a seal, whale, or other aquatic mammal, adapted for swimming.

  2. A rubber covering for the foot having a flat flexible portion that widens as it extends forward from the toes, used in swimming and diving. Also called fin1.

  3. A flat lever in a pinball machine, used to hit the ball so it stays in play.

tail fin also tail·fin   (tāl'fĭn')
n.  

  1. A fin at the posterior part of the body of a fish, crustacean, whale, or other aquatic animal.

  2. An ornamental projection shaped like a fin on the rear fender of an automobile. Also called fin1.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary
fin [fɪn]

and finn
  1. n.
    a five-dollar bill. (Germanic via Yiddish. As in German funf = five.) : I gave the old guy a finn, and he nearly passed out.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

fin 
O.E. fin, from P.Gmc. *finno (cf. M.L.G. vinne, Du. vin), perhaps from L. pinna "feather, wing," or, less likely, from L. spina "thorn, spine" (see spike (n.1)). U.S. underworld slang sense of "$5 bill" is 1925, from Yiddish finif "five," from Ger. fünf. The same word had been used in England 1868 to mean "five pound note" (earlier finnip, 1839).

flipper 
"limb used to swim with," 1822, from the verb. Sense of "rubber fin for underwater swimming" is from 1945. Slang meaning "the hand" dates from 1836.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Financial Dictionary

flipper

A trader who attempts to make a small profit by very quick in-and-out buying and selling. For example, a flipper might try to take advantage of a hot market for new issues by purchasing a new issue at the offering and then selling it on the first day of trading.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms by David L. Scott.
Copyright © 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Abbreviations & Acronyms
FIN
Finland (international vehicle ID)
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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