| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
"These our actors ... were all Spirits, and Are melted into Ayre, into thin Ayre." [Shakespeare, "The Tempest," IV.i.150, 1610]The verb is from O.E. þynnian "to make thin" (cf. Ger. dünnen, Du. dunnen); intrans. sense of "to become less numerous" is attested from 1743; that of "to become thinner" is recorded from 1804. Thin-skinned is attested from 1598; the fig. sense of "touchy" is from 1680.