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tin - 14 dictionary results
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tin

  [tin] ,noun, adjective, verb, tinned, tin⋅ning.
Use tin in a Sentence
–noun
1. 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. Symbol: Sn; atomic weight: 118.69; atomic number: 50; specific gravity: 7.31 at 20°C.
2. tin plate.
3. any shallow pan, esp. one used in baking.
4. any pot, box, can, or other container or vessel made of tin or tin plate.
5. Squash. telltale (def. 8).
6. Chiefly British. a hermetically sealed can containing food.
7. Slang. a small quantity of an illicit drug, esp. from two to five grams of cocaine: usually sold in a small plastic bag, a glassine envelope, or often a small tin container.
8. British Slang. money.
–adjective
9. made or consisting of tin or tin plate.
10. false; worthless; counterfeit: a set of tin values.
11. indicating the tenth event of a series, as a wedding anniversary.
–verb (used with object)
12. Metallurgy.
a. to cover or coat with tin.
b. to coat with soft solder.
13. Chiefly British. to preserve or pack (esp. food) in cans; can.
14. 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.
Origin:
bef. 900; (n.) ME, OE; c. D, ON tin, G Zinn; (v.) ME tinnen, deriv. of the n.

Related forms:
tinlike, adjective

TIN

  [tin]
–noun
taxpayer identification number.

tin plate

 
–noun
thin iron or steel sheet coated with tin.
Also, tinplate.
Also called tin.

Origin:
1670–80
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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tin   (tĭn)   
n.  
  1. Symbol Sn A malleable, silvery metallic element obtained chiefly from cassiterite. It is used to coat other metals to prevent corrosion and is a part of numerous alloys, such as soft solder, pewter, type metal, and 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 Table at element.
  2. Tin plate.
  3. A container or box made of tin plate.
  4. Chiefly British
    1. A container for preserved foodstuffs; a can.
    2. The contents of such a container.
tr.v.   tinned, tin·ning, tins
  1. To plate or coat with tin.
  2. Chiefly British To preserve or pack in tins; can.
adj.  
  1. Of, relating to, or made of tin.
    1. Constructed of inferior material.
    2. Spurious.

[Middle English, from Old English.]
Word History: The origins of the word tin may date to a time before Europe had been settled by speakers of Indo-European languages, such as the Germanic and Celtic languages. Related words for this metal are found in almost all Germanic languages, such as German Zinn, Swedish tenn, and Old English tin (as in Modern English), but no other Indo-European language family has such a word. This fact suggests that the word tin may have been borrowed into the Germanic languages from a pre-Indo-European language of Western Europe. This possibility is supported by the Bronze Age importation to the Near East of tin and copper from Europe, where the metals were produced and metal objects were manufactured. Lest we be too amazed by this accomplishment, we might remember another remarkable achievement of pre-Indo-European society, the construction of huge megalithic monuments such as Stonehenge.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Tin

Tin\, n. [As. tin; akin to D. tin, G. zinn, OHG. zin, Icel. & Dan. tin, Sw. tenn; of unknown origin.]

1. (Chem.) An elementary substance found as an oxide in the mineral cassiterite, and reduced as a soft white crystalline metal, malleable at ordinary temperatures, but brittle when heated. It is not easily oxidized in the air, and is used chiefly to coat iron to protect it from rusting, in the form of tin foil with mercury to form the reflective surface of mirrors, and in solder, bronze, speculum metal, and other alloys. Its compounds are designated as stannous, or stannic. Symbol Sn (Stannum). Atomic weight 117.4.

2. Thin plates of iron covered with tin; tin plate.

3. Money. [Cant] --Beaconsfield.

Block tin (Metal.), commercial tin, cast into blocks, and partially refined, but containing small quantities of various impurities, as copper, lead, iron, arsenic, etc.; solid tin as distinguished from tin plate; -- called also bar tin.

Butter of tin. (Old Chem.) See Fuming liquor of Libavius, under Fuming.

Grain tin. (Metal.) See under Grain.

Salt of tin (Dyeing), stannous chloride, especially so called when used as a mordant.

Stream tin. See under Stream.

Tin cry (Chem.), the peculiar creaking noise made when a bar of tin is bent. It is produced by the grating of the crystal granules on each other.

Tin foil, tin reduced to a thin leaf.

Tin frame (Mining), a kind of buddle used in washing tin ore.

Tin liquor, Tin mordant (Dyeing), stannous chloride, used as a mordant in dyeing and calico printing.

Tin penny, a customary duty in England, formerly paid to tithingmen for liberty to dig in tin mines. [Obs.] --Bailey.

Tin plate, thin sheet iron coated with tin.

Tin pyrites. See Stannite.

Tin

Tin\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tinned; p. pr. & vb. n. Tinning.] To cover with tin or tinned iron, or to overlay with tin foil.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : tin
Spanish: estaño, hojalata,
German: das Zinn,
Japanese: すず
More Translations »

tin 
O.E. tin, from P.Gmc. *tinom (cf. M.Du., Du. tin, O.H.G. zin, Ger. Zinn, O.N. tin), of unknown origin, not found outside Gmc. Tinny is first recorded 1552; used figuratively (of sounds, etc.) since 1877; tin-type in photography is from 1864. Tin ear "lack of musical discernment" is from 1909. Tin Lizzie "early Ford, especially a Model T," first recorded 1915. Tinfoil is attested from 1467; tinhorn "petty but flashy" is 1857, originally of low-class gamblers, from the tin cans they used for shaking dice.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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TIN

See taxpayer identification number.

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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Main Entry: tin
Pronunciation: 'tin
Function: noun
: a soft faintly bluish white lustrous low-melting crystalline metallic element that is malleable andductile at ordinary temperatures and that is used as a protective coating, in tinfoil, and in soft solders and alloys —symbol Sn; —see ELEMENT table
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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tin (tĭn)
n.
Symbol Sn
A malleable metallic element used to coat other metals to prevent corrosion. Atomic number 50; atomic weight 118.71; melting point 231.89°C; boiling point 2,602°C; specific gravity 7.31; valence 2, 4.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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tin   (tĭn)  Pronunciation Key 
Symbol Sn
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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Tin

Heb. bedil (Num. 31:22; Ezek. 22:18, 20), a metal well known in ancient times. It is the general opinion that the Phoenicians of Tyre and Sidon obtained their supplies of tin from the British Isles. In Ezek. 27:12 it is said to have been brought from Tarshish, which was probably a commercial emporium supplied with commodities from other places. In Isa. 1:25 the word so rendered is generally understood of lead, the alloy with which the silver had become mixed (ver. 22). The fire of the Babylonish Captivity would be the means of purging out the idolatrous alloy that had corrupted the people.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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TIN
  1. taxpayer identification number
  2. total inorganic nitrogen
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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Tin

principal Etruscan deity, god of the thunderbolt, sky, and storm. He was identified with the Greek god Zeus and the Roman god Jupiter. Tinia together with his wife Uni (identified with Greek Hera and Roman Juno) and Menerva (or Menrva, Roman Minerva) formed the supreme triad of the Etruscan pantheon.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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