I. ˈtin noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old High German zin tin, Old Norse tin
1. : a soft faintly bluish white lustrous low-melting metallic element that in this beta form exists as tetragonal crystals and is malleable and ductile at ordinary temperatures but changes gradually at low temperatures to a powdery gray cubic allotropic alpha form, that is bivalent and tetravalent in its compounds and is not oxidized by moist air, that occurs principally in the form of the dioxide cassiterite and various sulfides (as stannite), that is extracted by roasting and smelting with carbon, and that is used chiefly as a protective coating (as for steel and copper), in tinfoil, in collapsible tubes, and in soft solders, bronze, pewter, babbitt metals, type metals, and casting and other alloys — symbol Sn ; see block tin , fusible metal , terne , tin pest , tinplate ; element table
2. : a box, can, pan, or other vessel made of tinplate:
a. : any of various open tinplate sheets or pans used chiefly for baking
drop the cookies on a greased tin
pour the batter into a cake tin
b. chiefly Britain
(1) : a vacuum-sealed can holding canned food
a tin of salmon
open a tin of tomatoes
(2) : a tinplate container with cover or lid used for packaging biscuits, crackers, sweets, or tobacco
3. : thin plates of iron or steel covered with tin : tinplate
4. chiefly Britain : cash , money
pray them to advance the requisite tin for ransom — H.C.Bunner
II. adjective
1. : of, relating to, or consisting of tin
2. : of base or inferior material : spurious
other narrow-minded little tin gods — New York Times
the bright tin divinity of the happy ending — Clifton Fadiman
III. transitive verb
( tinned ; tinned ; tinning ; tins )
Etymology: Middle English tinnen, from tin
1.
a. : to cover, coat, or plate (something) with tin
b. : to cover (as a soldering iron or the back of an electrotype shell) with solder or a tin alloy
2. chiefly Britain : to put up or pack in tins : can
cannery workers tin asparagus — National Geographic
stopped to have lunch — tea and tinned food — Russell Hill
IV. noun
( plural tin or tins )
Usage: usually capitalized
1. : a people of the lower mountains of northeastern Thailand related to the Kha of Vietnam — called also Khatin
2. : a member of the Tin people