Tin Meaning
/tɪn/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA malleable, ductile, metallic element, resistant to corrosion, with atomic number 50 and symbol Sn.
nounIron or steel sheet metal that is coated with tin as an anticorrosion protectant.
Sentence Examples
Can you distinguish silver from tin?
Then the monkey went round with a little tin cup.
Open the tin and drain the tuna.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The kitchen can was made of ____, a lightweight metal that does not rust easily.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The baker used a circular ____ to bake the delicious apple pie that we had for our dinner this evening today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English tin, from Old English tin, from Proto-West Germanic *tin, from Proto-Germanic *tiną.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"When it arrived, the train was headed by a "K" class 4-6-0 wood-burning locomotive, and a water-tank wagon next to the tender was immediately besieged by women and girls, clad in their picturesque national costume, all with empty kerosene tins for water, a scene which was re-enacted at each stop down the line."
— 1943 November and December, G. T. Porter, “The Lines Behind the Lines in Burma”, in Railway Magazine, page 325:
"And, indeed, after a tense round of rolling, shaping and filling delicate pastry dough, Rowan can’t even pull his overstuffed pies out of the tins without them bleeding and oozing fruit filling."
— 2023 October 28, Ashlie D. Stevens, ““Great British Bake Off” shocks viewers with a dramatic double-elimination round”, in Salon:
"The father is a cotton lord, and they all have loads of tin, you know"
— 1844, Benjamin Disraeli, Coningsby:
"When all your tin is gone and spent, / And you've not a mag for bread or rent"
— 1861, Philip William Perfitt, The Pathfinder, page 377:
"[I]n fact he was a big noise, literally, in the Baptist Chapel, known locally as the Tin Tab[ernacle] - whereas my family were 'church' and Uncle Ezekiel was an infidel at that."
— 1939, George Orwell, Coming up for Air, London: Victor Gollancz:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The kitchen can was made of ____, a lightweight metal that does not rust easily.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The baker used a circular ____ to bake the delicious apple pie that we had for our dinner this evening today.