Tine Meaning
/taɪn/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA spike or point on an implement or tool, especially a prong of a fork or a tooth of a comb.
nounA small branch, especially on an antler or horn.
Sentence Examples
The fork has four long tines used to pick up pieces of food.
A tine is a sharp point on a fork or a similar pointed tool.
The fork had a bent tine that needed to be straightened.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The metal fork's ____ was bent after it fell on the hard floor.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He accidentally bent a ____ of the metal fork while he was trying to open a stubborn jar of honey today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English tine, alteration of Middle English tinde, tind, from Old English tind, from Proto-West Germanic *tind, Proto-Germanic *tindaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃dénts (“tooth, peg”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Tiende, Tiene (“prong, tine”), German Zind, Zint (“prong”). Compare also the related English tind and German Zinne.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The tines of the fork were quite evidently of iron or steel, the girl did not know which, while the handle and the spoon were of the same material as the smaller vessels."
— 1920, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan the Untamed:
"Sitting at the table one day, I held the fork in my left hand and pierced a piece of fried chicken. I put the knife through the second tine, as we had been strictly taught, and began to saw against the bone."
— 1969, Maya Angelou, chapter 9, in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, New York: Bantam, published 1971, pages 45–46:
"“I answer not the challenge of my prisoner,” said Front-de-Bœuf; “nor shalt thou, Maurice de Bracy.—Giles,” he continued, “hang the franklin’s glove upon the tine of yonder branched antlers:[…]"
— 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter XXVII, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC:
"“By my faith, sirs,” he continued, half turning in his saddle to address his escort, “unless my woodcraft is sadly at fault, it is a stag of six tines and the finest that we have roused this journey."
— 1891, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, The White Company, New York, N.Y.; Boston, Mass.: Thomas Y[oung] Crowell & Company […], →OCLC:
"As wither'd Weed through cruel Winter's Tine"
— 1590, Edmund Spenser, “(please specify the book)”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The metal fork's ____ was bent after it fell on the hard floor.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He accidentally bent a ____ of the metal fork while he was trying to open a stubborn jar of honey today.