chin

English

Picture dictionary
skull brain eye lip nose mouth chin jaw ear temple neck
Click on labels in the image.

Pronunciation

• enPR: chĭn, IPA^(key): /t͡ʃɪn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪn

Etymology 1

From Middle English chyn, from Old English ċinn (“chin”), from Proto-Germanic *kinnuz (“chin”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénus (“chin, jaw”). Compare West Frisian/Dutch kin, Low German/German Kinn, Danish kind, Icelandic kinn, Welsh gen, Latin gena, Tocharian A śanwem, Ancient Greek γένυς (génus, “jaw”), Armenian ծնոտ (cnot), Persian چانه (čâne), Sanskrit हनु (hánu). Doublet of gena.

Noun

chin (plural chins)

1. The bottom of a face, (specifically) the typically jutting jawline below the mouth.
2. (slang, US) Talk.
3. (slang, British) A lie, a falsehood.
4. (slang, British) A person of the upper class.
5. (boxing, uncountable) The ability to withstand being punched in the chin without being knocked out.
6. (aviation) The lower part of the front of an aircraft, below the nose.
   • 1990, Army, volume 40:

     In the cleft of the aircraft's chin is a small turret for a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) "eyeball" that will enable MH-47E pilots to see clearly in complete darkness […]

   • 2001, Aviation Week & Space Technology:

     Lockheed Martin's system is mounted behind a transparent, low-observable window blended into the aircraft's chin.

7. The bottom part of a mobile phone, below the screen.

Synonyms

• (central area of the jaw, below the mouth): mentum (anatomy)

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of "boxing"): See glass jaw

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

chin (third-person singular simple present chins, present participle chinning, simple past and past participle chinned)

1. (slang, dated, intransitive) To talk.
   • 1912, Jack London, chapter 5, in Smoke Bellew‎, New York: Grosset & Dunlap, page 141:

     “I reckon you can explain, Mrs. Peabody.” […] “An’ I reckon that newcomer you’ve been chinning with could explain if he had a mind to.”

   • 1944, Ernie Pyle, chapter 1, in Brave Men‎, New York: Henry Holt, page 3:

     This little chore involved getting up at 3 A.M., working about two hours, then sitting around chinning and drinking coffee with the radio operators until too late to go back to sleep.

2. (slang, dated, transitive) To talk to or with (someone).
   • 1911, Henry Sydnor Harrison, chapter 7, in Queed‎, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, page 85:

     “Been up chinning your sporting editor, Ragsy Hurd. […] ”

   • 1912, Nancy Mann Waddel Woodrow, chapter 12, in The Black Pearl‎, New York: Appleton, page 239:

     “What do you suppose that Seagreave’s chinning Hughie about[?]”

3. (reflexive, intransitive) To perform a chin-up (exercise in which one lifts one's own weight while hanging from a bar).
   • 1913, Upton Sinclair, The Fasting Cure‎, New York: Mitchell Kennerley, page 34:

     It is worth noting that on the eighth day he was strong enough to “chin” himself six times in succession, though previous to the fasting treatment he had never in his life been able to do this more than once or twice.

   • 1922, E. E. Cummings, chapter 4, in The Enormous Room‎, New York: Modern Library, published 1949, page 80:

     A description of the cour would be incomplete without an enumeration of the manifold duties of the planton in charge, which were as follows: to prevent the men from using the horizontal bar, except for chinning, since if you swung yourself upon it you could look over the wall into the women’s cour […]

   • 1969, Kurt Vonnegut, chapter 5, in Slaughterhouse-Five‎, New York: Dial, published 2005, page 119:

     The Englishmen had also been lifting weights and chinning themselves for years. Their bellies were like washboards. The muscles of their calves and upper arms were like cannonballs.

   • 1986, Martin Cohen, The Marine Corps 3X Fitness Program‎, Boston: Little, Brown, Part 3, p. 75:

     You can grunt and curse to your heart’s content but you cannot swing your body when chinning.

4. (chiefly UK, transitive) To punch or hit (someone)'s chin (part of the body).
   • 1915, Ralph Henry Barbour, chapter 14, in Left Tackle Thayer‎, New York: Dodd, Mead, pages 183–184:

     He told me once that he used to be scared to death every time he started in a hard game for fear he’d get badly injured. Said it wasn’t until someone had jabbed him in the nose or ‘chinned’ him that he forgot to be scared.

   • 1966, Nell Dunn, “OUT with the Boys”, in Up the Junction‎, Philadelphia: Lippincott, page 88:

     ‘I’m in trouble, I hit a policeman—chinned him. He was messin’ me about, pushin’ me around on the pavement, so I chinned him, didn’t I? […] ’

5. (transitive) To put or hold (a musical instrument) up to one's chin.
   • 1849 September, Alfred Billings Street, “General Training”, in Graham’s American Monthly Magazine of Literature and Art, volume 35, number 3, page 137:

     Conspicuous in the front rank of “the music” was Joe Lippett, chinning his fife […]

   • 1925, Arthur Bowie Chrisman, “Four Generals”, in Shen of the Sea: Chinese Stories for Children‎, New York: E.P. Dutton, published 1968, page 82:

     A comical fellow hopped down from a stump and chinned his fiddle while Prince Chang stared.

   • 1951, Gene Fowler, chapter 16, in Schnozzola: The Story of Jimmy Durante‎, New York: Viking, page 173:

     Jimmy sat down at the piano, and the scientist tuned, then chinned the violin.

6. (transitive) To turn on or operate (a device) using one's chin; to select (a particular setting) using one's chin.
   • 1958, Robert Heinlein, chapter 8, in Have Space Suit—Will Travel‎, New York: Del Rey, page 160:

     I was too tired to argue; I chinned the valve three or four times, felt a blast blistering my face.

   • 1985, Joe Haldeman, “You Can Never Go Back”, in Dealing in Futures‎, New York: Viking, page 154:

     I landed kind of sloppily on hands and knees and chinned the squad frequency. “First squad sound off!”

7. (transitive) To put one's chin on (something).
   • 1977, Ian Wallace, chapter 26, in The Sign of the Mute Medusa‎, New York: Popular Library, page 243:

     […] she elbowed the table and chinned her hand.

   • 1994, Garry Disher, chapter 7, in Crosskill‎, St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin, page 35:

     He chinned the alley fence and looked both ways along it.

8. (transitive) To indicate or point toward (someone or something) with one's chin.
   • 2004, Han Ong, The Disinherited‎, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Part 4, Chapter 4, p. 239:

     But you don’t love him, said Madame Sonia with understanding. Do you love this one? Madame Sonia chinned the American.

Synonyms

• (talk (slang)): gab

Derived terms

• chinning bar

Etymology 2

Shortening of chinchilla.

Noun

chin (plural chins)

1. (informal) A chinchilla.

See also

Anagrams

• HNIC, Inch, ichn-, inch

Aragonese

Etymology

Akin to French chien, from Latin canis.

Noun

chin

1. dog

Aromanian

Alternative forms

• chinu, kinu

Etymology

From Latin pīnus. Compare Romanian pin.

Noun

chin

1. pine

See also

• brad

Franco-Provençal

Etymology

From Latin canem, accusative singular of canis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtsĩ/

Noun

chin m (plural chins)

1. dog

Coordinate terms

• china

References

Hokkien

Japanese

Romanization

chin

1. Rōmaji transcription of ちん
2. Rōmaji transcription of チン

Kumeyaay

Pronunciation

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

Adjective

chin

1. one.

Middle English

Noun

chin

1. Alternative form of chyn

Navajo

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

chin

1. grime, filth, body dirt

Synonyms

• ih

Romanian

Alternative forms

• кин (chin) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling

Etymology

Borrowed from Hungarian kín.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kin/

Noun

chin n (plural chinuri)

1. torture, pain

   Synonym: durere

Declension

Derived terms

• chinui

References

Sardinian

Etymology

From Latin cum (“with”), from Proto-Italic *kom, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“next to, at, with, along”). The shift -u- → -i- is probably due to analogy with in.
Compare Logudorese and Campidanese cun, Italian con, Portuguese com, Spanish con, Romanian cu, Sicilian cu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kin/
• IPA^(key): (often before vowels)

Preposition

chin

1. (Nuorese) with

Derived terms

• chin d'

References

• Rubattu, Antoninu (2006) Dizionario universale della lingua di Sardegna, 2nd edition, Sassari: Edes

Spanish

Etymology

Perhaps of African origin; compare Proto-Bantu *kɪ̀ntʊ̀ (“little thing, small object”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃin/
• Rhymes: -in
• Syllabification: chin

Noun

chin m (plural chines)

1. (Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico) small amount

   Synonym: poco

   Dame un chin de café.

   Give me a little coffee.

References

• Orlando Alba (2003) Cómo hablamos los dominicanos‎, Santo Domingo: Amigo del Hogar

Further reading

• “chin”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

Tày

Pronunciation

• (Thạch An – Tràng Định) IPA^(key):
• (Trùng Khánh) IPA^(key):

Verb

chin (𩚍)

1. to eat

   Synonym: kin

References

• Lục Văn Pảo, Hoàng Tuấn Nam (2003) Hoàng Triều Ân, editor, Từ điển chữ Nôm Tày [A Dictionary of (chữ) Nôm Tày]‎ (in Vietnamese), Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản Khoa học Xã hội
• Hoàng Văn Ma, Lục Văn Pảo, Hoàng Chí (2006) Từ điển Tày-Nùng-Việt [Tay-Nung-Vietnamese dictionary] (in Vietnamese), Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản Từ điển Bách khoa Hà Nội
• Lương Bèn (2011) Từ điển Tày-Việt [Tay-Vietnamese dictionary]‎ (in Vietnamese), Thái Nguyên: Nhà Xuất bản Đại học Thái Nguyên