# dime
## English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /daɪm/
* Audio (General Australian):(file)
* Rhymes: -aɪm

### Etymology 1

From Middle English dime, from Anglo-Norman disme (“one tenth, tithe”) (modern French dîme), from Medieval Latin decima, from Latin decima (pars) (“tenth (part)”). Doublet of decim, decima, and decime.

#### Noun

dime (plural dimes)
* (US, Canada) A coin worth one-tenth of a dollar.
    Coordinate terms: quarter, nickel, penny
** 2016 January 8, Aaron Smith, “This old dime just sold for $2 million”, in CNN‎:The San Francisco mint made about 2.5 million of these dimes, but fewer than 10 are still known to exist, according to Heritage. That’s because a financial crisis in 1893 killed demand for new coinage, and almost all the dimes were melted down.
* (Canada, US) A small amount of money.
    She didn't spend a dime.
* (US, Philippines, basketball) An assist.
* (slang) A playing card with the rank of ten.
* (slang) Ten dollars.
* (slang) A thousand dollars.
    Synonym: grand
** 2007 05, Ted McClelland, Horseplayers: Life at the Track, Chicago Review Press, →ISBN:At one point, Rob hit a dire losing streak. In a single week, he dropped a dime—$1,000.
* (slang) A measure of illicit drugs (usually marijuana) sold in ten-dollar bags.
* (slang) A ten-year prison sentence.
** 2007 September 23, David Bowman, “Torchlit Crit”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:These deaths got him a dime in a minimum-security prison.
* (slang) Payment responsibility.
    Are you traveling on the company's dime?
* (US, slang) A beautiful woman (10 on a 10-point scale).
    Synonym: dime piece
** 2005, “Stay Fly”, in Jordan Houston, Darnell Carlton, Paul Beauregard, Premro Smith, Marlon Goodwin, David Brown, Willie Hutchinson (lyrics), Most Known Unknown‎, performed by Three 6 Mafia (featuring Young Buck, 8 Ball, and MJG), Sony BMG:Make a couple of nuns a couple of dimes.
** 2008, “House Music”, in Afterparty Babies, performed by Cadence Weapon:Wait in line for drinks, it’s another time out / Made out on the floor with a couple dimes
* (American football) A defensive formation with six defensive backs, one of whom is a dimeback.

##### Synonyms

* (coin): ten-cent piece (Used in other countries with dollar-and-cent currencies)

##### Derived terms

* bet a dime to a dollar
* bet a dollar to a dime
* dime a dozen
* dimeback
* dime back
* dime bag
* dime-bag
* dime-dropper
* dime dropper
* dimeless
* dimelike
* dime museum
* dime novel
* dime novelist
* dime piece
* dime store
* dime's worth
* drop a dime
* five-and-dime
* five and dime
* half dime
* Mercury dime
* nickel-and-dime
* nickel and dime
* not worth a dime
* on a dime
* on someone's dime
* on someone's own dime
* Yankee dime

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### See also

* buck
* dollar
* mill
* nickel
* quarter

#### References

* Weisenberg, Michael (2000) The Official Dictionary of Poker. MGI/Mike Caro University. →ISBN

### Etymology 2

From the use of the coin in a payphone to report a crime to the police. US payphones charged 10¢ in almost all jurisdictions until the late 1970s.

#### Verb

dime (third-person singular simple present dimes, present participle diming, simple past and past participle dimed)
* (US, slang, with "on") To inform on, to turn in to the authorities, to rat on, especially anonymously.
    Synonyms: drop a dime on someone, dime out; see also Thesaurus:rat out
    Somebody dimed on me and I got arrested for selling marijuana.
* (US, slang) To operate an audio amplifier (especially an electric guitar amplifier) at level "10" (typically the highest amplification level).
    I get the best-sounding sustain and smooth harmonic distortion when I run the amp dimed.

#### References

* ↑ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “dime (n.)”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

### Further reading

* “dime n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present

### Anagrams

* Demi, Diem, IMed, demi, demi-, idem, meid

## Italian
### Noun

dime f
* plural of dima

### Anagrams

* IDEM, idem, medi

## Ladino
### Verb

dime
* imperative singular of dezir with first-person singular pronoun attached: tell me.
** 1979, Kamelia Shahar, “La verdadera felisidad”, in Aki Yerushalayim, number 1:Eliau Anavi ke lo estava mirando d'enfrente se aserko de el i le disho: Dime ombre, deke estas de negra umor ?The prophet Elijah, who was watching him from in front, approached him and said: Tell me, man, why are you in a bad mood?

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Etymology

Borrowed from English. Ultimately from Latin decimus (“tenth”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /dɑɪ̯m/

### Noun

dime m (definite singular dimen, indefinite plural dimes, definite plural dimene)
* a dime

### References

* “dime” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
* “dime” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Etymology

Borrowed from English. Ultimately from Latin decimus (“tenth”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /dɑɪ̯m/

### Noun

dime m (definite singular dimen, indefinite plural dimes, definite plural dimane)
* a dime

### Anagrams

* deim, demi-

## Spanish
### Verb

dime
* second-person singular imperative of decir combined with me

### See also

* dinos
* diles