dime
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /daɪm/
rhymes: -aɪm
Forms: form: dimes
Etymology: 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.
Senses: examples: text: 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.
ref: 2016 January 8, Aaron Smith, “This old dime just sold for $2 million”, in CNN:
coordinate_terms: quarter
nickel
penny
glosses: A coin worth one-tenth of a dollar.
examples: text: She didn't spend a dime.
glosses: A small amount of money.
topics: ball-games
basketball
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: An assist.
glosses: A playing card with the rank of ten.
glosses: Ten dollars.
examples: text: At one point, Rob hit a dire losing streak. In a single week, he dropped a dime—$1,000.
ref: 2007 05, Ted McClelland, Horseplayers: Life at the Track, Chicago Review Press, →ISBN:
synonyms: grand
glosses: A thousand dollars.
glosses: A measure of illicit drugs (usually marijuana) sold in ten-dollar bags.
examples: text: These deaths got him a dime in a minimum-security prison.
ref: 2007 September 23, David Bowman, “Torchlit Crit”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
glosses: A ten-year prison sentence.
examples: text: Are you traveling on the company's dime?
glosses: Payment responsibility.
examples: text: Make a couple of nuns a couple of dimes.
ref: 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:
text: Wait in line for drinks, it’s another time out / Made out on the floor with a couple dimes
ref: 2008, “House Music”, in Afterparty Babies, performed by Cadence Weapon:
synonyms: dime piece
glosses: A beautiful woman (10 on a 10-point scale).
topics: American-football
ball-games
football
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: A defensive formation with six defensive backs, one of whom is a dimeback.
examples: ref: 2025 September 6, “Fajardo throws an absolute dime for the Touchdown”, in News, Canadian Football League, retrieved 06 Sep 2025:
topics: American-football
ball-games
football
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: A particularly long or precise throw that ends with a catch.
Synonyms: sense: coin
english: Used in other countries with dollar-and-cent currencies
translation: Used in other countries with dollar-and-cent currencies
word: ten-cent piece
Derived terms: bet a dime to a dollar
bet a dollar to a dime
dime a dozen
dime back
dimeback
dime bag
dime-bag
dime-dropper
dime dropper
dimeless
dimelike
dime museum
dime novel
dime novelist
dime piece
dime store
dime's worth
do a dime
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
Related terms: buck
dollar
mill
nickel
quarter