tain

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The cap-tain was a duck With a pack-et on his back And when the ship be-gan to move The cap-tain cried "Quack!

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Definitions (4)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun A type of paper-thin tin plate.
  2. noun Tinfoil used as a backing for mirrors.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (1)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet

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Examples (50)

  • The cap-tain was a duck With a pack-et on his back And when the ship be-gan to move The cap-tain cried "Quack! —  Games for the Playground, Home, School and Gymnasium
  • Last of all came Pétain, the protégé of De Castelnau, who commanded at Verdun--a tall, square-built man, not un-English in his appearance, with grizzled hair and the sober face of a thinker. —  A Volunteer Poilu
  • 'Yer can't 'ave spent it all--tain't possible--an yer ain't chucked it out o' winder. —  The Story of Bessie Costrell
  • Glorious also is the record of the other French Generals: the strong-souled Pétain, hero of Verdun; the heroic Maunoury; Castlenau and Mangin, Gouraud. —  Mr. Punch's History of the Great War
  • In the centre of the city of Metz sat the Marיchal Pיtain, and kept his eye upon Lorraine. —  The Happy Foreigner
 

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This word has been looked up 71 times.

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. French, alteration of étain, tin, from Late Latin stannum; see stannic.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Middle English tein, teyne, a thin plate; perhaps from Icelandic teinn, a twig, sprout, stripe, etc., = Anglo-Saxon tān, English dial. tan, a twig (see tan); but cf. Old French estain, French étain = Provencal estanh = Spanish estaño = Italian stagno, from Latin stagnum, stannum, an alloy of silver and lead, also Late Latin tin: see stannum.
 

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/teɪn/
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