tin

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A malleable, silvery metallic element obtained chiefly from cassiterite. It is used to coat other metals to prevent corrosion and is a part of numerous alloys, such as soft solder, pewter, type metal, and bronze. Atomic number 50; atomic weight 118.71; melting point 231.89°C; boiling point 2,270°C; specific gravity 7.31; valence 2, 4. See Table at element.
2. n. Tin plate.
3. n. A container or box made of tin plate.
4. n. Chiefly British A container for preserved foodstuffs; a can.
5. n. Chiefly British The contents of such a container.
6. v. To plate or coat with tin.
7. v. Chiefly British To preserve or pack in tins; can.
8. adj. Of, relating to, or made of tin.
9. adj. Constructed of inferior material.
10. adj. Spurious.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. In cricket, a sheet of metal bearing painted numbers, exhibited in a conspicuous place to indicate the score of the match to spectators. Hutchinson, Cricket, p. 97.
2. n. Chemical symbol, Sn (stannum); atomic weight, 118.8. A metal nearly approaching silver in whiteness and luster, highly malleable, taking a high polish, fusing at 442° F., and having a specific gravity of about 7.3. It is inferior to all the other so-called useful metals, excepting lead, in ductility and tenacity; but, owing to the fact that it is but little affected by the atmosphere at ordinary temperature, it is extensively used for culinary vessels, especially in the form of tin-plate, which is sheet-iron coated with tin, the former metal giving the strength and the latter the desired agreeable luster and color and the necessary resistance to oxidation under the conditions to which vessels used in cooking are ordinarily exposed. (See tin-plate.) Tin forms a part of several very important alloys, especially bronze, and also pewter and Britannia metal, both formerly extensively used, but now of less importance. Native tin occurs, if at all (which has not been definitely ascertained), in very small quantity, and is certainly of no economical importance. The sulphuret of tin (tin pyrites, or stannine, a mixture of the isomorphous sulphurets of tin, iron, copper, and zinc) is found in various localities, but nowhere in abundance, and it is of no importance as an ore. All the tin of commerce is obtained from the dioxid, the cassiterite of the mineralogist and the tinstone of the miner. This metal has, however, been found in various rare minerals in small quantity, as also in some mineral waters and in a few meteorites. Tinstone is a mineral resisting decomposition in a remarkable degree, hence fragments mechanically separated from veinstone or rock containing it remain in the debris unchanged in character, and like gold they can be separated by washing from the sands or gravel in which they occur: this operation in the case of tin ore is usually called Streaming. The ore of tin is remarkable in that it occurs quite frequently disseminated through granite or greisen (a metamorphosed granitoid rock), in the form of stockwork deposits, and not concentrated into regular veins; it is also very generally accompanied by certain minerals, especially wolfram, schorl, topaz, and lithia mica. Tin is not a very generally distributed metal, and the regions producing it in considerable quantity are few in number. Cornwall, the Malayan peninsula, the islands of Banca and Billiton, and Australia furnish the principal supply of this metal, of which the annual consumption has within the past few years been about 40,000 tons. The value of tin has been of late about twice that of copper and from four to five times that of lead. Tin is chemically related to the metals titanium, zirconium, and thorium, and also to the non-metallic element silicon.
3. n. Collectively, thin plates of iron covered with tin. See tin-plate.
4. n. A pot, pan, or other utensil made of tin, or of iron covered with tin; especially, in Great Britain, such a vessel prepared for preserving meats, fruits, etc.; a can: as, milk-tins.
5. n. Money.
6. Made of or from tin; made of iron covered with tin: as, tin plates; a tin vessel.
7. A child's toy.
8. To cover or overlay with tin; coat with tin.
9. To put up, pack, or preserve in tins; can: as, to tin condensed milk; to tin provisions.

Wiktionary

1. n. A malleable, ductile, metallic element, resistant to corrosion, with atomic number 50 and symbol Sn.
2. n. An airtight container, made of tin or another metal, used to preserve food.
3. n. A metal pan used for baking, roasting, etc.
4. n. The bottom part of the front wall, which is "out" if a player strikes it with the ball.
5. adj. Made of tin.
6. v. To place into a tin in order to preserve.
7. v. To cover with tin.
8. v. To coat with solder in preparation for soldering.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. An elementary substance found as an oxide in the mineral cassiterite, and reduced as a soft silvery-white crystalline metal, with a tinge of yellowish-blue, and a high luster. It is malleable at ordinary temperatures, but brittle when heated. It is softer than gold and can be beaten out into very thin strips called tinfoil. It is ductile at 2120, when it can be drawn out into wire which is not very tenacious; it melts at 4420, and at a higher temperature burns with a brilliant white light. Air and moisture act on tin very slightly. The peculiar properties of tin, especially its malleability, its brilliancy and the slowness with which it rusts make it very serviceable. With other metals it forms valuable alloys, as bronze, gun metal, bell metal, pewter and solder. It is not easily oxidized in the air, and is used chiefly to coat iron to protect it from rusting, in the form of tin foil with mercury to form the reflective surface of mirrors, and in solder, bronze, speculum metal, and other alloys. Its compounds are designated as stannous, or stannic. Symbol Sn (Stannum). Atomic weight 117.4.
2. n. Thin plates of iron covered with tin; tin plate.
3. n. Money.
4. v. To cover with tin or tinned iron, or to overlay with tin foil.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a vessel (box, can, pan, etc.) made of tinplate and used mainly in baking
2. n. metal container for storing dry foods such as tea or flour
3. v. plate with tin
4. v. prepare (a metal) for soldering or brazing by applying a thin layer of solder to the surface
5. v. preserve in a can or tin
6. n. a silvery malleable metallic element that resists corrosion; used in many alloys and to coat other metals to prevent corrosion; obtained chiefly from cassiterite where it occurs as tin oxide
7. n. airtight sealed metal container for food or drink or paint etc.