Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A coin of the United States or Canada worth ten cents.
  • idiom (a dime a dozen) Overly abundant; commonplace.
  • idiom (on a dime) At a precise point; within a narrowly defined area.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A tithe.
  • noun The number ten.
  • noun A silver coin of the United States, of the value of 10 cents, being the tenth part of a dollar, worth about pence English.
  • Sold for a dime.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A silver coin of the United States, of the value of ten cents; the tenth of a dollar.
  • noun a novel, commonly sensational and trashy, which is sold for a dime, or ten cents; -- they were popular from ca. 1850 to ca. 1920. Sometimes the term is still applied to any novel of the type, though the price has greatly increased.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun US A coin worth one-tenth of a dollar. The physical coin is smaller than a penny.
  • noun Canada A coin worth one-tenth of a Canadian dollar.
  • noun US, basketball An assist
  • noun slang A playing card with the rank of ten
  • noun slang Ten dollars
  • noun slang A thousand dollars
  • noun slang A measurement of illicit drugs (usually marijuana) sold in ten dollar bags.
  • noun slang A very small area
  • noun slang Payment responsibility
  • noun slang A beautiful woman (10 from the 10-point scale)
  • verb US, slang, with "on" To inform on, to turn in to the authorities, to rat on, especially anonymously.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a United States coin worth one tenth of a dollar
  • noun street name for a packet of illegal drugs that is sold for ten dollars

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, tenth part, from Old French disme, from Latin decima (pars), tenth (part), from decem, ten; see dekm̥ in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French dîme, from Latin decimus ("tenth")

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word dime.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Hello shiny friend,

    I will never let you go.

    Oops! An ice cream truck.

    --heard on NPR (and slightly modified)

    January 20, 2008

  • Ice cream for ten cents?

    In 2008, you say?

    Just where do you live?

    January 22, 2008

  • Yes, you may wonder,

    But the dime was on steroids.

    Big controversy!

    January 23, 2008

  • What a special coin.

    I can see why it was dear.

    I wish mine did drugs.

    January 23, 2008

  • I stole some ice cream

    Then uselessness dropped the dime

    Now I am in jail

    January 23, 2008

  • Five haikus on change,

    Didn't even cost a dime.

    Ha! How cool is that?

    January 23, 2008

  • Make that six haikus

    This is Wordie, after all:

    We can't help ourselves.

    January 23, 2008

  • When I was at school

    "dime bar" was playground slang for

    a doltish person.

    January 24, 2008

  • A dime is so small

    A nickel is much bigger

    Money is a joke

    January 24, 2008

  • And what about the

    Penny? Why is it copper?

    I just don't get it.

    January 24, 2008

  • Just a copper shell;

    Most of it seems to be zinc.

    --Wikipedia

    January 24, 2008

  • I should explain, then.

    I meant the color copper.

    Weird little brown coin.

    January 24, 2008

  • Once cheap, copper soared,

    Til a cent cost more to make.

    Now it's just habit.

    January 24, 2008

  • Say, Asativum,

    That Wikipedia link

    Made a great haiku.

    January 24, 2008

  • Nice of them to make

    Their name five syllables, no?

    (And thanks, uselessness.)

    January 24, 2008

  • This has gotten weird.

    Someone is smoking something.

    Perhaps a dime bag.

    January 24, 2008

  • It's drugs and Wordie;

    They go together like, um...

    Like desktops and mud?

    January 25, 2008

  • Or sometimes it's like

    Hippopotamus stomach

    And pickled pig lips.

    January 25, 2008

  • Well said, reesetee,

    And you as well, uselessness.

    S: please pass the bag.

    January 25, 2008

  • I hate to tell you

    "ReeseTee" has two syllables.

    So much for haiku.

    January 25, 2008

  • Oops. My bad, reesetee.

    I'll just stick to News Haikus.

    Plus, I'm out of dimes.

    January 25, 2008

  • No worries, my friend.

    Everyone gets it wrong once.

    Someday, better nick.

    January 25, 2008

  • Hold on there, reesetee.

    I sure didn't get it wrong.

    I've always said "reesetee."

    January 25, 2008

  • My apologies.

    Uselessness was always right.

    Brilliant guy, he is.

    January 25, 2008

  • "I've always said reesetee"

    But I steer clear of haiku

    though I can count to six.

    January 25, 2008

  • 'Twas deliberate.

    I've never made a mistake

    (And I never will).

    January 26, 2008

  • uselessness

    your comment prompts my memory

    'twas said I know not when but by a footballer when asked about an upcoming game, I think

    "I never predict the future, AND I NEVER WILL".

    love your name btw.

    January 26, 2008

  • ps

    'twasn't deliberate I feel

    January 26, 2008

  • One thousand is called a "dime". It is a term that gamblers have been using forever.

    - A comment in Language Hat's blog. John linked there earlier @ sawbuck.

    March 7, 2009

  • just discovered page

    loving haiku posted here

    cinquain's still my fave

    March 7, 2009

  • My what talent's here!

    A boar's rush of poetry

    Even dontcraiku.

    March 7, 2009

  • The American

    Heritage Dictionary's

    etymology:

    "Middle English, tenth

    part, from Old French disme, from

    Latin decima...."

    June 29, 2010