| 释义 |
▪ I. thin, a. (n.) and adv.|θɪn|
Forms: 1 þynne, þinne, þyn, þin, 3–5 þunne, 3–6 thyn, 4 þenne, 4–6 thynne, (4 thyne, 5 thynn), 4–7 thinn(e, (4–5 thine), 6– thin.
[OE. þynne = OFris. *thenne, *thinne (WFris. ten, tēn, tin); OLG. *þunni (MLG. dunne, MDu. dunne, dinne, Du. dun), OHG. dunni (MHG. dünne, G. dünn), in Gothic *þunnu-s, ON. þunnr (Sw. tunn, Da. tynd):—OTeut. *þunnu-z, fem. *þunnī, with nu from nw, in Indo-Eur. *tnús, fem. *tnwī, from weak grade of ablaut stem ten-, ton-, tn- to stretch (cf. Skr. tanús, L. tenuis).]
A. adj.
I.
1. a. Having relatively little extension between opposite surfaces; of little thickness or depth. Opposed to thick a. 1.
a900tr. Bæda's Hist. v. vi. (1890) 400 Stan..mid ðinre tyrf bewriᵹen. c1000Sax. Leechd. I. 288 Ðeos wyrt..hafað þynne leaf. c1020Rule St. Benet lv. (Logeman) 91 Culam on wintre þicce on sumere þinne. a1300Cursor M. 1673 (Cott.) Wit pike þou lok it be noght thyn [v.rr. þinne, thine, þynne]. a1310in Wright Lyric P. x. 37 Betere is were thunne boute laste, Then syde robes aut synke into synne. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 405 Brook cakes, round and þynne. 1508Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 23 With curches..of kirsp cleir and thin. 1530Palsgr. 280/2 Thyn skynne, tenue peau. 1638Junius Paint. Ancients 227 We doe not make our plate so thinne as to break it. 1710J. Clarke Rohault's Nat. Phil. (1729) I. 215 A Glass that is thinner in the Middle than at the Edges. 1802Playfair Illustr. Hutton. Th. 294 The thinnest part of that rock..is still covered by the strata. 1887B. V. Head Hist. Numorum 697 The coins of the Sassanian monarchs are thin, flat, and neatly executed.
b. Of small cross section in proportion to length; slender, tenuous, attenuated. (Usually said of a thing more or less cylindrical, as a wire, rod, branch, stem, stock, trunk, limb.)
a1425tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula 59 If it be bi reson of þe membre, þat is for þe membre is to ouer þinne. 1570Levins Manip. 133/24 Thinne, gracilis, tenuis. 1665Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 303 Their Harquebuz is longer than ours, but thinner. 1776Withering Brit. Plants (1796) IV. 118 Branches..of equal thickness, nay rather thinner at their origin. 1884Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 426 In the cortex of the thin stem. 1885Watson & Burbury Math. Th. Electr. & Magn. I. 95 The connection between them being a very thin wire.
c. spec. Having little flesh; lean, spare, not fat or plump. Also of ears of corn.
c1000Sax. Leechd. II. 206 Ne mæᵹ him se lichoma batian ac he bið blac & þynne & acolod. c1050Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 415/27 Galbus, þynne monn. a1327Maximon iv. in Rel. Ant. I. 120 Care and kunde of elde Maketh mi body felde..Ant mi body thunne Such is worldes wunne. 1382Wyclif Gen. xli. 6 Seuene eerys..thinne and smytun with meldew, weren growun. 1535Coverdale Gen. xli. 3 Seuen kyne,..thynne euell fauoured, and leenfleshed. 1617Moryson Itin. ii. 46 His face grew thinne, his ruddy colour failed. 1697Dryden Virg. Past. iii. 156 My Flocks..yet look so thin, Their Bones are barely cover'd with their Skin. 1794Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xlix, You look so pale now, and so thin, too. 1805–6Coleridge Three Graves iv. xi, Oft she said, I'm not grown thin! And then her wrist she spanned. 1865M. E. Braddon Sir Jasper iv. 37 To have long thin white hands, all aglitter with diamond rings.
d. Penetrable by light or vision, like a thin veil; fig. easily ‘seen through’, transparent, flimsy, as a pretext or excuse. (Cf. some uses in 4 a.)
1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, v. iii. 125, I come not To heare such flattery now, and in my presence They [commendations] are too thin. 1662Hibbert Body Div. i. 252 A lie is of a thin and transparent nature. 1851G. Brimley Ess., Wordsw. 103 Under a thin disguise of name. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xiv. 94 Over the glacier hung a thin veil of fog. a1904A. Adams Log Cowboy xviii, He put up a thin excuse just like the rest. Any one could see through it.
e. Phr. the thin end of the wedge: see wedge n. 2 b.
II.
2. a. Consisting of or characterized by individual constituents or parts placed at relatively large intervals; not thick, dense, or bushy. Opposed to thick a. 4. Also thin on top: of a man, having little hair on the (top of the) scalp, balding. Also, of the hair itself.
849in Birch Cart. Sax. II. 40 In..sceaᵹan ðær he ðynnest is. c1000ælfric Hom. II. 466 Oft of ðinnum renscurum flewð seo eorðe. c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 48/44 Bote þornes and þunne boskes. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xxvi. 126 Þe Tartarenes hase..lytill berdes and thynne. c1440Promp. Parv. 491/1 Thynne, as gresse, corne, wodys,..rarus. 1573–80Baret Alv. T 166 Thinne,..not thicke growen, or set,..rarus. 1617Moryson Itin. ii. 45 [Lord Mountjoy's] haire was..thinne on his head. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. I. 77 Indian population is thin; vast tracts..are uninhabited. 1868Trollope He Knew (1869) I. xxxi. 243 ‘You are not bald at all.’..‘I am beginning to be thin enough at the top.’ 1894Doyle Mem. S. Holmes 49 A thin rain began to fall. 1921G. B. Shaw Back to Methuselah v. 217 Getting a little hard set and flat-chested and thin on the top, wasn't she? 1933W. S. Maugham Sheppey i. 2 'Air's very dry, sir..getting a bit thin on top. 1950J. Cannan Murder Included vi. 124 There 'e goes—thin on top, ain't 'e? 1978L. Meynell Papersnake vi. 77 At forty-one his hair was definitely receding and getting thin on top.
†b. Of the members of a collective group or class: Not numerous or abundant; scarce, rare, few, scanty. Opposed to thick a. 5. Obs.
1508Kennedy Flyting w. Dunbar 350 Corspatrik..Thy forefader maid Irisch and Irisch men thin. 1573–80Baret Alv. T 166 Thinne:..seld and not often, rarus: to waxe thin, to waxe a small number. 1638Junius Paint. Ancients 188 Artificers also grew thinner and thinner, till none at length were left. c1645Howell Lett. (1650) I. 95 Gentry amongst them is very thin,..and coming to dwell in towns, they soon mingle with the merchants, and so degenerate. 1725T. Thomas in Portland Papers VI. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) 109 Churches are very thin in this part of the World. [1863W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting ix. 405 Game of all sorts is as thin as deal boards.]
†c. Of a place: Sparsely occupied or peopled; with of, sparsely furnished or supplied with; thinly occupied or attended by. Obs.
1621Burton Anat. Mel. Democr. to Rdr. (1628) 52 Many Kingdomes are fertile, but thin of inhabitants. 1673Essex Papers (Camden) I. 65 How thinn of Soldrs are y⊇ Few Garrisons we keepe. 1693Humours Town 51 You must be content with such as your thin Neighbourhood affords. 1711Swift Jrnl. to Stella 24 Aug., The town being thin, I am less pestered with company. 1733Tull Horse-Hoeing Husb. xi. 124 Both these Rows were Thin of Plants. 1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) VII. 528/1 Galicia..is but thin of people. 1800Ht. Lee Canterb. T. (ed. 2) III. 89 Summer was now fast approaching, and the town was thin.
d. Of an assembly or body of people: Scantily furnished with members; thinly attended; not full.
1647Clarendon Hist. Rev. v. §361 What had been..in a full House, rejected, was many times in a thin House..resumed, and determined contrary to the former conclusions. 1660Pepys Diary 2 Oct., There I found but a thin congregation already. 1703Lond. Gaz. No. 3904/1 Their Battalions are thin and sickly. 1713S. Sewall Diary 27 Oct., Buried with a very thin Funeral. 1746Francis tr. Horace's Art Poetry 297 The little Theatre..To which a thin and pious Audience came. 1860–70Stubbs Lect. Europ. Hist. i. ix. (1904) 119 In a very thin meeting, Ferdinand stated his view.
e. thin on the ground: (chiefly of persons) few in number, widely scattered; scarce, and therefore difficult to find. Also of a group, having few members. Cf. thick a. 5 a.
1951W. S. Churchill 2nd World War IV. i. vi. 86 There was very heavy fighting and many craft were sunk, but the Australians were thin on the ground and enemy parties got ashore at many points. a1957A. Brooke in A. Bryant Turn of Tide 1939–43 (1957) ii. 115, I got up early..and started with the 3rd Division, which I found well established but infernally thin on the ground. 1964‘A. Gilbert’ Knock, knock, who's There? i. 14 The customers were still pretty thin on the ground. 1976A. Hill Summer's End ii. 22 Work was a bit thin on the ground everywhere, wi' long dole queues. 1980Times Lit. Suppl. 25 July 850/1 Even now, when the Anglo-Irish are precariously thin on the ground, people among them who don't like horses can be miserable in certain counties.
f. Mountaineering. Of or pertaining to a rock face on which good climbing holds are hard to find.
1955S. Styles Introd. Mountaineering 144 Thin, generally used of steep rock, meaning ‘smooth; having few or very small holds’. 1963A. Greenbank Instructions in Rock Climbing vi. 73 When a guidebook says ‘strenuous’, it usually means steep, fierce-looking rock; ‘delicate’ or ‘thin’, the footholds and/or handholds are tiny. 1970R. James Rock Climbing in Wales 161 Climb this buttress up the L. side, centre and R. side respectively, each giving a thin lower pitch followed by a short artificial section. 1981Fell & Rock Jrnl. XXIII. ii. 199 To its left Wafer Thin gives some very thin climbing up flaky pockets to a final smooth slab.
g. thin red line: see red line n. phr. Similarly thin blue line: a line of policemen, esp. one which holds back a surging crowd; also transf., the defensive barrier of the law.
1962Sunday Times 16 Dec. 17/2 (caption) The ‘thin blue line’ at an anti-nuclear demonstration. 1970G. Jackson Let. 17 Apr. in Soledad Brother (1971) 222 You've heard the patronizing shit about the thin blue line that protects property and the owners of property. 1979‘M. Underwood’ Smooth Justice ii. 45 The sort of protection we can give..isn't even a thin blue line.
3. a. Of a liquid or a pasty substance: Of slight density or consistence; fluid; of air or vapour: not dense; rare, tenuous, subtile. Opp. to thick a. 6.
a900tr. Bæda's Hist. iii. xix. [xxvii.] (1890) 244 Nemne medmicel hlafes mid þinre meolc. a1000Boeth. Metr. v. 6 ær se þicca mist þynra weorðe. c1000Sax. Leechd. II. 314 Hrer on blede oþ þ̶ hit sie þicce swa þynne briw. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxxii. (Iustin) 735 Vndir it a fyre gert ma Til þat mater [pitch and brimstone] wes moltyne thyne. c1430Two Cookery-bks. 12 Late it be nowt to þikke ne to þinne, but as potage shulde be. 1530Palsgr. 280/2 Thyn cloude in the ayre. 1621Burton Anat. Mel. ii. ii. i. i. (1651) 232 Pure, thin, light water. 1667Milton P.L. viii. 348 Fish..cannot change Thir Element to draw the thinner Aire. 1744Berkeley Siris §121 An exceeding thin volatile oil. 1850Young's Patent in Law Times Rep. X. 862/1 Chalk, ground up with a little water into a thin paste.
b. transf. and fig. Wanting body or substance; unsubstantial; intangible. Also in phr. to vanish (melt, etc.) into thin air: to disappear completely from sight or existence (formerly only of spirits). More rarely to come (etc.) out of thin air. Now chiefly colloq.
1610Shakes. Temp. iv. i. 150 These our actors..were all Spirits, and Are melted into Ayre, into thin Ayre. 1671Milton P.R. i. 499 Satan bowing low His gray dissimulation, disappear'd Into thin air diffus'd. 1705Addison Italy 3 The lab'ring Plow-man oft with Horror spies Thin airy Shapes that o'er the Furrows rise. 1724R. Welton Chr. Faith & Pract. 120 All the thin and airy delights of the world. c1800Blake Vala v, in Compl. Writings (1966) 305 As plants wither'd by winter..Melt into thin air. 1892Westcott Gospel of Life 108 Man cannot live in the thin atmosphere of abstractions. 1904Conrad Nostromo i. i. 4 Vapours that..vanish into thin air. 1907Edin. Rev. Oct. 402 Logic is too thin and bloodless a thing to govern life. 1918L. Strachey Eminent Victorians 223 The Ever Victorious Army..was an ill-disciplined, ill-organised body..constantly on the verge of mutiny..and, at the slightest provocation, melting into thin air. 1932W. Faulkner Light in August ix. 204 Having apparently materialised out of thin air. 1951Sport 7–13 Jan. 16/2 Speed, confidence, shooting ability, all seemed to have vanished into thin air. 1977‘E. McBain’ Long Time no See xi. 181 The recurring nightmares hadn't come out of thin air.
c. Wanting depth or intensity; faint, weak, dim, pale. Formerly of light (arch.): in mod. use, of colours, painting, or the like.
1649Lovelace Poems 90 Yet its Glory did appeare But thinne, because her eyes were neere. 1655Stanley Hist. Philos. ii. (1701) 61/2 The Moon hath a light of her own: but very thin. 1875Fortnum Maiolica xiv. 156 The use of a bright yellow..in imitations of the golden lustre, and a thin green. 1893Hodges Elem. Photogr. (1907) 102 Thin and rather weak negatives. 1894Athenæum 3 Mar. 285/3 The figures are half-lengths, and executed in a thin, hard, and laborious manner.
d. Of sound: Wanting fullness, volume, or depth; weak and high-pitched; shrill and feeble.
16..Dryden (J.), I hear the groans of ghosts; Thin, hollow sounds, and lamentable screams. 1726Pope Odyss. xxiv. 8 Trembling the Spectres glide, and plaintive vent Thin, hollow screams. 1824Lamb Elia Ser. ii. Capt. Jackson, Be dumb, thou thin accompanier of her thinner warble! a1895W. Morris in Mackail Life (1899) II. 314, I heard..the trowels fall Upon the stone, a thin noise far away. 1901Scotsman 15 Mar. 7/4 The possessor of the thinnest treble in the Irish quarter..piped tremulously.
4. fig. Deficient in substance or quality; poor; unsubstantial.
a. Of immaterial things: Wanting in fulness, breadth, force, or vigour; scanty, insufficient; weak, feeble; slight; of little worth.
[a900tr. Bæda's Hist. v. xvii. [xix.] (1890) 462 Nemne ðynre eðunge anre ætywde þæt he lifes wæs. c1000Sax. Leechd. II. 84 Hwilc þ̶ mæᵹen sie & sio ᵹecynd þæs lichoman, hwæþer hio sie strang.., þe hio sie hnesce & mearwe & þynne. ]a1225Ancr. R. 144 Vre god þet is þunne—vre sunnen þet beoð so monie. c1315Shoreham iii. 272 Hare wyȝt [= wit] hys al to þenne. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 113 My witte was oure thynne So strange speche to trauayle in. c1374Chaucer Boeth. ii. Met. vii. 47 (Camb. MS.) The thynne fame yit lastynge of hir ydel names, is marked with a fewe letterys. c1425? Lydg. Assembly of Gods 1591 My brayne ys so thynne. 1545R. Ascham Toxoph. (Arb.) 28 As thinne invention, as other poore men. 1580H. Gifford Posie Gillowflowers, Merrie Jest, Yet was her wit but thin. 1658–9Burton's Diary (1828) IV. 65 They are gallant in their persons, but thin in relations. 1844Kinglake Eöthen vii. (1878) 96 Engaged in very thin conversation. 1888Daily News 9 July 4/8 The apology is a very lame one—what our American cousins call ‘thin’. 1890Spectator 16 Aug. 221/2 This is about the thinnest travel-book we have ever read. 1894Westm. Gaz. 5 Feb. 1/2 Really, has not this laudation of the old at the expense of the new become a little too thin?
b. Of diet or supplies: Scanty, meagre, spare; not full or rich; poor, low. Now rare.
c1374Chaucer Former Age 36 Ther as vitayle is ek so skars and thinne [v.r. thynne]. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 5264 Bot vytayls were ful thynn. c1485Digby Myst. iii. 1733 Yower spendyng is thyn. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) II. 618 Becaus he wes in his substance so thyn. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. iv. 61 At so slender warning, You are like to haue a thin and slender pittance. 1648Crashaw Steps to Temple Wks. (1904) 82 Nor hath God a thinner Share. 1707Floyer Physic. Pulse-Watch 196 In these Fasting is necessary, or a thin Diet. 1826Disraeli Viv. Grey vi. i, Thin entertainment here, kind Sir.
c. spec. Of liquor: Without body; not strong or rich; of low alcoholic strength; weak. (Cf. 3.)
[1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xix. 398, I can selle Bothe dregges & draffe, and drawe it at on hole, Þikke ale and þinne ale.] c1440Alphabet of Tales 6, I may not drynk your thyn ale. 1560Pilkington Expos. Aggeus (1562) 90 Loke howe many of youre poore neighbours..drink thin drink. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. iii. 134 To forsweare thinne Potations, and to addict themselues to Sack. 1691Ray N.C. Words 138 Thin drink, small Beer, Cerevisia tenuis. 1859Dickens T. Two Cities ii. xv, Monsieur Defarge sold a very thin wine at the best of times.
d. Phr. a thin time: a wretched period of experience. colloq.
1924A. J. Small Frozen Gold iv. 108 Yes, sure, you go{ddd}If you don't, she will give me such a thin time. 1935Economist 17 Aug. 326/1 Dairy farming and lumbering and doing poorly; while the mountain peasantry especially are having a thin time. 1955Times 22 Aug. 3/3 The London sides in the Championship had a thin time. Not one of them won.
e. Econ. Of or pertaining to a stock market (or to stocks, shares) in which trading is light.
1931Economist 28 Feb. 441/2 Prices were marked up to 10 cents a pound in the hope of attracting buyers who had refused to take metal at 9½ cents, but the market remains thin. 1946Sun (Baltimore) 17 Jan. 12–0/1 Some of the ‘thin’ shares tacked on around six points. 1964Financial Times 3 Mar. 19/2 Further speculative buying in a thin market led to a fresh rise. 1981Times 30 June 20/1 Dealers described turnover as thin.
B. absol. as n.: mostly elliptical or nonce-uses. thin and thick: see thick and thin.
c1350St. Jacob 173 (xix.) in Horstmann Altengl. Leg. (1881) 99/1 Þai suld noght leue for thin ne thik Till þai war broght bath ded or quik. 1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 11135, I [Youth] passe bothe thorgh thynne & thykke. 1895G. Allen Woman who did (1906) 184 This very fact that she had always lived in the Thick of Things made a change to the Thin of Things only the more enchanting.
C. adv.
1. a. = thinly 1. † to go thin: to wear thin clothing, to be thinly clad (obs.).
a1250Owl & Night. 1529 Wel þunne isrud & ived wroþe. a1610Healey Theophrastus (1636) 11 Why hee goes so thinne, and why hee will not go better cloth'd? a1631Donne Serm. xlv. 450 Spread we this a little thinner, and we shall better see through it. 1633Herbert Temple, Praise vii, My heart, Though press'd, runnes thin. 1652–62Heylin Cosmogr. iv. (1682) 31 The people go extreme thin in the sharpest Winter. 1738Swift Pol. Conversat. p. xliii, They ought to be husbanded better, and spread much thinner. 1806A. Hunter Culina (ed. 2) 194 Cut the chops very thin.
†b. In a poor or sparing manner. Obs.
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 325 Let the Horse be thin dieted, during his curing time.
2. = thinly 2.
1375Barbour Bruce iv. 685 Bot þai prophetis so thyn ar sawin, Þat [etc.]. c1386Chaucer Knt.'s Prol. 679 But thinne it lay, by colpons oon and oon. 1573–80Baret Alv. T 167 Seldome: not oft: thinne: not thicke, rare. 1649W. Blithe Eng. Improv. Impr. (1653) To Husbandm., The earlier thou sowest, the thinner thou maiest sow thy winter corn. 1707Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 34 To sow something thinner than ordinary. 1886C. Scott Sheep-Farming 37 The thinner sheep are pastured the healthier they are.
D. Combinations.
I. Of the adj.a. Chiefly parasynthetic adjectives, as thin-bedded, thin-bladed, thin-blooded, thin-brained (in sense A. 4 a), thin-cheeked, thin-faced, thin-flanked, † thin-gaskined (gaskin1 2), thin-haired, thin-leaved, thin-lipped, thin-rinded († thin rined), thin-soled, thin-stemmed, etc. See also thin-gutted, -skinned, -walled.
1859Murchison Siluria iv. (ed. 3) 75 We reach the *thin-bedded..flags.
1855G. J. Whyte-Melville Gen. Bounce ix, A *thin-bladed knife and two-pronged fork.
1934Webster *Thin-blooded. 1959Times 10 June 7/3 The rest of the programme, though it sometimes achieved a sort of thin-blooded distinction, was really rather disappointing.
1598Marston Sco. Villanie iii. x, *Thin-brain'd Idiots, dull, vncapable.
1596R. L[inche] Diella (1877) 74 In my *thin-cheekt face thou well maist see.
1633T. Adams Exp. 2 Peter ii. 1 Away with that *thin-dawned profession.
1601Shakes. Twel. N. v. i. 213 A *thin fac'd knaue, a gull. 1899Crockett Kit Kennedy xii. 88 A thin-faced..woman, with an air of being perpetually tired.
1649G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. V clxiv, The *thin-film'd Bladder breakes.
1894Kipling Seven Seas (1896) 148 Till you married that *thin-flanked woman.
1737Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 102 Some Horses are so *thin Gascoign'd, that they will never look plump.
1398Tevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. xv. (Bodl. MS.), The Bugle is..*þynne hered.
1697Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 96 The *thin-leav'd Arbute Hazle Graffs receives.
1897Daily News 2 Oct. 2/3 Cranes and herons and ibis and other *thin-legged water fowl.
1681Grew Musæum i. vi. i. 130 The *Thin-Lip'd Wilk. 1907H. Wyndham Flare Footlights vii, An unpleasant smile playing about the corners of his thin-lipped mouth.
1677A. Yarranton Eng. Improv. 120 Our Wheat is large, full-brested, and *thin-rined. 1805Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 572 The most plump and thinnest-rinded grain.
1682Otway Venice Preserved iii. ii, Cathars and Tooth Ach got By *thin-sol'd shoos.
1869H. F. Tozer Highl. Turkey I. 315 An Albanian with his long *thin-stocked gun.
b. Special combinations and collocations: thin-belly, one who has a thin belly; in quot. attrib.; so thin-bellied a., lean, hungry-looking; thin coal, coal found in shallow beds or seams: cf. thick coal s.v. thick a. 12 b; thin-film a., applied to processes and devices that employ or involve a very thin solid or liquid film; thin-headed a., having a thin or narrow head; fig. shallow-pated, silly; thin-layer chromatography Chem. [tr. G. dünnschicht-chromatographie (E. Stahl 1956, in Pharmazie XI. 633)], chromatography in which compounds are separated on a thin layer of adsorbent material such as charcoal or silica gel; thin-minded a. rare—1, narrow-minded, prejudiced; thin-miner, see quot.; thin seam (also attrib.), see quots.; thin section, a thin, flat piece of rock or tissue prepared with a thickness of about 0·03 mm. for examination with an optical microscope; also, a piece of tissue of the order of 30 nm. thick prepared for electron microscopy; hence thin-sectioning vbl. n., the making of thin sections; thin space Typogr., a piece of metal used for separating words, cast five to an em of its own body; cf. thick space s.v. thick a. 12 b; thin-worn a., made thin by wear.
1588Shakes. L.L.L. iii. i. 19 Your armes crost on your *thinbellie doublet.
1591Percival Span. Dict., Trasijado, lanke, *thinne bellied.
1855J. Phillips Man. Geol. 188 Strata and *thin coals. 1900Engineering Mag. XIX. 717 In days gone by thin seams were worked by special thin coal miners.
1956Nature 24 Mar. 571/2 *Thin-film lubrication. 1963New Scientist 21 Mar. 632/3 Thin-film memories and logic devices. 1966D. G. Brandon Mod. Techniques Metallogr. ii. 90 Variations in absorption with crystalline perfection contribute significantly to the contrast in thin-film transmission microscopy. 1970Brit. Printer July 69/2 The advent of thin-film inks gave the screen printer a choice which had not previously existed.
1603Dekker Wonderfull Yeare A iij b, *Thin-headed fellowes that liue vpon the scraps of inuention. 1804Shaw Gen. Zool. V. 237 Thin-headed Carp, Cyprinus Leptocephalus.
1957Chem. Abstr. LI. 6948 (heading) *Thin-layer chromatography (the method, affecting factors, and a few examples of application). 1961Jrnl. Amer. Oil Chemists' Soc. XXXVIII. 313/1 Two procedures for the analysis of mixtures of mono-, di-, and triglycerides. One employs..thin-layer chromatography. 1967Oceanogr. & Marine Biol. V. 267 Thin layer chromatography can pinpoint some inaccuracies in the interpretation of spectra and give a more adequate image of the variety of pigments. 1978H. H. Bauer et al. Instrumental Analysis xxi. 626 Appreciation of the full advantages of planar chromatography then led to thin-layer chromatography (TLC).
1864Trollope Small House at Allington I. ii. 11 Such *thin-minded men can hardly go to the proof of any matter without some pre-judgment in their minds.
1892Labour Commission Gloss., *Thin miners, miners who get coal out of thin seams.
1883Gresley Gloss. Coal-mining, *Thin Seams,..coal seams (say) less than 3 feet in thickness. 1887Pall Mall G. 5 Sept. 12/1 The coal-mining industry in the thin-seam districts.
1858Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. XIV. 469 For some purposes, however, *thin sections are quite indispensable. 1872F. Delafield Handbk. Post-Mortem Examinations i. 21 The proportion of alcohol is to be afterward increased until the mucous membrane is hard enough to be cut into thin sections. 1916Jordan & Ferguson Text-bk. Histol. xx. 734 Thick sections may be obtained from the firmer tissues by free⁓hand sectioning with a razor, but for the satisfactory preparation of thin sections a microtome is a necessity. 1956Nature 14 Jan. 98/1 Although electron microscope contrast may be increased by the use of objective apertures, accurate focusing in thin-section work is still difficult. 1970Ibid. 17 Oct. 251/2 Petrological analysis by thin section has enabled the locality of origin of axes made from hard rock to be identified.
1964G. H. Haggis et al. Introd. Molecular Biol. v. 135 The pellet which contains them [sc. mitochondria] can be identified, and its purity assessed, by *thin-sectioning of the osmium-fixed embedded pellet. 1978Sci. Amer. May 141/2 There are two principal specimen-preparation methods for rendering cells suitable for examination in the electron microscope: thin-sectioning and freeze-fracturing.
1683*Thin space [see space n.1 15 b]. 1808C. Stower Printer's Gram. iii. 90 Of Spaces... Five to an m—or five thin spaces. 1968J. R. Biggs Basic Typogr. 76/2 Space between words is achieved by means of tiny bricks of metal... They are..thin space..thick space..hair space.
1823A. Grant Mem. & Corr. (1844) III. 31 Easily she threw off the *thin-worn robe of mortality.
II. Of the adverb: with participles or adjectives, to which thin is now joined by a hyphen, or as a single word; forming adjs., usually of obvious meaning, unlimited in number, as, in sense 1, thin-cut, thin-frozen, thin-laid, thin-lined, thin-pervading, thin-veiled, thin-wrought; in sense 2, † thin-bred, thin-descending, thin-flowing, thin-grown, thin-officered, thin-peopled, thin-set, thin-shot, etc. thin-clad a., wearing thin clothes; also (U.S. colloq.) absol. as n., an athlete. See also thin-sown, thin-spun.
a1400–50Alexander 320 A berd as a besom with *thyn bred haris.
1690Locke Hum. Und. iv. xvii. §4 'Tis not safe..to go abroad *thin clad. 1947Sun (Baltimore) 30 Oct. 19/2 (heading) Maryland thinclads beat navy. 1974Anderson (S. Carolina) Independent 24 Apr. 5b/1 Cliff Satterwhite..has been coaching the few Trojan thinclads.
1851Carlyle J. Sterling i. ii. (1872) 11 A light *thin-flowing style of mirth.
1865W. J. Linton 3 Englishmen, Alfred, He..breaks a way through the *thin-frozen sludge.
1908Westm. Gaz. 29 Sept. 4/2 Prices that need not stand in the way of the *thinnest-lined of purses.
a1687Petty Pol. Arith. i. (1690) 11 In *thin peopled places.
1647–9G. Daniel Poems Wks. (Grosart) II. 130 Hee, poore Swaine, in bare And *thin-Set Shades did Sing. 1812Crabbe Tales x. 351 The burning sand, the fields of thin-set rye.
1642H. More Song of Soul ii. iii. i. xxiii, Their *thin-shot shadowings And lightned sides.
1538Elyot Dict., Leuidensis, *thynne wrought, and of small substance.
▸ thin client n. Computing (in a client-server network) a client terminal with minimal processing power and storage capacity, esp. one with no hard disk; cf. fat client n. at fat adj. and n.2 Additions.
1992DBMS Mar. 68/2 He expects the resulting compiled applications to appeal to organizations that want to run *thin clients under Microsoft Windows tied to database servers. 1997T3 Feb. 12/2 The Javastation is designed to be a ‘thin client’ (cut-down) computer which uses and stores software from a centralised server, and has no hard disc of its own. 2001N.Z. Infotech Weekly (Electronic text) 19 Nov. For many New Zealand companies dumping the PC and moving to thin-client computing offers a chance to dramatically cut IT costs and complexity—and more and more companies are doing it.
▸ thin gruel n. a watery gruel, typically having poor nutritional content; (fig.) something insubstantial, unsatisfying, or inadequate.
1699S. Garth Dispensary iv. 41 Cloy'd with Variety they surfeit there, Whilst the wan Patients on *thin Gruel fare. 1777Philos. Trans. 1776 (Royal Soc.) 66 430 The regimen enjoined him, with respect to diet, was only gruel, panado, and sage-tea, with barley water or thin gruel to drink. 1854Era 27 Aug. 9/4 Is it not enough to have to drink the thin gruel of personal experience, without repeating the obnoxious draught in the pages of fiction? 1940Brit. Red Cross Soc. Cookery & Catering Man. (1942) vi. 78 Additions in the shape of..thin gruel, followed up by clear soups..and light farinaceous puddings. 2003Wall St. Jrnl. 10 Nov. a2/4 Smaller trade deals..are thin gruel compared with the original ambition of the Free Trade Area of the Americas.
▪ II. thin, v.1|θɪn|
[OE. þynnian, f. þynne, thin a. Cf. OHG. dunnên, Ger. dünnen, MLG. dunnen, MDu. dunnen, dinnen, Du. dunnen, ON. þynna to thin.]
1. trans. To make thin; to reduce in thickness or depth; to spread or draw out in a thin layer or thread. to thin off, thin down: to diminish gradually to vanishing point.
c900Bede Glosses 80 in O.E. Texts 182 Obtenuerað (t), ðynnade. c1000ælfric Saints' Lives xxxiii. 236 And ne oncneow hi na for-þam heo wæs swiðe ᵹeþynnod. 1482Monk of Evesham (Arb.) 41 For the stature and forme of some of them was as hyt had be lessyd or thynnyde by tormentys. 1608Topsell Serpents (1658) 616 To smooth and thin the skin. 1684R. Waller Nat. Exper. 117 The battered Silver (which being so little Ductile did not at all thin, and distend it self). 1727Philip Quarll (1816) 56 Having resolved, as the summer approached, to thin his clothing by degrees. 1793Trans. Soc. Arts V. 204 The two ends are to be thinned off in form of a wedge. 1891G. Meredith One of our Conq. III. iv. 66 She..had thinned her lips for utterance of a desperate thing.
b. fig. (In quot. 1382 a literalism of translation.)
1382Wyclif Jer. xxx. 19, Y shal glorifie them, and thei shuln not be thynned [Vulg. non attenuabuntur]. 1670Eachard Cont. Clergy 33 By this means he has usually so thinn'd his judgment. 1787Jefferson Writ. (1859) II. 117 Real friends, whose affections are not thinned to cob-web. 1874H. R. Reynolds John Bapt. viii. 497 To thin down the distinction between the mission, character, education, and position of John and those of Christ.
2. intr. To become thin or thinner; to decrease in thickness or depth. to thin out (thin off, thin away): to become gradually thinner until it disappears, as a layer or stratum. Also fig.
1804Coleridge Lett., to D. Stuart (1895) 475 A rock which thins as it rises up. 1830Lyell Princ. Geol. I. 341 When a number of beds thin out gradually, and at different points. 1833Herschel Astron. viii. 256 The half-moon becomes a crescent, which thins off. 1851Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XII. ii. 473 In which direction the boulder clay appears to thin off. 1874Hardy Far from Madding Crowd xxii, Men thin away to insignificance and oblivion. 1899J. Hutchinson in Arch. Surg. X. 155 Their usual course is to cause the nail over them to thin and break down.
b. spec. To lose flesh; to become spare or lean.
1870Pall Mall G. 7 Sept. 11 During this troubled period he had thinned so as to seem a different man. 1893Chamb. Jrnl. 19 Aug. 523/2 Her fresh comeliness left her; her face thinned down.
3. trans. To render less crowded or close by removing individuals; hence, to reduce in number.
a. With an assemblage of individuals as object.
c1440Promp. Parv. 491/1 Thynnyn, or make thynne, as wodys, cornys, gresse. 1687Dryden Hind & P. ii. 243 As when the cause goes hard, the guilty man Excepts, and thins his jury all he can. 1699S. Sewall Diary 28 Dec., Our Meeting was pretty much thin'd by it. 1832H. Martineau Homes Abroad i. 12 To thin our population. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xvi. III. 681 The malady which had thinned the ranks of Schomberg's army at Dundalk.
b. With the individuals as object.
1697Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 554 T' unload the Branches, or the Leaves to thin, That suck the Vital Moisture of the Vine. 1786Abercrombie Gard. Assist. 257 Hoe and thin turneps. 1850Florist Aug., Thin out superfluous shoots. 1856Dickens Lett. (1880) I. 439 Your friend..has thinned the trees. 1890Spectator 19 Apr., For reducing the new expenditure on drink, and for thinning-off the public-houses in the rural districts.
c. To render (a place) less closely or numerously occupied by the removal of occupants.
1743Blair Grave 213 Who..in a cruel wantonness of power Thinn'd states of half their people. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) III. 400 It would soon thin the forest of every other living creature. 1856Merivale Rom. Emp. IV. xl. 507 The Forum and other public places were deliberately thinned of their overgrowths of sculpture. 1905Daily Chron. 24 Aug. 4/7 A head already thinned of hair.
4. intr. Of a place: To become less full or crowded; of a crowd: to become less numerous.
1779Earl Carlisle in Jesse Selwyn & Contemp. (1844) IV. 180 The town begins to thin, though Parliament is still sitting. 1805H. More in Roberts Mem. (1835) III. 240 No resident minister;..the church of course thins. 1828Examiner 129/1 The band..is steadily thinning. 1848Dickens Dombey iv, ‘The streets have thinned’, as Mr. Gills says, ‘very much’. c1860Faber Hymn, ‘After a Death’ xvii, My world of friends thins round me fast. 1897H. Drummond Ideal Life 101 The crowd thinned.
5. trans. To make less thick, dense, or viscid; to dilute. Also fig.
c1000Sax. Leechd. II. 194 Þæt ofstandene þicce slipiᵹe horh þu scealt..wyrman & þynnian. a1340Hampole Psalter, Cant. 497 Myn eghyn ere thynyd, that is..purgid of vile lustis..and made sutil. c1440Promp. Parv. 491/2 Thynnyn, or make thynne, as lycurys, tenuo. 1605Timme Quersit. iii. 182 This water..cutteth and thinneth grosse matters. 1796H. Glasse Cookery xxi. 336 Mix half a pound of best flour, and thin it with damask-rose-water. 1880J. Caird Philos. Relig. ii. 60 By thinning down the idea of God to an abstraction which would embrace under a common head the rudest fetishism and the spiritual theism of Christianity. 1890Abney Photogr. (ed. 6) 76 The..liquid is..thinned down to proper fluidity.
6. intr. To become less dense or consistent; to grow fluid, tenuous, or rare.
1834M. Scott in Blackw. Mag. XXXV. 900 Gradually the figure, without changing its position, thinned, and anon..the stars were seen through it. 1884S. Cox Miracles 63 The haze of difficulty which enshrouds them thins.
▪ III. † thin, v.2 Obs. rare.
[f. OE. þęnnan (þænnan) and þęnian = OS. thęnnian, OHG. dęnnen, dęnen (G. dehnen), ON. þęnja, Goth. uf)þanjan:—OTeut. *þanjan-, factitive vb. from Indo-Eur. root *ten- to stretch.]
trans. To stretch out, extend.
The existence of this in ME. is doubtful: the OE. form would properly give ME. þenne or þene; þinne is perh. an error.
c1000Ags. Ps. (Th.) cxlii[i]. 6 Ic mine hande to þe holde þenede. c1000Sax. Leechd. III. 22 Þænne þone swiðran earm swa he swiþast mæᵹe. a1300E.E. Psalter cvii. 10 [cviii. 9] In Ydume sal i þinne [Wyclif strecchen] mi scho.
▪ IV. thin
obs. f. thine; var. thyne, Obs., thence. |