a coin of the US and Canada, worth one tenth of a dollar or ten cents
2. a dime a dozen
Word origin
C14: from Old French disme, from Latin decimus tenth, from decem ten
dime in American English
(daɪm)
noun
1. US
a U.S. or Canadian coin equal to ten cents; tenth of a dollar: the U.S. dime is made of cupronickel
adjective
2. US, American Football
designating or of a defense using six defensive backs to defend against an expected pass play
Idioms:
a dime a dozen
on a dime
Word origin
ME < OFr disme, tithe, tenth < L decima (pars), tenth (part), fem. of decimus < decem, ten
More idioms containing
dime
turn on a dime
a dime a dozen
nickel and dime
Examples of 'dime' in a sentence
dime
If they did, their commitment wouldn't be worth the dime they turned on.
Christianity Today (2000)
But 72 per cent of them didn't pay a dime in tax.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
All related terms of 'dime'
dime novel
(formerly) a cheap melodramatic novel, usually in paperback
dime store
a store selling inexpensive items
on a dime
at an exact point or within very narrow limits
five-and-dime
a shop that sells a wide variety of things at a cheap price
a dime a dozen
existing in large numbers and therefore not especially valuable or interesting. In British English, use two a penny .
nickel-and-dime
not very important or only functioning on a small scale
turn on a dime
to suddenly do something completely different from what you were doing before
nickel-and-dime it
to succeed or obtain something gradually by the repeated expenditure of small sums or the slow gathering of votes, power, money, etc. in small increments
five-and-ten-cent store
a store that sells a wide variety of inexpensive merchandise , orig. with many articles priced at five or ten cents