dime
pronunciation
How to pronounce dime in British English:
UK [daɪm]
How to pronounce dime in American English:
US [daɪm]
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- Noun:
- a United States coin worth one tenth of a dollar
- street name for a packet of illegal drugs that is sold for ten dollars
Word Origin
- dime
- dime: [14] Dime originally meant ‘tenth part’, and often specifically a ‘tax of one tenth, tithe’: ‘From all times it was ordained to pay dimes or tithes unto the Lord’, James Howell, Lexicon tetraglotton 1660. It came via Old French disme from Latin decima ‘tenth part’, a derivative of decem ‘ten’ (to which English ten is related). The application of the word to a coin worth one tenth of a US dollar dates from the 1780s.=> decimal, ten
- dime (n.)
- chosen 1786 as name for U.S. 10 cent coin, from dime "a tenth, tithe" (late 14c.), from Old French disme (Modern French dîme) "a tenth part," from Latin decima (pars) "tenth (part)," from decem "ten" (see ten). The verb meaning "to inform" (on someone) is 1960s, from the then-cost of a pay phone call. A dime a dozen "almost worthless" first recorded 1930. Phrase stop on a dime attested by 1954 (a dime being the physically smallest unit of U.S. currency).
Example
- 1. Redecorate your room without spending a dime .
- 2. They 're left asking banks if they can spare a dime .
- 3. She stressed that " not a dime " of perry 's political travel was borne by texas taxpayers .
- 4. Not long after , our business 's bottom lined surged without having to spend a dime on lead generation .
- 5. Today , few europeans donate a dime to charity , because everyone is of the belief that this is a government service .