trim
pronunciation
How to pronounce trim in British English:
UK [trɪm]
How to pronounce trim in American English:
US [ trɪm]
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- Noun:
- a state of arrangement or appearance
- a decoration or adornment on a garment
- attitude of an aircraft in flight when allowed to take its own orientation
- cutting down to the desired size or shape
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- Verb:
- remove the edges from and cut down to the desired size
- decorate, as with ornaments
- cut down on; make a reduction in
- balance in flight by regulating the control surfaces
- be in equilibrium during a flight
- decorate (food), as with parsley or other ornamental foods
- cultivate, tend, and cut back the growth of
- cut closely
- adjust (sails on a ship) so that the wind is optimally used
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- Adjective:
- thin and fit
- (used of hair) neat and tidy
- of places; characterized by order and neatness; free from disorder
- (of persons) neat and smart in appearance
- severely simple in line or design
Word Origin
- trim
- trim: [16] The origins of trim are uncertain, but it may come from an unrecorded Middle English verb *trimmen ‘arrange’, a descendant of Old English trymman or trymian ‘make stronger or firmer’
- trim (v.)
- mid-15c., probably from Old English trymian, trymman "strengthen, fortify, confirm; comfort; incite; set in order, arrange, prepare, make ready; become strong," from trum "strong, stable," from Proto-Germanic *trum-, from PIE *dru-mo-, suffixed form of *deru- "to be firm, solid, steadfast" (see true). Examples in Middle English are wanting. Original sense is preserved in nautical phrase in fighting trim (see trim (n.)); where the verb meant "distribute the load of a ship so she floats on an even keel" (1570s). Meaning "make neat by cutting" is first recorded 1520s; that of "decorate, adorn" is from 1540s. Sense of "reduce" is attested from 1966.
- trim (n.)
- "state of being prepared," 1580s, nautical jargon, "fit for sailing," from trim (v.). From 1570s as "ornament, decoration;" the meaning "visible woodwork of a house" is recorded from 1884; sense of "ornamental additions to an automobile" is from 1922. Slang meaning "a woman regarded as a sex object" is attested from 1955, American English.
- trim (adj.)
- c. 1500, "neatly or smartly dressed," probably ultimately from trim (v.) or from related Old English trum "firm, fixed, secure, strong, sound, vigorous, active." Related: Trimly; trimness.
Example
- 1. So the government seems keen to trim the muslim brotherhood 's tally sharply .
- 2. Such a device would dramatically trim the weight and dimensions of whatever it powered .
- 3. In june somalia 's islamic militants ordered men in mogadishu to grow their beards and trim their moustaches .
- 4. The big wheel is the trim wheel .
- 5. A democratic congress will trim its ambitions .