- a coin of the US and Canada worth ten cents see also five-and-dime, nickel-and-dimeTopics Moneyc1Word Originlate Middle English: from Old French disme, from Latin decima pars ‘tenth part’. The word originally denoted a tithe or tenth part; the modern sense ‘ten cent coin’ dates from the late 18th cent.
Definitions on the go
Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
Idioms
See dime in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionarya dime a dozen (North American English)
(British English two/ten a penny)
- very common and therefore not valuable
drop a/the dime on somebody
- (North American English, informal) to tell the police or people in authority that somebody has done something wrong
- If he finds out who dropped the dime on him, they're in trouble.
- I'm worried if I drop a dime on them, they'll get fired, which I don't think they really deserve.
Check pronunciation:
dime