Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - thin

(thinner, thinnest, thins, thinning, thinned) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. Something that is thin is much narrower than it is long. A thin cable carries the signal to a computer... James’s face was thin, finely boned, and sensitive. ADJ 2. A person or animal that is thin has no extra fat on their body . He was a tall, thin man with grey hair... ? fat ADJ • thinness There was something familiar about him, his fawn raincoat, his thinness, the way he moved. N-UNCOUNT 3. Something such as paper or cloth that is thin is flat and has only a very small distance between its two opposite surfaces. ...a small, blue-bound book printed in fine type on thin paper... ? thick ADJ • thinly Peel and thinly slice the onion... ADV: ADV with v 4. Liquids that are thin are weak and watery. The soup was thin and clear, yet mysteriously rich... ? thick ADJ 5. A crowd or audience that is thin does not have many people in it. The crowd, which had been thin for the first half of the race, had now grown considerably. ADJ • thinly The island is thinly populated. ADV: ADV -ed 6. Thin clothes are made from light cloth and are not warm to wear. Her gown was thin, and she shivered, partly from cold. ? thick ADJ • thinly Mrs Brown wrapped the thinly clad man in her fur coat. ADV: ADV adj/-ed 7. If you describe an argument or explanation as thin, you mean that it is weak and difficult to believe. However, the evidence is thin and, to some extent, ambiguous... = weak ? strong ADJ • thinly Much of the speech was a thinly disguised attack on British Airways. ADV: usu ADV -ed, also ADV before v 8. If someone’s hair is described as thin, they do not have a lot of hair. She had pale thin yellow hair she pulled back into a bun. ? thick ADJ 9. When you thin something or when it thins, it becomes less crowded because people or things have been removed from it. It would have been better to have thinned the trees over several winters rather than all at one time... By midnight the crowd had thinned. VERB: V n, V • Thin out means the same as thin. NATO will continue to thin out its forces... When the crowd began to thin out, I realized that most of the food was still there... PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V P 10. To thin a sauce or liquid means to make it weaker and more watery by adding another liquid to it. It may be necessary to thin the sauce slightly... VERB: V n • Thin down means the same as thin. Thin down your mayonnaise with soured cream or natural yoghurt. PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron) 11. If a man’s hair is thinning, it has begun to fall out. His hair is thinning and his skin has lost all hint of youth. thin on top: see top VERB: V 12. If someone’s patience, for example, is wearing thin, they are beginning to become impatient or angry with someone. Parliament has not yet begun to combat the deepening economic crisis, and public patience is wearing thin. PHRASE 13. on thin ice: see ice thin air: see air