“thin” – English explanatory dictionary

adj 1. not fat ○ The table has very thin legs. ○ He’s too thin – he should eat more. □ as thin as a rake very thin ○ She’s a supermodel and is as thin as a rake. 2. not thick ○ a plate of thin sandwiches ○ The book is printed on very thin paper. ○ The parcel was sent in a thin cardboard box. 3. not placed or growing close together ○ The hill was covered with thin grass. ○ The audience is a bit thin tonight. 4. (of a liquid.) which flows easily, which has too much water ○ All we had for lunch was a bowl of thin soup. ○ Add water to make the paint thinner. 5. which you can see through ○ They hung thin curtains in the windows. ○ A thin mist covered the valley. 6. (of an argument or excuse) weak or poor ○ His argument is a bit thin. (NOTE: thinner – thinnest) ■ adv thinly ○ Don’t spread the butter too thin. ■ verb 1. to make something more liquid ○ If you want to thin the soup just add some water. 2. to become fewer ○ The crowds began to thin by evening. 3. □ to thin out to make plants grow less close together ○ These lettuces need to be thinned out.

a. [Compar. Thiner superl. Thinest.] [OE. thinne, thenne, thunne, AS. þynne; akin to D. dun, G. dünn, OHG. dunni, Icel. þunnr, Sw. tunn, Dan. tynd, Gael. & Ir. tana, W. teneu, L. tenuis, Gr. (in comp.) stretched out, stretched, stretched out, long, Skr. tanu thin, slender; also to AS. enian to extend, G. dehnen, Icel. enja, Goth. anjan (in comp.), L. tendere to stretch, tenere to hold, Gr. to stretch, Skr. tan. rad.51 & 237. Cf. Attenuate, Dance, Tempt, Tenable, Tend to move, Tenous, Thunder, Tone.]
1. Having little thickness or extent from one surface to its opposite; as a thin plate of metal; thin paper; a thin board; a thin covering.
2. Rare; not dense or thick; — applied to fluids or soft mixtures; as thin blood; thin broth; thin air. Shak. “In the day, when the air is more thin.” Bacon. “Satan, bowing low
His gray dissimulation, disappeared,
Into thin air diffused.” Milton.
3. Not close; not crowded; not filling the space; not having the individuals of which the thing is composed in a close or compact state; hence, not abundant; as the trees of a forest are thin; the corn or grass is thin. “Ferrara is very large, but extremely thin of people.” Addison.
4. Not full or well grown; wanting in plumpness. “Seven thin ears … blasted with the east wind.” Gen. xli. 6.
5. Not stout; slim; slender; lean; gaunt; as a person becomes thin by disease.
6. Wanting in body or volume; small; feeble; not full. “Thin, hollow sounds, and lamentable screams.” Dryden.
7. Slight; small; slender; flimsy; wanting substance or depth or force; superficial; inadequate; not sufficient for a covering; as a thin disguise. “My tale is done, for my wit is but thin.” Chaucer. Thin is used in the formation of compounds which are mostly self-explaining; as thin-faced, thin-lipped, thin-peopled, thin-shelled, and the like. Thin section. See under Section.

adv. Not thickly or closely; in a seattered state; as seed sown thin. “Spain is thin sown of people.” Bacon.

v. t. [imp. & p. p. Thinned p. pr. & vb. n. Thinning.] [Cf. AS. geþynnian.] To make thin (in any of the senses of the adjective).

v. i. To grow or become thin; — used with some adverbs, as out, away, etc.; as geological strata thin out, i. e., gradually diminish in thickness until they disappear.