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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

chin.

The bottom of a face, (specifically) the typically jutting jawline below the mouth.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈt͡ʃɪn/[ˈt͡ʃʰɪn]
  1. The bottom of a face, (specifically) the typically jutting jawline below the mouth.

    What does it mean to have a pointy chin instead of a flat chin?
  2. Talk.

    US · slang
  3. A lie, a falsehood.

    UK · slang
  4. A person of the upper class.

    UK · slang
  5. The ability to withstand being punched in the chin without being knocked out.

    uncountable
  6. The lower part of the front of an aircraft, below the nose.

    To paint chins of aircraft
  7. The bottom part of a mobile phone, below the screen.

    The phone's chin looks different from the rest of it.
Where this word comes from

From Middle English chyn, from Old English ċinn (“chin”), from Proto-West Germanic *kinnu, from Proto-Germanic *kinnuz (“chin”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénus (“chin, jaw”). Compare West Frisian/Dutch kin, Low German/German Kinn, Danish kind, Icelandic kinn, Welsh gen, Latin gena, Tocharian A śanweṃ, Ancient Greek γένυς (génus, “jaw”), Armenian ծնոտ (cnot), Persian چانه (čâne), Sanskrit हनु (hánu). Doublet of gena.

verb/ˈt͡ʃɪn/[ˈt͡ʃʰɪn]
  1. To talk.

    dated · intransitive · slang
  2. To talk to or with (someone).

    dated · slang · transitive
  3. To perform a chin-up (exercise in which one lifts one's own weight while hanging from a bar).

    intransitive · reflexive
  4. To punch or hit (someone), especially on the chin (part of the body).

    UK · transitive
  5. To put or hold (a musical instrument) up to one's chin.

    transitive
  6. To turn on or operate (a device) using one's chin; to select (a particular setting) using one's chin.

    transitive
  7. To put one's chin on (something).

    transitive
  8. To indicate or point toward (someone or something) with one's chin.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English chyn, from Old English ċinn (“chin”), from Proto-West Germanic *kinnu, from Proto-Germanic *kinnuz (“chin”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénus (“chin, jaw”). Compare West Frisian/Dutch kin, Low German/German Kinn, Danish kind, Icelandic kinn, Welsh gen, Latin gena, Tocharian A śanweṃ, Ancient Greek γένυς (génus, “jaw”), Armenian ծնոտ (cnot), Persian چانه (čâne), Sanskrit हनु (hánu). Doublet of gena.

noun/ˈt͡ʃɪn/[ˈt͡ʃʰɪn]
  1. A chinchilla.

    informal
Where this word comes from

Shortening of chinchilla.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.