Thin

a. [compar. THINNER; superl. THINNEST.] [A-S. thynne, thyn, thin, Icel. thunnr, Sw. tunn, Dan. tynd, O. H. Ger. dunni, M. H. Ger. dünne, N. H. Ger. dünn, L. Ger. dünne, dunn, D. dun, allied to Lat. tenuis, Skr. tanu, Per. tend, Gr. τυννός, Celt. tanas, tana, tene, and A-S. & O. Sax. thenian, to extend, Goth. thanjan, Icel. thenia, O. H. Ger. danjan, N. H. Ger. dehnen, Gr. τείνειν, Lat. tendere.]

1Sense 1. Having little thickness or extent from one surface to the opposite; as, a thin plate of metal; thin paper; a thin board; a thin covering.

2Sense 2. Rare; not dense; — applied to fluids or soft mixtures; as, thin blood; thin milk; thin air. “In the day when the air is more thin.” Bacon.

3Sense 3. Not close; not crowded; not filling the space; not having the individuals that compose the thing 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.

4Sense 4. Not full or well grown. “Seven thin ears . . . blasted with the east wind.” Gen. xli. 6.

5Sense 5. Slim; small; slender; lean; gaunt; as, a person becomes thin by disease; some animals are naturally thin.

6Sense 6. Exile; small; fine; not full. “Thin, hollow sounds, and lamentable screams.” Dryden.

7Sense 7. Slight; flimsy; not sufficient for a covering; as, a thin disguise.

☞ Thin is often used in the formation of self-explaining compounds; as, thin-faced, thin-lipped, thin-peopled, thin-shelled, thin-soled, and the like.

Not thickly or closely; in a scattered state; as, seed sown thin.

Spain is thin sown of people. Bacon.

v. t. [imp. & p. p. THINNED; p. pr. & vb. n. THINNING.] [A-S. thynnian.] To make thin in any of its senses; as, (a.) To make rare or less thick; to attenuate; as, to thin the blood. (b.) To make less close, crowded, or numerous; as, to thin the ranks of an enemy; to thin the trees or shrubs of a thicket. (c.) To attenuate; to rarefy; to make less dense; as, to thin the air; to thin the vapors.

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