What does "chine" mean?
The top of a ridge.
Chine
/t͡ʃaɪn/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The top of a ridge.
- Grammar: chine is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: back meat, backbone cut, bilge, blain.
- Useful contrasts: belly meat, front meat, plain.
- Usage evidence: Then shoreward sends beeves twenty to the rest, / a hundred boars, of broad and bristly chine, / a hundred lambs and ews and gladdening gifts of wine.
How to use "chine"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "chine" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "chine" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "chine" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "chine" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "chine" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "back meat" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "chine", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The top of a ridge.
- 2 A steep-sided ravine leading from the top of a cliff down to the sea. Southern-England, Vancouver
"The cottage in a chine, we were not to behold it."
- 3 backbone of an animal wordnet
- 4 The spine of an animal.
"And chine with rising bristles roughly spread."
- 5 cut of meat or fish including at least part of the backbone wordnet
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 A piece of the backbone of an animal, with the adjoining parts, cut for cooking.
- 7 A sharp angle in the cross section of a hull.
- 8 A longitudinal line of sharp change in the cross-section profile of the fuselage or similar body.
- 9 A hollowed or bevelled channel in the waterway of a ship's deck.
- 10 The edge or rim of a cask, etc., formed by the projecting ends of the staves; the chamfered end of a stave.
- 11 The back of the blade on a scythe.
Verb
- 1 To cut through the backbone of; to cut into chine pieces. transitive
- 2 To crack, split, fissure, break. obsolete
"The wayward son did chine his father's heart."
- 3 cut through the backbone of an animal wordnet
- 4 To chamfer the ends of a stave and form the chine.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"Then shoreward sends beeves twenty to the rest, / a hundred boars, of broad and bristly chine, / a hundred lambs and ews and gladdening gifts of wine."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "chine"?
Common synonyms include: back meat, backbone cut, bilge, blain, bleb, blister.
How do you use "chine" in a sentence?
Then shoreward sends beeves twenty to the rest, / a hundred boars, of broad and bristly chine, / a hundred lambs and ews and gladdening gifts of wine.
How do you pronounce "chine"?
Pronounced /t͡ʃaɪn/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English chyne, from Old French eschine, from Frankish *skinu, from Proto-Germanic *skinō. Doublet of shin.
Etymology 2
From Middle English chyne, chynne (“crack, fissure, chasm”), from Old English ċine, ċinu, from Proto-West Germanic *kinu, from Proto-Germanic *kinō.
Etymology 3
From Middle English chynen (“to crack, fissure, split”), from Old English ċīnan (“to break into pieces, burst, crack”), from Proto-West Germanic *kīnan, from Proto-Germanic *kīnaną (“to split; crack; germinate; sprout”).