Meaning of thin In English

• 0 having a small distance between two opposite sides:

  • a thin book

  • thin black lines

  • a thin jacket (= made from thin material)

• 1 (of the body) with little flesh on the bones:

  • Did you notice how thin her wrists were?

  • Thin, hungry dogs roamed the streets.

  • He eats like a horse and yet he's as thin as a rake.

• 2 not difficult to see through:

  • thin mist/cloud

• 3 having only a small number of people or a small amount of something:

  • Attendance at the meeting was rather thin.

• 4 Air that is thin contains less oxygen than the air at sea level:

  • Altitude sickness is suffered by mountain climbers breathing thin air with little oxygen on high peaks.

  • For many riders, the first day in the mountains is the hardest, as they struggle to adjust to the thinner air.

  • In the northern highlands of Ethiopia the air is thin and I'm breathless after the climb.

• 5 (of a liquid) flowing easily:

  • a thin soup

• 6 weak or of poor quality:

  • a thin excuse

  • a thin disguise

  • a thin smile

• 7 to make a substance less thick, often by adding a liquid to it:

  • Thin the sauce down with a little stock.

• 8 When a crowd or a group thins (out), it becomes fewer in number, and when you thin (out) a group of plants or other things, you remove some to make them fewer:

  • The traffic will thin out after the rush hour.

• 9 having a small distance from the top to the bottom side:

  • thin summer clothing

  • The statue is coated with a thin layer of gold.

• 10 having little extra flesh on the body:

  • thin arms/legs

  • a thin face

  • Models must be tall and thin.

• 11 having only a few of something covering an area; not dense:

  • His hair is thin on top.

  • Where there is little rain, grass and trees get thinner.

• 12 (of a liquid) flowing easily:

  • We began dinner with a thin but tasty soup.

• 13 lacking force or substance; weak:

  • a thin, metallic tone

  • I thought the plot was a bit thin.

  • We slept poorly that night in the thin mountain air.

• 14 to become fewer in number, or to make a group of things fewer in number:

  • [ I ] Traffic thins out after seven o’clock.

  • [ T ] An improving economy helped thin unemployment lines.

• 15 if trading, etc. is thin, not many people are buying or selling shares, etc.:

  • Investor perceptions may decrease the value of high-risk bonds, especially in a thin market.

  • In another day of thin trading, the FTSE 100 rose 21 to 5269.5.

• 16 having only a small number of people or a small amount of something, especially money:

  • Wages are lower in the area, and union membership is thin.

  • Turnover was extremely thin.

  • a thin budget

• 17 a situation in which there is only a small difference between the total cost of making and selling something and the price it is sold for, or between the total amount of money a company receives from sales and the total cost of producing all its products and services:

  • Cost is an issue in a business that operates on thin margins.

• 18 to not have enough money, people, supplies, etc. to operate, do a job, or provide what is needed:

  • Without more money, the programs would be stretched thin.

  • In the current economic climate, doctors and nurses are stretched thin and equipment is lacking in many of the clinics.

• 19 something that is not very harmful in itself but that will be the start of a harmful development:

  • The introduction of a fee for the service has been described as "the thin end of the wedge" by union leaders.

• 20 existing only in small numbers or amounts:

  • Good strategic leaders are very thin on the ground in UK companies.