fin
1 Americannoun
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a membranous, winglike or paddlelike organ attached to any of various parts of the body of fishes and certain other aquatic animals, used for propulsion, steering, or balancing.
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Nautical.
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a horizontal, often adjustable, winglike appendage to the underwater portion of a hull, as one for controlling the dive of a submarine or for damping the roll of a surface vessel.
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Also called vertical stabilizer. Aeronautics. any of certain small, subsidiary structures on an aircraft, designed to increase directional stability.
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any of a number of standing ridges on an ordinarily hot object, as a radiator, a cylinder of an internal-combustion engine, etc., intended to maximize heat transfer to the surrounding air by exposing a large surface area.
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any part, as of a mechanism, resembling a fin.
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Metallurgy. a ridge of metal squeezed through the opening between two rolls, dies, or halves of a mold in which a piece is being formed under pressure.
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Automotive. an ornamental structure resembling an aeronautical fin that is attached to the body of an automobile, as on each rear fender tail fin.
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Slang. the arm or hand.
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Usually fins. flipper.
verb (used with object)
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to cut off the fins from (a fish); carve or cut up, as a chub.
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to provide or equip with a fin or fins.
verb (used without object)
noun
abbreviation
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finance.
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financial.
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finish.
abbreviation
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Finland.
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Finnish.
abbreviation
noun
noun
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any of the firm appendages that are the organs of locomotion and balance in fishes and some other aquatic animals. Most fishes have paired and unpaired fins, the former corresponding to the limbs of higher vertebrates
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a part or appendage that resembles a fin
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US name: vertical stabilizer. a vertical surface to which the rudder is attached, usually placed at the rear of an aeroplane to give stability about the vertical axis
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a tail surface fixed to a rocket or missile to give stability
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nautical a fixed or adjustable blade projecting under water from the hull of a vessel to give it stability or control
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a projecting rib to dissipate heat from the surface of an engine cylinder, motor casing, or radiator
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(often plural) another name for flipper
verb
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(tr) to provide with fins
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(tr) to remove the fins from (a dead fish)
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(intr) (esp of a whale) to agitate the fins violently in the water
abbreviation
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Finland
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Finnish
abbreviation
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finance
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financial
Other Word Forms
- finless adjective
- finlike adjective
Etymology
Origin of fin1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English, Old English finn; cognate with Dutch vin, Low German finne; akin to Swedish fena; probably akin to Latin pinna ( def. ); pen 1 ( def. )
Origin of fin2
First recorded in 1865–70; earlier finnip, finnup, fin(n)if “a five-pound note,” from Yiddish fin(e)f “five,” from Middle High German vumf, vimf; five
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The first lobe finned fish that developed limbs capable of supporting movement on land still relied heavily on aquatic environments.
From Science Daily
He began tossing things out —a Ping-Pong paddle, a cowboy hat, a hand puppet, swim fins.
From Literature
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My hair was lightening in color, and my hands were callused and bleeding from handling fish with spiny fins and scales.
From Literature
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But as he watched, there rose from the water a herd of horses; horses with long tails and fins, colored silver and sea-green, leaping like dolphins from the water.
From Literature
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“For the first time since automobiles had fins, the world stands in awe of a car from the United States,” the automotive enthusiast magazine Road & Track raved in a 2012 review.
From MarketWatch
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.