chine

Plural: chines

Noun

• cut of meat or fish including at least part of the backbone
• backbone of an animal
• The top of a ridge.
• The spine of an animal.
• A piece of the backbone of an animal, with the adjoining parts, cut for cooking.
• A sharp angle in the cross section of a hull.
• A longitudinal line of sharp change in the cross-section profile of the fuselage or similar body.
• A hollowed or bevelled channel in the waterway of a ship's deck.
• The edge or rim of a cask, etc., formed by the projecting ends of the staves; the chamfered end of a stave.
• The back of the blade on a scythe.
• A steep-sided ravine leading from the top of a cliff down to the sea.

Verb

Verb Forms: chined, chining, chines

• To cut along or through the backbone of an animal.
• cut through the backbone of an animal
• To cut through the backbone of; to cut into chine pieces.
• To chamfer the ends of a stave and form the chine.
• To crack, split, fissure, break.

Examples

• A drought had caused the earth to chine and cranny.
• He had to chine his opponent’s last play by adding an ’S’ for minimal points.
• The wayward son did chine his father's heart.

Related Words

chink, crêpe de chine, satin de chine

Anagrams of chine