dime

name

1. An Omotic language, spoken by fewer than 10,000 speakers in Ethiopia.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English dime, from Anglo-Norman disme (“one tenth, tithe”) (modern French dîme), from Medieval Latin decima, from Latin decima (pars) (“tenth (part)”). Doublet of decim, decima, and decime.

1. A coin worth one-tenth of a dollar, that is, ten cents.

   “The San Francisco mint made about 2.5 million of these dimes, but fewer than 10 are still known to exist, according to Heritage. That’s because a financial crisis in 1893 killed demand for new coinage, and almost all the dimes were melted down.”

2. A small amount of money.

   “She didn't spend a dime.”

3. An assist.
4. A playing card with the rank of ten.
5. Ten dollars.
6. A thousand dollars.

   “At one point, Rob hit a dire losing streak. In a single week, he dropped a dime—$1,000.”

7. A measure of illicit drugs (usually marijuana) sold in ten-dollar bags.
8. A ten-year prison sentence.

   “These deaths got him a dime in a minimum-security prison.”

9. Payment responsibility.

   “Are you traveling on the company's dime?”

10. A beautiful woman (10 on a 10-point scale).

    “Make a couple of nuns a couple of dimes.”

    “Wait in line for drinks, it’s another time out / Made out on the floor with a couple dimes”

11. A defensive formation with six defensive backs, one of whom is a dimeback.
12. A particularly long or precise throw that ends with a catch.

verb

Etymology: From the use of the coin in a payphone to report a crime to the police. US payphones charged 10¢ in almost all jurisdictions until the late 1970s.

1. To inform on, to turn in to the authorities, to rat on, especially anonymously.

   “Somebody dimed on me and I got arrested for selling marijuana.”

2. To operate an audio amplifier (especially an electric guitar amplifier) at level "10" (typically the highest amplification level).

   “I get the best-sounding sustain and smooth harmonic distortion when I run the amp dimed.”