chin

Etymology 1

From Middle English chyn, from Old English ċinn (“chin”), from Proto-Germanic *kinnuz (“chin”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénus (“chin, jaw”). Compare West Frisian/Dutch kin, Low German/German Kinn, Danish kind, Icelandic kinn, Welsh gen, Latin gena, Tocharian A śanwem, Ancient Greek γένυς (génus, “jaw”), Armenian ծնոտ (cnot), Persian چانه (čâne), Sanskrit हनु (hánu). Doublet of gena.

noun

1. The bottom of a face, (specifically) the typically jutting jawline below the mouth.
2. (slang, US) Talk.
3. (slang, Britain) A lie, a falsehood.
4. (slang, Britain) A person of the upper class.
5. (boxing, uncountable) The ability to withstand being punched in the chin without being knocked out.
6. (aviation) The lower part of the front of an aircraft, below the nose.
   In the cleft of the aircraft's chin is a small turret for a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) "eyeball" that will enable MH-47E pilots to see clearly in complete darkness […] 1990, Army, volume 40
   Lockheed Martin's system is mounted behind a transparent, low-observable window blended into the aircraft's chin. 2001, Aviation Week & Space Technology
7. The bottom part of a mobile phone, below the screen.

verb

1. (slang, dated, intransitive) To talk.
   “I reckon you can explain, Mrs. Peabody.” […] “An’ I reckon that newcomer you’ve been chinning with could explain if he had a mind to.” 1912, Jack London, chapter 5, in Smoke Bellew, New York: Grosset & Dunlap, page 141
   This little chore involved getting up at 3 A.M., working about two hours, then sitting around chinning and drinking coffee with the radio operators until too late to go back to sleep. 1944, Ernie Pyle, chapter 1, in Brave Men, New York: Henry Holt, page 3
2. (slang, dated, transitive) To talk to or with (someone).
   Been up chinning your sporting editor, Ragsy Hurd. […] 1911, Henry Sydnor Harrison, chapter 7, in Queed, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, page 85
   What do you suppose that Seagreave’s chinning Hughie about[?] 1912, Nancy Mann Waddel Woodrow, chapter 12, in The Black Pearl, New York: Appleton, page 239
3. (reflexive, intransitive) To perform a chin-up (exercise in which one lifts one's own weight while hanging from a bar).
   It is worth noting that on the eighth day he was strong enough to “chin” himself six times in succession, though previous to the fasting treatment he had never in his life been able to do this more than once or twice. 1913, Upton Sinclair, The Fasting Cure, New York: Mitchell Kennerley, page 34
   A description of the cour would be incomplete without an enumeration of the manifold duties of the planton in charge, which were as follows: to prevent the men from using the horizontal bar, except for chinning, since if you swung yourself upon it you could look over the wall into the women’s cour […] 1922, E. E. Cummings, chapter 4, in The Enormous Room, New York: Modern Library, published 1949, page 80
   The Englishmen had also been lifting weights and chinning themselves for years. Their bellies were like washboards. The muscles of their calves and upper arms were like cannonballs. 1969, Kurt Vonnegut, chapter 5, in Slaughterhouse-Five, New York: Dial, published 2005, page 119
   You can grunt and curse to your heart’s content but you cannot swing your body when chinning. 1986, Martin Cohen, The Marine Corps 3X Fitness Program, Boston: Little, Brown, Part 3, p. 75
4. (chiefly UK, transitive) To punch or hit (someone)'s chin (part of the body).
   He told me once that he used to be scared to death every time he started in a hard game for fear he’d get badly injured. Said it wasn’t until someone had jabbed him in the nose or ‘chinned’ him that he forgot to be scared. 1915, Ralph Henry Barbour, chapter 14, in Left Tackle Thayer, New York: Dodd, Mead, pages 183–184
   ‘I’m in trouble, I hit a policeman—chinned him. He was messin’ me about, pushin’ me around on the pavement, so I chinned him, didn’t I? […]’ 1966, Nell Dunn, “OUT with the Boys”, in Up the Junction, Philadelphia: Lippincott, page 88
5. (transitive) To put or hold (a musical instrument) up to one's chin.
   Conspicuous in the front rank of “the music” was Joe Lippett, chinning his fife […] 1849 September, Alfred Billings Street, “General Training”, in Graham’s American Monthly Magazine of Literature and Art, volume 35, number 3, page 137
   A comical fellow hopped down from a stump and chinned his fiddle while Prince Chang stared. 1925, Arthur Bowie Chrisman, “Four Generals”, in Shen of the Sea: Chinese Stories for Children, New York: E.P. Dutton, published 1968, page 82
   Jimmy sat down at the piano, and the scientist tuned, then chinned the violin. 1951, Gene Fowler, chapter 16, in Schnozzola: The Story of Jimmy Durante, New York: Viking, page 173
6. (transitive) To turn on or operate (a device) using one's chin; to select (a particular setting) using one's chin.
   I was too tired to argue; I chinned the valve three or four times, felt a blast blistering my face. 1958, Robert Heinlein, chapter 8, in Have Space Suit—Will Travel, New York: Del Rey, page 160
   I landed kind of sloppily on hands and knees and chinned the squad frequency. “First squad sound off!” 1985, Joe Haldeman, “You Can Never Go Back”, in Dealing in Futures, New York: Viking, page 154
7. (transitive) To put one's chin on (something).
   […] she elbowed the table and chinned her hand. 1977, Ian Wallace, chapter 26, in The Sign of the Mute Medusa, New York: Popular Library, page 243
   1994, Garry Disher, Crosskill, St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin, Chapter 7, p. 35, He chinned the alley fence and looked both ways along it.
8. (transitive) To indicate or point toward (someone or something) with one's chin.
   But you don’t love him, said Madame Sonia with understanding. Do you love this one? Madame Sonia chinned the American. 2004, Han Ong, The Disinherited, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Part 4, Chapter 4, p. 239

Etymology 2

Shortening of chinchilla.

noun

1. (informal) A chinchilla.