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Noun
Francis’ patent drawing has a complete spoon bowl with tines appearing out the front.—James Stout, Outside, 29 Mar. 2026 Use a rake with short straight tines to pull up thatch from small areas.—Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 7 Mar. 2026 Dock the bottom of the crust, piercing it a few times with the tines of a fork.—Monti Carlo, AJC.com, 27 Feb. 2026 This is accomplished manually with a special thatch rake that features sharp, curved tines.—Bestreviews, Mercury News, 24 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for tine
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English tind, from Old English; akin to Old High German zint point, tine
Verb
Middle English, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse tȳna to lose, destroy, tjōn injury, loss — more at teen entry 2
First Known Use
Noun
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1