1
a
: a coin of the U.S. worth ¹/₁₀ dollar
b
: a petty sum of money
2
: a Canadian 10-cent piece
3
slang
: a packet containing 10 dollars worth of an illicit drug (such as marijuana)
called also dime bag
4
informal
: money provided to pay expenses
Executives in a perk-rich environment get used to living on the company's dime [=on the company's money; at the company's expense]—
James Surowiecki
James SurowieckiThey hopped a Greyhound, on their own dime, and had such a good time they stayed on …—Mark Ribowsky
Mark RibowskyThe boys are worthless, feckless layabouts, living off David's dime.—Whitney Pastorek
Whitney Pastorek5
informal
a
basketball
: a pass by a player who enables a teammate to make a basket
Harden ended up recording his first triple-double of the season with 44 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. He delivered seven dimes to Capela …—Tim MacMahon
—often used with dropTim MacMahonNot only was he scoring in the post and grabbing rebounds, he also was dropping dimes [=making passes to enable teammates to score] including a flashy pass to Chance Coyle.—Hendrix Magley
Hendrix Magley
b
American football
: an accurate pass by a quarterback to a receiver
—often used with drop
He spun out of sacks and threw on the run, dropping dimes down the field that few quarterbacks in history could be trusted to deliver.—Ryan Kartje
Ryan KartjeSynonyms
Examples of dime in a Sentence
the beauty of this deal is that all the extras won't cost you a dime
Recent Examples on the Web
Glenn then attended the 2012 Senior Bowl and NFL Combine on his own dime.
—Antwan Staley, New York Daily News, 16 Jan. 2025
Due to Dean’s heavy workload in the other regular-season games, plus his exclusion from dime packages, there isn’t a large enough pool of plays to exclude the Cowboys and Giants games and predict further efficiency.
—Brooks Kubena, The Athletic, 15 Jan. 2025
Trump has been criticized for bringing Secret Service agents to stay, on the government dime, at his resorts and golf clubs.
—Nick Penzenstadler, USA TODAY, 10 Jan. 2025
Mathis has been a core special teams player and as the season’s gone along he’s also played some in dime packages and in a time-share duty with rookie Kris Abrams-Draine while starter Riley Moss was out.
—Parker Gabriel, The Denver Post, 9 Jan. 2025
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Antwan Staley, New York Daily News, 16 Jan. 2025
Due to Dean’s heavy workload in the other regular-season games, plus his exclusion from dime packages, there isn’t a large enough pool of plays to exclude the Cowboys and Giants games and predict further efficiency.
—Brooks Kubena, The Athletic, 15 Jan. 2025
Trump has been criticized for bringing Secret Service agents to stay, on the government dime, at his resorts and golf clubs.
—Nick Penzenstadler, USA TODAY, 10 Jan. 2025
Mathis has been a core special teams player and as the season’s gone along he’s also played some in dime packages and in a time-share duty with rookie Kris Abrams-Draine while starter Riley Moss was out.
—Parker Gabriel, The Denver Post, 9 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for dime
Dictionary Entries Near dime
Cite this Entry
“Dime.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dime. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.
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