a coin of the US and Canada worth ten cents see also five-and-dime, nickel-and-dimeTopics Moneyc1(美國、加拿大的)十分硬幣,十分錢 Word Originlate Middle English: from Old French disme, from Latin decima pars ‘tenth part’. The word originally denoted a tithe or tenth part; the modern sense ‘ten cent coin’ dates from the late 18th cent.
Idioms
a dime a dozen (North American English)
(British English two/ten a penny)
very common and therefore not valuable 普通得不值錢;(因常見而)價值低
drop a/the dime on somebody
- (North American English, informal)
to tell the police or people in authority that somebody has done something wrong 一角錢:告訴警察或權威人士有人做錯了事 If he finds out who dropped the dime on him, they're in trouble. 如果他發現是誰給了他一分錢,他們就有麻煩了。 I'm worried if I drop a dime on this guy, he'll get fired, which I don't think he really deserves. 我擔心如果我在這個家夥身上花一毛錢,他會被解僱,我認爲他真的不值得。