Word.ws English Dictionary

shinplaster

shinplaster noun: an essentially worthless note of paper money.

shinplaster: an essentially worthless note of paper money
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Noun

shinplaster (plural shinplasters)

  1. (Australia, New Zealand, US, historical, informal) An essentially worthless note of paper money.
  2. (Canada, historical, informal) A 25¢ banknote.

Forms of shinplaster

pluralshinplasters

Origin of shinplaster

From shin + plaster. Probably coined during the American War of Independence (1775–1783). Named for its resemblance to, and suitability for makeshift use as, a bandage for dressing the shin.

Questions about shinplaster

What does shinplaster mean?
Shinplaster means an essentially worthless note of paper money.
What part of speech is shinplaster?
Shinplaster is a noun.
What is the plural of shinplaster?
The plural of shinplaster is shinplasters.

Words near shinplaster in the dictionary

  1. shinogi
  2. Shinola
  3. shinpad
  4. shinpads
  5. Shinpei
  6. shinplaster
  7. shinplasters
  8. shinplate
  9. shinplates
  10. shinrimei
  11. shinrimei radish

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: shinplaster (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “shinplaster.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/shinplaster. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.