tine

/taɪn/

tine noun: a spike or point on an implement or tool, especially a prong of a fork or a tooth of a comb.

Image: Jeuwre, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

tine (plural tines)

A spike or point on an implement or tool, especially a prong of a fork or a tooth of a comb.
- The tines of the fork were quite evidently of iron or steel, the girl did not know which, while the handle and the spoon were of the same material as the smaller vessels.1920, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan the Untamed
- Sitting at the table one day, I held the fork in my left hand and pierced a piece of fried chicken. I put the knife through the second tine, as we had been strictly taught, and began to saw against the bone.1969, Maya Angelou, chapter 9, in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, New York: Bantam, published 1971, pages 45–46
A small branch, especially on an antler or horn.
- “I answer not the challenge of my prisoner,” said Front-de-Bœuf; “nor shalt thou, Maurice de Bracy.—Giles,” he continued, “hang the franklin’s glove upon the tine of yonder branched antlers:[…]1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter XXVII, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst...
- “By my faith, sirs,” he continued, half turning in his saddle to address his escort, “unless my woodcraft is sadly at fault, it is a stag of six tines and the finest that we have roused this journey.1891, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, The White Company, New York, N.Y.; Boston, Mass.: Thomas Y[oung] Crowell & Company […], →OCLC
(dialectal) A wild vetch or tare.

Adjective

tine (comparative tiner, superlative tinest)

small, diminutive

Noun (2)

tine

(obsolete) Trouble; distress; teen.
- As wither'd Weed through cruel Winter's Tine1590, Edmund Spenser, “(please specify the book)”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
- And now has brave Sir Thynnè,
  Escaped all sorrow and tine;
  Now sleeps she sweet full many a sleep,
  On brave Sir Thynnè's arm.1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 172

Verb (1)

tine (third-person singular simple present tines, present participle tining, simple past and past participle tined)

(obsolete) To kindle; to set on fire.
- Coals of contention and hot vengeance tin'd.1590, Edmund Spenser, “(please specify the book)”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
- The Air attrite to Fire, as late the Clouds / Juſtling or puſht with Winds rude in thir ſhock / Tine the ſlant Lightning, […]1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
(obsolete) To rage; to smart.
- Ne was there salve, ne was there medicine, / That mote recure their wounds; so inly they did tine.1590, Edmund Spenser, “(please specify the book)”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

Verb (2)

tine (third-person singular simple present tines, present participle tining, simple past and past participle tined)

(archaic) To shut in, or enclose.
- When I was then surrounded on every side by the fiends, and tined about by the blindness of the darkness, then hove I my eyes up and looked hither and yond, whether any help were to come to me, that I might be rescued; […]1852, Alfred the Great, translated by Alfred Committee, The Whole Works of King Alfred the Great, volume II, page 388
- “Terrible trying,” said Oak. “I’ve been wet through twice a-day, either in snow or rain, this last fortnight. Cainy and I haven’t tined our eyes to-night.”1874, Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC

Proper noun capitalized: Tine

Tine (plural Tines)

A surname.

tine meaning in Tamil

tine in Tamil

கோட்டுமுள், கவர்முளை, கரு, கவர்

Examples of tine in a sentence

The deal with four tines is called a pitchfork.
Use a thatch rake that has specially designed blades instead of normal tines.
One end had three long tines and the other had a revolving wheel with a toothed rim.

All 11 example sentences with tine

Forms of tine

Noun
plural	tines
Adjective
comparative	tiner
superlative	tinest
alternative form	tyne
Verb
third-person singular present	tines
present participle	tining
past participle	tined
past	tined
Proper noun
plural	Tines

Plural of tine: tines

Origin of tine

From Middle English tine, alteration of Middle English tinde, tind, from Old English tind, from Proto-West Germanic *tind, Proto-Germanic *tindaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃dénts (“tooth, peg”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Tiende, Tiene (“prong, tine”), German Zind, Zint (“prong”). Compare also the related English tind and German Zinne.

Unknown, possibly related to etymology 1.

See teen (“affliction”).

Words formed from tine

Phrases with tine

tine tests

Words that rhyme with tine

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about tine

What does tine mean?: Tine means a spike or point on an implement or tool, especially a prong of a fork or a tooth of a comb.
What is tine in Tamil?: Tine in Tamil is கோட்டுமுள், கவர்முளை, கரு. See Tine meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is tine?: Tine can be a noun, an adjective, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce tine?: Tine is pronounced /taɪn/.
What is the plural of tine?: The plural of tine is tines.

Words near tine in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: tine (page history and authors); Tine (page history and authors); tine (Tamil Wiktionary) (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-tine.wav.

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