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tinfoil
noun
tin·foil
ˈtin-ˌfȯi(-ə)l
: a paper-thin metal sheeting usually of aluminum or tin-lead alloy
Examples of tinfoil in a Sentence
Wrap the leftover food in tinfoil.
Recent Examples on the Web
The supplies required are as simple as an empty cardboard tube with a tinfoil pinhole at one end and a piece of white paper at the other.
—Daniel Johnson, Discover Magazine, 14 Mar. 2024
The cat chases after the tinfoil ball and retrieves it back to the owner both times, carrying it in its mouth.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 14 Dec. 2023
Tent your loaf with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes.
Remove the tinfoil tent.
—Michelle Konstantinovsky, SELF, 27 Nov. 2023
The city’s streets were mostly quiet, with residents who hadn’t already left waiting for instructions and businesses closed down, save for a few restaurants supplying recently arrived soldiers with schnitzel, fish and pasta in tinfoil trays.
—WSJ, 21 Oct. 2023
Within months of the measure taking effect in February 2021, open-air drug use, long in the shadows, burst into full view, with people sitting in circles in parks or leaning against street signs, smoking fentanyl crushed on tinfoil.
—Jordan Gale Jan Hoffman, New York Times, 31 July 2023
As the driver got out of the truck, a small piece of tinfoil fell off him.
—cleveland, 6 Jan. 2023
If this all feels too much like a tinfoil hat even for college football’s sickest of the sick puppies constantly rooting for chaos in a broken system, then just know that various levels of insanity have always surrounded UAB football.
—Joseph Goodman | Jgoodman@al.com, al, 8 Aug. 2023
Meta’s step to make its algorithm more transparent, something both TikTok and Twitter have attempted, will hopefully dispel some of the tinfoil hat theories users might have about it.
—Kylie Robison, Fortune, 1 July 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tinfoil.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
14th century, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of tinfoil was
in the 14th century
Dictionary Entries Near tinfoil
Cite this Entry
“Tinfoil.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tinfoil. Accessed 12 Jun. 2024.
Kids Definition
tinfoil
noun
tin·foil
ˈtin-ˌfȯil
: a thin metal sheeting usually of aluminum or an alloy of tin and lead
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