tin can
Appearance
See also: tincan
English
[edit]Noun
[edit]- A container, usually cylindrical, made out of sheet metal coated with tin, or (by extension) aluminum.
- (nautical, slang) A destroyer.
- 2000, Donald F. Myers, Your War, My War: A Marine in Vietnam, →ISBN, page 305:
- As the tin can sailors started telling us what they thought of AKA sailors, which they said were inferior seamen habing to serve aboard an auxiliary vessel instead of a ship of the line;
- (slang) An inexpensive car.
- (slang) A motor home or trailer.
- 2007, Errol L. Sweetser, Quest for the Ridge: A Childhood Adventure, →ISBN, page 34:
- I was too late as bearing down the ribbon of no return was a huge tin can piloted by two women with hair blowing over the side windows.
- (science fiction, slang) A metal spaceship or space station.
- 1969, David Bowie (lyrics and music), “Space Oddity”:
- For here am I sitting in a tin can / Far above the world / Planet Earth is blue / And there's nothing I can do
Synonyms
[edit]Hypernyms
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]container
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References
[edit]- Jesse Sheidlower, editor (2001–2024), “tin can, n.”, in Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction.