a flat metal piece (usually a disc) used as money
"He dropped a shiny quarter onto the table to pay for his coffee."
Abbreviation of counterinsurgency.
"He pulled a quarter from his pocket to pay for the ice cream."
A piece of currency, usually metallic and in the shape of a disc, but sometimes polygonal, or with a hole in the middle.
In plain English: A coin is a small, round piece of metal used as money that you can hold in your hand and spend at stores.
"She dropped her silver coin into the pocket to buy candy later."
Usage: Use "coin" to refer specifically to physical currency like quarters or dimes rather than paper money or digital balances. As a verb, it means to create these specific pieces from raw metal, not the act of inventing an idea.
To make of a definite fineness, and convert into coins, as a mass of metal.
"The ancient minters coined the vast ingots of silver into circulating currency for the empire."
In plain English: To coin something means to invent and start using a new word for an idea that didn't have a name before.
"He decided to coin his own slang term for the new game."
A city in Iowa.
"Professor Coin published her groundbreaking research on medieval linguistics last week."
A surname, from French.
The word "coin" comes from the Old French term for a wedge or die used for stamping metal. This original meaning of a wedge traces back to the Latin word cuneus.