A loss or tearing of paper from the back of a stamp, although not sufficient to create a complete hole.
"The philatelist gently probed the vintage stamp's perforation to check if it had suffered from thinning before attempting to separate the pieces."
"The soup was too thin, so I added more cream to give it some body."
lose thickness; become thin or thinner
"After months of strict dieting, she watched her waistline gradually thin out until it looked almost skeletal."
To make thin or thinner.
"She used a knife to trim and thin the steak before cooking it."
In plain English: To thin something means to make it less dense by removing parts of it.
"He decided to thin out the crowd by asking some people to leave early."
of relatively small extent from one surface to the opposite or in cross section
"thin wire"
"a thin chiffon blouse"
"a thin book"
"a thin layer of paint"
relatively thin in consistency or low in density; not viscous
"air is thin at high altitudes"
"a thin soup"
"skimmed milk is much thinner than whole milk"
"thin oil"
Having little thickness or extent from one surface to its opposite.
"The slice of bread was so thin that you could see the light through it."
In plain English: Thin means having very little fat, flesh, or material between two surfaces.
Usage: Use thin to describe objects with very small width, depth, or distance between surfaces, such as paper or ice. Distinguish it from slender when referring specifically to the narrowness of long items like fingers or trees rather than their overall bulk.
Not thickly or closely; in a scattered state.
"The crowd thinned out as most people left for dinner, leaving only a few stragglers behind."
In plain English: Thinly means doing something with very little amount or intensity.
"She spoke too thin to be understood clearly."
The word "thin" comes from the Old English þynne, which originally meant to be stretched or spread out. Over time, this sense of stretching evolved into our modern meaning of having little width or thickness.