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# chine

noun (a chine, chines); verb (chine, chines, chined, chining — cooking)

«chine» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. The backbone of an animal, or a joint of meat that includes part of the backbone. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chine/#m1)
2. A narrow ridge of land or a mountain ridge. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chine/#m2)
3. (UK, regional) A deep, narrow ravine cut by a stream through soft cliffs to the sea, especially on the Isle of Wight and in Dorset and Hampshire. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chine/#m3)
4. (cooking, verb) To cut through the backbone of a joint of meat to make it easier to carve. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chine/#m4)

### In the lessons

It is a rare word. In geography it appears in names of places on the south coast of England like Blackgang Chine and Shanklin Chine. In cooking books a butcher may «chine» a rack of lamb. It tells the reader about a backbone or a steep narrow valley.

### Examples

- We walked down Shanklin Chine to the beach on the Isle of Wight. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chine/#x1)
- The butcher chined the pork so it was easy to carve. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chine/#x2)
- A chine is a steep ravine cut into a soft cliff. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chine/#x3)
- The stream had carved a deep chine through the sandstone. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chine/#x4)
- The chef asked for a chine of beef. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chine/#x5)
- Bournemouth has several chines leading to the sea. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chine/#x6)

### Note

Countable: a chine, chines. Say «chyne» (rhymes with fine). Not connected with the country China. Rare in everyday speech outside cooking and southern English place names.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «chine» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/chine/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«chine» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/chine.html) on Mova free.