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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

shiner en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • shīn'ə r
  • /ˈʃaɪnə(ɹ)/
  • (Australia) audio

Etymology

From Middle English schyner, equivalent to shine + -er. Compare Old English sċīnere (“one who produces deceptive appearances, magician”).

Meanings

  1. One who shines; a luminary.
  2. One who causes things to shine; a polisher.
  3. (colloquial) A black eye.
  4. (colloquial) Raccoon eyes.
  5. (dated, slang) A bright piece of money, especially a sovereign.
    • She may be generally found in the fore part of the day at her lodgings above mentioned, where a brace of shiners will ensure you the possession of charms above their value, cent per cent. 1789, Harris's List of Covent-Garden Ladies, London: H. Ranger, page 30:
    • Has she the shiners, d'ye think? 1776, Samuel Foote, The Capuchin:
  6. Any of numerous species of small freshwater American cyprinoid fishes of Notropis, Lythrurus, and allied genera, such as the redfin.
  7. Any silvery fish, such as the horsefish, menhaden, or moonfish.
  8. A common silverfish (Lepisma saccharinum, or any member of genus Lepisma.
  9. (slang) A moonshiner.
  10. A small reflective surface used for cheating at card games.
    • Fargo wasn't sure what difference it made if one gambler passed something to another, unless it was to be used in cheating, a shiner maybe. But nobody at that table would let a shiner pass. 2003, Jon Sharpe, Trailsman #258: Casino Carnage:
  11. A bottle of finished wine, without a label.
    • Shiners are a big part of the wine business. […] Shiners are finished, bottled wines that don’t have a label or typically any other identifying feature until a vintner purchases them and then places a label on the bottles. […] They’re called shiners because they are unlabeled and have a “shiny” appearance. 2008, James Laube, “Shiners Are a Secret Part of the Wine Business”, in Wine Spectator:
  12. A brick that is laid on its tallest, thinnest side, with its largest face facing the outside of the wall (oriented so that this face is wider than it is tall).

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
shiners Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

eastern shiner · red-striped shiner · swallowtail shiner · blackchin shiner · sharpnose shiner · silverband shiner · common shiner · scarlet shiner · redside shiner · red shiner · palezone shiner · shiner perch · comely shiner · spottail shiner · beautiful shiner · Kiamichi shiner · Tennessee shiner · blacknose shiner · golden shiner · redlip shiner · highscale shiner · rosefin shiner · bigmouth shiner · blueside shiner · emerald shiner · bridle shiner · carmine shiner · flagfin shiner · finescale shiner · sand shiner · shoeshiner · bigeye shiner · phantom shiner · satinfin shiner · blacktail shiner

Synonyms

convex