Meaning & use
diming
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“diming” is a form of “dime”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitiveinformalslangAmerican
Present participle of dime in the slang sense: secretly informing authorities about someone, usually in the phrase dime someone out.
Grammar: Takes an object, often with out: diming him out.
Patterns
- dime someone out
He feared his partner was diming him out to the police.
Nobody trusted her after rumors of diming started.
Diming a friend can cost you the whole neighborhood's respect.
verbtransitive or intransitiveslangsport
Present participle of dime in sports slang: passing the ball so a teammate scores, giving an assist, in basketball.
Grammar: Often followed by a player or out: diming up a teammate.
Patterns
- dime up a teammate
The point guard kept diming up his teammates all night.
She's diming out assists like a veteran.
Diming the ball to a cutter is his specialty.
Common combinations
- diming someone out
- Stop diming people out to the boss.
- diming up a teammate
- He was diming up open shooters.
- accused of diming
- They accused him of diming.
- diming the ball
- She enjoys diming the ball in transition.
Synonyms and how they differ
- snitching
- Extremely close, but even more informal and often used among teenagers.
- informing
- A neutral, formal word for telling authorities.
- tipping off
- Means giving a warning or hint, not always secretly or to police.
- assisting
- In sports it is the plain word for diming.
Word family
Commonly confused: diming or timing?
diming vs timing
Timing is when something happens; diming is informing or assisting.
Practice
In the slang sense, 'diming him out' means ___.
Choose one answer.
To dime someone out is to inform on them. The other options are literal or invented readings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “diming”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.