chins

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of chin.

   The portrait playfully exaggerated their double chins.

   Cold weather made the swimmers tuck their chins into their scarves.

   Note

   Most of the noun's meanings take this plural freely: double chins, the chins of several aircraft below their noses, even upper-class people in British slang. The boxer's chin is the exception. A fighter's ability to take a punch on the jaw is uncountable, so two fighters each have a good chin, not good chins. Keep the plural for faces, aircraft and people.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of chin.

   He chins himself effortlessly at the end of every workout.

   Each gymnast chins the bar before beginning the routine.

   Note

   One spelling has to carry very different verbs. At the gym the verb is reflexive or stands alone: he chins himself, she chins ten times. With an object it can mean landing a punch on someone, in UK usage, or raising an instrument to the jaw (she chins her violin). The sense of chatting is dated slang. In writing, the rest of the sentence is what separates it from the noun plural.

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