Definition of chine

• n. - A chink or cleft; a narrow and deep ravine; as, Shanklin Chine in the Isle of Wight, a quarter of a mile long and 230 feet deep.
• n. - The backbone or spine of an animal; the back.
• n. - A piece of the backbone of an animal, with the adjoining parts, cut for cooking. [See Illust. of Beef.]
• n. - The edge or rim of a cask, etc., formed by the projecting ends of the staves; the chamfered end of a stave.
• v. t. - To cut through the backbone of; to cut into chine pieces.
• v. t. - Too chamfer the ends of a stave and form the chine..