dime's worth
English
Etymology
Derived from not worth a dime.
Pronunciation
Audio (AU) (file)
Noun
dime's worth (uncountable)
- (idiomatic) An insignificant amount
- Why is he here? Nothing will change. At best, he'll make a dime's worth of difference.
- 1941, L.H. Robbins, The New York Times:
- But why, he asks, should a similarly rapt and adoring crowd bank up before a lighted wall niche containing nothing but a dime's worth of daffodils and a couple of sprays of forsythia in a blue dish?
Usage notes
- Other short names of small denominations of currency, usually coins, can be substituted for dime, such as nickel, penny, farthing, shilling.
- One sometimes substitutes for a and occasionally small numbers, such as two.