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tanner

1 American  
[tan-er] / ˈtæn ər /

noun

  1. a person whose occupation it is to tan hides.

tanner 2 American  
[tan-er] / ˈtæn ər /

adjective

  1. comparative of tan.

tanner 3 American  
[tan-er] / ˈtæn ər /

noun

  1. British Slang. a sixpenny piece.

Tanner 4 American  
[tan-er] / ˈtæn ər /

noun

  1. Henry Ossawa 1859–1937, U.S. painter, in France after 1891.

tanner 1 British  
/ ˈtænə /

noun

  1. a person who tans skins and hides

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
tanner 2 British  
/ ˈtænə /

noun

  1. (formerly) an informal word for sixpence

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of tanner1

First recorded before 1000; Middle English tanner(e), tannour, late Old English tannere; see origin at tan 1, -er 1

Origin of tanner3

First recorded in 1805–15; origin uncertain

Vocabulary lists containing tanner

"Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts"

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Vocabulary from Readings 1, Unit 2

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

She told her hospital consultant, who asked where she had bought the tanner and what was in it.

From BBC • Mar. 7, 2025

Bong has given the leader TV aspirations; the makeup team has given him orange tanner.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 7, 2025

But instead of working as a tanner, he decided to become a leather tailor, and in 1985 he opened his store and workshop, Leder Bensmann.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 14, 2023

He was also tanner and had shaved his head.

From Slate • Feb. 25, 2023

The girls armed themselves with sticks and small rocks, curling irons and bottles of tanner.

From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.