Ch'in

noun

the Chinese dynasty (from 246 BC to 206 BC) that established the first centralized imperial government and built much of the Great Wall

• Syn: ↑Qin, ↑Qin dynasty, ↑Ch'in dynasty

• Hypernyms: ↑dynasty

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/chin/; Chin. /cheen/, n.

a Chinese zither consisting of an oblong, slightly curved wooden box over which are stretched strings that are stopped with one hand and plucked with the other.

[ < Chin (Wade-Giles) ch'in², (Pinyin) qín]

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variant spelling of Qin