shim

[shim] /ʃɪm/
noun
1.
a thin slip or wedge of metal, wood, etc., for driving into crevices, as between machine parts to compensate for wear, or beneath bedplates, large stones, etc., to level them.
verb (used with object), shimmed, shimming.
2.
to fill out or bring to a level by inserting a shim or shims.
Origin
1715-25; origin uncertain
Examples from the web for shim
  • Perform field measurements to verify existing conditions, fastener sizes and required shim thicknesses.
  • Gently tap the shim into the space between the joist and subfloor.
  • shim packs are the flexible part of the coupling connecting axial flow compressors and motors.
British Dictionary definitions for shim

shim

/ʃɪm/
noun
1.
a thin packing strip or washer often used with a number of similar washers or strips to adjust a clearance for gears, etc
2.
(physics) a thin strip of magnetic material, such as soft iron, used to adjust a magnetic field
verb shims, shimming, shimmed
3.
(transitive) to modify a load, clearance, or magnetic field by the use of shims
Word Origin
C18: origin unknown
Word Origin and History for shim
n.

1723, a Kentish word of unknown origin. Originally a piece of iron fitted to a plow for scraping soil; meaning "thin slip of wood to fill up a space or raise a level" is from 1860.

v.

"to wedge up a surface by means of a shim," 1877, from shim (n.). Related: Shimmed; shimming.

Slang definitions & phrases for shim

shim

noun

A person not appreciative of rock and roll; clyde (1950s+ Rock and roll)


shim in Technology
jargon, memory management
A small piece of data inserted in order to achieve a desired memory alignment or other addressing property.
For example, the PDP-11 Unix linker, in split I&D (instructions and data) mode, inserts a two-byte shim at location 0 in data space so that no data object will have an address of 0 (and be confused with the C null pointer).
See also loose bytes.
[Jargon File]
(1994-12-21)