Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US, also tie a tin can to) to throw out, to chase away; to dismiss from a job.

1895		Cincinnati Enquirer (OH) 3 Nov. 1/4: ‘If he had any sense he would be ashamed to show his face among reputable sporting people. If he is not tin-canned out of the business, I will be greatly surprised’.
1901		Star Press (Muncie, IN) 2 Dec. 10/3: The whole bunch [of ‘almond-eyed individuals’] should be tin-canned out of the country.
1909		Dly Republican (Monongahela, PA) 6 May 2/6: ‘A quack [...] ought to be tin-canned out of town and dropped out of existence’.
1912		Jennings Dly Times-Record (LA) 1 May 3/3: Dolly Gray, who was tin-canned out of Washington by Manager Griffith [etc].
1912		C. Mathewson Pitching in a Pinch 216: ‘Say, Steve,’ said ‘Mac’ that night, why did n’t you come, when I called you out on the field there, this afternoon?’ ‘Because I could hear the rattle of the tin can you wanted to tie me to’.
1926		Tampa Trib. (FL) 21 Feb. H1/4: Buck Weaver and Swede Risberg [...] were tin-canned out of organised baseball after the White Sox scandal.
1939		Muncie Eve. Press (IN) 3 July 9/3: They ought to be tin-canned out of town.
1945		Baltimore Sun (MD) 5 Aug. 20/1: A close and argumentative play that found Manager Burleigh grimes being tin-canned out of the pastime.
1960		Miami News (FL) 3 July Florida Living 7/2: He saw his father ‘tin-canned’ out of Fort Smith.

2. (US) of a horse, to move fast.

1901		S.F. Call 9 May 4/1: With Henry Shields on his back he [ i.e. a horse] tin-canned in front almost to the wire.
1907		Wash. Post (DC) 19 Oct. 9/1: Uncle, a prohibitative favorite [...] just tin-canned out in front from start to finish.
1919		Cincinnati Enquirer (OH) 23 Sept. 14/2: The colt got a ‘bust’ at the barrier and tin-canned out two or three lengths in front of the nearest competitor.

3. (US Und.) to cheat, to deceive.

1903		Cincinnati Enquirer (OH) 17 Oct. 13/6: An owner of jumpers [...] told me how he got tin-canned out of the ringer killing of his life on one of the Chicago tracks.
1928		Phila. Eve. Bulletin 5 Oct. 40/5: Here are a few more terms and definitions from the ‘Racket’ vocabulary: [...] ‘tincan,’ to deceive, to ‘lay down.’.

4. (US) to retreat, to run away; to avoid a duty.

1904		Phila. Inquirer (PA) 22 May Pt II 3/5–6: ‘Tin-canning’ goes for the getaway. So, in a report of a prize-fight [...] when one of the gentlemen runs around the ring in an effort to escape the reach of the other gentleman, the smart reporter must chronicle: ‘The boiler maker “tin canned” but the former bank clerk was wise to the play and apprehended him.’.
1908		N.Y. Eve. Journal 25 Apr. in Fleming Unforgettable Season (1981) 52: He turned tail and tin-canned so fast for the outer bulwark.
1923		H.C. Witwer Fighting Blood 349: I tincanned around the ring from then on to the bell.
1930		R.E. Howard ‘Winner Take All’ Fight Stories 🌐 I don’t mean he tin-canned and rode his bicycle, like some prominent fighters I could mention.
1938		A.J. Liebling Back Where I Came From (1990) 35: Tincanning a mile in front of the field and without a challenger in sight.
1951		C. Stoker Thicker ’n Thieves 283: Today’s young officers have learned from our ordeal; and when the next scandal appears on the horizon, many of them will tin can it and will refuse to do their duty h [...] because of the fear of executive reprisals.