▪ I. dint, n.
(dɪnt)
Forms: 1 dynt, 2–4 dunt (-y-), 4–6 dynt(e, 6 dinte, 3– dint.
[OE. dynt, cogn. with ON. dyntr, dyttr in same sense; cf. Sw. dial. dunt. Not recorded in the other Teut. langs. See also dent n.1 and dunt. Sense 3 is manifestly influenced by indent and its family.]
† 1. A stroke or blow; esp. one given with a weapon in fighting, etc.; = dent n.1 1. Obs. or blending with 3.
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. xlv. 338 Ac ondræden him ðone dynt swæ neah, ða þe noht to gode ne doð. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. John xviii. 22 An..ðara ðeᵹna salde dynt mið honde uutearde ðæm hælende. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 153 Þe duntes boð uuel to kepen. c 1200 Orm. 4290 Þurrh Adamess gilltes dinnt Wass all mannkinn þurrhwundedd. a 1225 Ancr. R. 60 Sweordes dunt is adunriht..vor sweord..ȝifð deaðes dunt. a 1300 Cursor M. 20990 Hefdid he was wit dint o suord. c 1320 Cast. Love 1161 Such beo þe duntes of batayle. c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 514, I sall dyntis deill, quhill ane of vs be deid. 1555 Abp. Parker Ps. lxxxix, Thou hast whole stynt hys weapons dynt. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 576 With dint of Sword, or pointed Spears. 1791 Cowper Iliad xvii. 676 From the dint Shield me of dart and spear. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. III i. i. (1848) 16 The dints and bruises of outward battle. |
b. The stroke of thunder; = dent n.1 1 b.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus v. 1505 How Cappaneus þe proude with þonder dynt was slayn. c 1386 ― Wife's Prol. 276 With wilde thonder dynt and firy leuene Moote thy welked nekke be to-broke. 1600 Fairfax Tasso xi. xxxi. 201 Like thunders dint or lightnings new. 1808 Scott Marm. i. xxiii, The Mount, where Israel heard the law 'Mid thunder-dint, and flashing levin. |
2. The dealing of blows; hence, force of attack, assault, or impact (lit. and fig.); violence, force, attack, impression. Now rare exc. as in c.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 70 If he wild it wynne with dynt, als duke hardie. 1513 Douglas æneis ii. x. 63 The auld waiklie but force or dynt A dart did cast. 1530 Lyndesay Test. Papyngo 355 Quho clymith moist heych moist dynt hes of the wedder. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Nov. 104 Such pleasaunce now displast by dolors dint. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. iii. ii. 198, I perceiue, you feele The dint of pitty. 1687 Dryden Hind & P. iii. 200 But dint of argument is out of place. 1748 J. Mason Elocut. 7 Mechanical Minds..affected with mere Dint of Sound and Noise. 1770 Goldsm. Misc. Wks. (1837) III. 420 He had gone as far..as the mere dint of parts and application could go. 1845 R. W. Hamilton Pop. Educ. vi. 126 (ed. 2). Their soul gathered all dint and courage. |
† b. phr. by dint of sword: by attack with weapons of war; by force of arms. Obs.
Ranging from the literal sense as in 1, to the vague use in c.
| a 1330 Roland & V. 10 Alle the londes that were in Spayne, With dint Of swerd wan Charlmain. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xvii. 330 (Add. MS.) The sones..goten mekell good by dynte of swerd. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. III. 1178/1 With the dint of sword The hand of bondage brast. 1602 Dekker Satiromastix Wks. 1873 I. 242 You have put all Poetrie to the dint of sword. 1663 Butler Hud. i. ii. 248 He..by his Skill No less than Dint of Sword, cou'd kill. 1728 Morgan Algiers II. iv. 262 Even now they [Turks] maintain what they have by mere Dint of Sabre. |
c. Hence by (the) dint of: by force of; by means of (with implication of vigour or persistence in the application of the means). (The current idiom.)
| [1597 see dent n.1 3.] |
| 1664 Butler Hud. ii. iii. 291 Chace evil spirits away by dint Of Cickle, Horse-shoe, Hollow-flint. 1685 Cotton tr. Montaigne (1877) I. 36 Subdued by..dint of valour. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 411 ¶7 Pleasures of the Fancy..which are worked out by Dint of Thinking. 1764 Goldsm. Hist. Eng. (1772) II. 102 Tallard..had risen by the dint of merit alone. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. (1815) 159 By dint of cross-examination, I found he was not at all satisfied. 1826 Scott Jrnl. 25 Dec., By dint of abstinence..I passed a better night. 1871 L. Stephen Playgr. Europe ii. (1894) 65 Schiller endeavours to give the local colour..by dint of inserting little bits of guide-book information. 1878 Browning La Saisiaz 29 We..Earned, by dint of failure, triumph. |
† d. under, within (etc.) the dint of: exposed to, or within the reach or range of assault of. Cf. dent n.1 2 b. Obs.
| 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. II. 23/2 Sparing none that came under their dint. 1627–77 Feltham Resolves ii. lvi. 275 He that comes within the dint on't [noysom breath] dies. 1640 A. Harsnet God's Summ. 383 We shall be out of the Dint of many a Tentation. a 1734 North Exam. i. iii. §71 (1740) 175 Standing in the Dint of an Air, that was..sure to blast him. |
3. A mark or impression made by a blow or by pressure, in a hard or plastic surface; an indentation; = dent n.1 4. (Also fig.)
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. i. 1 Ycladd in mightie armes and silver shielde, Wherein old dints of deepe woundes did remaine. 1612 Brinsley Lud. Lit. 47 The very little ones..may make some secret markes..with some little dint with their naile. 1657 Austen Fruit Trees i. 46 Make the cut smooth and even..without dints or ridges. 1700 Dryden Fables, Pygmalion 32 Afraid His hands had made a dint. 1818 Byron Mazeppa 17 Nor dint of hoof, nor print of foot, Lay in the wild luxuriant soil. 1847 S. Wilberforce in Life & Lett. I. 402 The single opportunity of making..a dint in a character. 1856 Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh ii. 927 Beside her bed Whose pillow had no dint. |
▪ II. dint, v.
(dɪnt)
[ME. dynt-, dünt-, dint-en, f. dint n. Not recorded in OE.; cf. Icel. dynta to dent, Sw. dial. dunta to strike, shake; and see also dent v. and dunt.]
† 1. trans. To strike, beat, knock. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 4302 (Cott.) To bi dint of his mangonele. c 1300 Havelok 2448 He [pl.]..dunten him, so man doth bere, And keste him on a scabbed mere. a 1400 Leg. Rood (1871) 138 Wiþ sharpe nayles dunted and driue. 1596 Spenser F.Q. vi. x. 31 His wounds worker, that with lovely dart Dinting his brest had bred his restlesse paine. a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Poems Wks. (1711) 50/2 Ye, who with gawdy wings and bodies light Do dint the air. |
† b. intr. or absol. Obs.
| c 1460 Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 234 In alle this warld..Is none so doughty as I, the best, Doughtely dyntand on mule and on stede. |
† 2. intr. To make a dint or impression in something; = dent v. 4. Obs. rare.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. lxxiv. (1495) 648 Yf the fynger dynteth in therto and finde it neshe. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. viii. 8 The ydle stroke..So deepely dinted in the driven clay, That three yardes deepe a furrow up did throw. |
3. trans. To mark or impress with dints; to make a dint or dints in.
| 1597 Bp. Hall Sat. i. ix, Let your floor with horned satyrs hoofs Be dinted and defiled every morn. 1639 Fuller Holy War iv. i. (1647) 167 This Emperour's heart was..furrowed, dinted, and hollowed at last. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. i. xlix, Wide scattered hoof-marks dint the wounded ground. 1851 Longfellow Gold. Leg. iii. (Street in Strasburg), He dints With his impatient hoofs the flints. |
b. To impress or drive in with force.
| 1631 T. Powell Tom All Trades 142 The scars which my unthriftines hath dinted upon their fortunes. 1826 J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. Wks. 1855 I. 232 ‘Dinna dint the pint o' your crutch into my instep, Mr. North.’ 1855 Tennyson Maud i. ii, A body was found..Mangled, and flatten'd, and crush'd, and dinted into the ground. |
† 4. To take the sharp edge off; to reduce the acrimony of (corrosive liquids). Obs.
| 1669 W. Simpson Hydrol. Chym. 27 Those corrosive fretting, pontick, and acid juyces..are I say dinted, softned and sweetned. Ibid. 101 The waters of the spaw may..help to dint the acrimony. |
Hence ˈdinted, ˈdinting ppl. adjs.
| 1566 Drant Horace' Sat. viii. E v b, When he with dyntyng axe is hewed rounde aboute. 1579 Poor Knt.'s Pallace, No feare of dinting death. 1596 Spenser F.Q. (J.), They do impress Deep dinted furrows in the batter'd mails. 1697 Dryden æneid (J.), Deep dinted wrinkles on her cheeks she draws. 1808 Scott Marm. vi. xxviii, With dinted shield, and helmet beat. a 1881 Rossetti Rose Mary iii. 142 On either hand There hung a dinted helm and brand. |