▪ I. stint, n.1
(stɪnt)
Forms: α. 4–6 stynt, (5 styntt), 5–6 stynte, (6 styntte), 5–7 stinte, 4– stint. β. 4– stent.
[f. stint v.
In certain senses this n. seems to have coalesced with the etymologically unrelated stent n.1 Cf. the similar confusion noted under stint v.]
I. The action of the verb stint.
† 1. a. Cessation of action or motion, pause, stay. Phrase, to make a stint: to stop. withouten stint, but stint (Sc.): without stopping, unceasingly. Obs.
| α a 1300 Cursor M. 12977 Þat warlau him in armes hint, And bar him forth wit-vten stint. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 6815 Made þey neuere stynt ne stal Tyl þey come to þe Romayns wal. 1375 Barbour Bruce ii. 140 And syne, for-owtyn langir stynt, The horss he sadylt hastely. 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas vi. i. (1554) 144 b, Whan Fortune had said her wil..Made a stint, and sobrely stode still, Iohn Bochas sate & heard [etc.]. c 1470 Henry Wallace x. 286 Fra forgyt steyll the fyr flew out but stynt. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. Epitome A ij, As of Trees,..Birdes, Beastes, yea and Men, there is a degree in growing, a stint or staying, and a diminishing. 1594 Marlowe Dido iv. ii, And I will..drop out both mine eyes in drisling teares, Before my sorrowes tide haue any stint. 1613 Jackson Creed i. 19 True Christian beliefe admits no stint of growth in this life, but still comes nearer and nearer to that euidencie of knowledge. |
| β a 1300 Cursor M. 17700 And bi þe hand þan he me hent, And forth me broght, wit-vten stent. c 1400 Sc. Trojan War ii. 578 After þe forme of sacrament Swore in old tyme wy{supt}-outen stent. |
† b. Hunting. A check or stop in the running of hounds owing to the loss of the scent; chiefly in the phrases
to be on (a) stint,
to fall upon stint.
Obs.| c 1400 Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) i, The other rennyth goynge aboute and then abideth, wherfore the houndes ben þe ofter on stint. Ibid. xxxiii, It were goode to assigne somme of þe horsemen amonge þe relayes to helpe þe more redely þe houndes, if þei falle vpon stynte. Ibid., If so be þat þe houndes haue enboysed, or be ouershete, or þat þe be on a stynte be any oþer wyse, what hunter..þat perceueth it first, shulde blowe þe stynte. |
2. Limitation, restriction.
† a. with respect to mode of action.
Obs.| 1593 Nashe Christ's T. 47 Whereas God stinted him, what Trees and fruites he should eate on, and goe no further, hee [the Serpent] entist him to breake the bondes of that stint. 1610 Bp. Hall Apol. Brownists xxxvii. 93 If stinting our prayers be a fault..it is well that the Lords prayer it selfe beareth vs company... To denie that it may be vsed intirely in our Sauiours wordes, is..a fanaticall curiousnesse: yeelde one and all; for if the matter be more diuine, yet the stint is no lesse faulty. 1614 ― Contempl. II. vii. 318 It had beene as easie for the Angell to strike Balaam, as to stand in his way..: But euen the good Angels haue their stints, in their executions. 1633 Herbert Temple, Praise (No. 3) iv. 152 Angels must have their joy, Devils their rod, the sea his shore, The windes their stint. |
b. with reference to amount, quantity, or degree.
without stint: with no fixed limit of amount, unstintedly.
In this phrase the
n. now tends to be interpreted in sense 2 c.
| 1651 Hobbes Leviathan i. xvi. 82 Every man..owning all the actions the Representer doth, in case they give him Authority without stint. 1675 ― Odyss. (1677) 120 The gods do call it moly, And gather it, who have no stint of might. 1797 Burke Regic. Peace iii. Wks. 1808 VIII. 420 Its armies, its navies, are given to them without stint or restriction. 1844 Disraeli Coningsby vii. ii, Each poured forth his mind without stint. 1876 J. G. Holland Seven Oaks xix, His wife and children had money lavished on them without stint. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. II. ii. xlvii. 212 But in all Congress may exercise without stint its power to override the statutes passed by a Territorial legislature. |
c. Excessive restriction in the supply of anything,
esp. of the necessaries or comforts of life; the condition of being kept scantily supplied.
| 1820 Scott Fam. Lett. 26 July, It can never be my wish..that you should feel any stint. 1843 Lytton Last Bar. i. v, Of furniture there was a woeful stint. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola i. ix, He..to whom life had hitherto had some of the stint and subjection of a school. 1881 Emma R. Pitman Mission Life in Greece 285 There was no need for stint where supplies were always at hand. |
3. The putting a mare to the stallion.
Cf. stint v.
| 1764 Museum Rust. II. lxxix. 276 Inn-keepers, or jockeys, who can..by publishing a high premium for a stint, make the horse in their possession very famous. |
II. Limited or fixed amount.
4. a. An allotted amount or measure; a prescribed or customary portion; an allowance. Now
rare or
Obs. (
exc. as in b).
Cf. sense 7.
| α c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) ii. (Mary Magd.) 1807, I gyff yow be-syde yower styntt, Eche of yow a marke for yower wage. 1555 W. Watreman Fardle Facions i. vi. 84 Thei come to the Graues of their kyndreade, and there when they haue praied their stinte, laye them doune..to slepe. 1574 T. Newton Health Mag. D iij, So that the thyng it self be neither ouercharged with to much, nor yet debarred from that stinte and sufficiencie that is needefull. 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent 125 Fiue and twentie were continually to watche and warde within the Castell for their seuerall stintes of time. 1620 Shelton 2nd Pt. Don Quix. lix. 398 The Beasts hee carried to the Stable, and gaue them their stint. a 1623 Fletcher Love's Cure ii. i, Put me to a certain stint Sir, allow me but a red herring a day. 1633 Bp. Hall Hard Texts, O.T. 15, I will therefore set him a stint of yeares, before his common destruction. 1663 Pepys Diary 24 Dec., I hope before I go I shall set myself such a stint as I may not forget myself. 1690 Dryden Amphitryon ii. ii, Take back your sev'nty years, (the stint of Life). 1704 Swift T. Tub v. 122 Forty or fifty Pages of Preface and Dedication, (which is the usual Modern Stint). 1791 Cowper Odyss. viii. 477 Wisdom beyond the common stint I mark In this our guest. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas viii. v. (Rtldg.) 287 There was..a scanty breakfast set out,..I never knew what it was to exceed this stint during the day. |
| β 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys, Eliz. (Roxb.) 277 Thow she..Constreynyd wer to bedde yet in no degre Tyl hyr stent wer seruyd [sc. the omitted orisons were said] she ne wolde slepe. |
b. one's stint: an amount which one has resolved not to exceed.
| 1603–26 Breton Poste Mad Lett. (Grosart) 9/1 For aparell, I will keepe my stint, and care for no fond fashion. 1683 H. Savile Let. 3 May in M. Morrison Catal. Autographs (1892) VI. 80 There I lost last night my twenty guinnyes, w{supc}{suph} is my stint. 1732 Swift Let. to Gay 4 May, My stint [of wine] in company is a pint at noon, and half as much as night. 1824 Miss Mitford Village I. 230 Three rubbers were our stint; as we were often game and game in the last before victory declared itself. 1846 Mrs. Gore Eng. Char. (1852) 60, I can't afford half-crowns every day. A shilling is my stint for such jobs. |
† c. to live at stint: to live at a fixed rate of expenditure.
Obs.| 1681 Otway Soldiers Fortune iv. i, I do not enjoy my self with that freedom I wou'd do, there is no more pleasure in living at stint, then there is in living alone. |
5. a. A measure, rate, gauge of amount, price, size, etc. fixed by authority. Chiefly in the phrases
to set, etc. at one stint,
to appoint, set a stint.
| α 1485 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 320 In case that hydes come to an heigher or a lougher price than they bene nowe, that then the Maire..shal sett the saide crafte att one stynte accordynge to rayson. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 168 The standard of the ounce was euer at one stynt, although the valuation of coynes altered. a 1600 Hooker Eccl. Pol. vii. xxiii. §11 Convenient it was to provide that there might be a moderate stint appointed to measure their expenses by. 1601 J. Wheeler Treat. Comm. 57 There is a stint, and reasonable proportion allotted, and set..what quantite..euery man may ship out. 1611 Coryat Crudities 137 But belike there is a limitation of the summe that is owed; for that if the summe..be aboue the stint, he shall not be released. 1715 N. Blundell Diary (1895) 133 Severall Stints were set for the better Regulating the Affairs of the Parish. 1794 A. Young Agric. Suffolk 78 A child's stint..for braiding nets..is four-pence a day. |
| β 1606 Holland Suetonius 54 The number of Senatours growing still to a shameful and confused company..he reduced to the auncient stent [L. modum]. |
| fig. 1534 More Dial. agst. Trib. i. Wks. 1152/2 Both for release and reward, tempored after such rate as his..wysedome shal se conuenient for vs: wherof our blynde mortality can not here imagine nor deuyse the stynt. 1534 ― Treat. Passion Wks. 1290/2 God..limited of his owne wisedome and goodnes, after what rate and stynt, the commoditie therof shoulde be employed vppon vs. |
† b. Usual or customary measure.
Obs.| 1664 Power Exp. Philos. ii. 90 The Quicksilver will fall down to its wonted pitch and stint of 29. inches. 1733 Cheyne Eng. Malady iii. iv. (1734) 354 My Appetite and Digestion return'd to their usual Stint towards my new Food. 1747 J. Relph Misc. P. 121 The snow has left the fells and fled..And to their stint the becks are fawn. |
6. a. The limited number of cattle, according to kind, allotted to each definite portion into which pasture or common land is divided, or to each person entitled to the right of common pasturage; also, the right of pasturage according to the fixed rate. Also, a portion of land allotted for pasturing a limited number of sheep or cattle.
| α 1569 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford (1880) 327 Portemeade: Rate and Stynte of Cattell. Ibid., Stynt to be kept for Cattell in Portmead... The Baillies..shall yerely oversee that every man shall kepe his stynt of beastes in Port meade. 1597 Pain Roll of Manor of Scawby, Lincs. (MS.), None within this Lordshippe shall keepe but for every Oxgange 40 sheepe..accordinge to the old Stinte, in paine of xs. 1687 in Croke's Case of Otmoor (1831) 37 And if any take in joicement sheep, they shall not exceed the number of their stint in the townships. 1785 Woodmansey Inclosure Act 2 Proprietors..enjoy common of pasture..by a certain determinate stint. 1844 Min. Evid. Sel. Comm. Commons' Inclosure 26 By a stint, I mean the right of pasturage for one animal, or for a certain number of animals, according to age, size, and capability of eating. 1849 Gloss. Provincial Words Teesdale, Co. Durham 125 Stint, a limited number of cattle gaits. 1869 Spectator 17 Apr. 472/1 It was desirable to utilize..that portion of the soil of England which was lying unenclosed, and subject to all manner of rights of common, turbary, stints, and the like. 1904 in Eng. Dial. Dict. V. 768/1 The marshes of Skinburness, &c.,..were not enclosed in 1811 as were the commons, but were divided into stints, 400 being made out of 1,008 acres. 1954 M. Beresford Lost Villages vi. 204 Abandoned cornfields tumble first to grass and weed... The flocks which had been stinted could now have their stint enlarged. 1975 Country Life 11 Dec. 1676/2 As winter sets in, the salt marshes on the English side of the Solway will be grazed by..hill sheep from the Lake District. The ‘stints’ (pasturage for sheep and cattle) are owned by the Solway-side farmers. |
| β 1437 Dunfermline Reg. (Bannatyne Club) 285 The land liand betuix the estir oxgang and the orchard..[be] comon to bath the partis. Alsua bath þe partis sel kepe lauchful stent and noth excede. 1842 Q. Jrnl. Agric. XII. 52 In the oldest plantations, his young cattle were going to four times the stents the land had ever kept before it was so planted. |
b. gen. Any kind of limitation of right of pasturage.
| 1766 Blackstone Comm. II. iii. 34 All these species, of pasturable common, may be and usually are limited as to number and time; but there are also commons without stint, and which last all the year. |
7. a. An allotted portion of work; a definite task; a period of time spent on a particular job; a turn (at doing something).
to work by stint (see
quot. 1891).
| α a 1530 Heywood Weather (Brandl) 447 No water haue we to grynde at any stynt. c 1566 Merie Tales of Skelton in Skelton's Wks. (1843) I. p. lxvi, They wanted of their mele, and complained..that they could not make their stint of breade. 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xxiv. ¶15 The First [Press-man] takes his choice to Pull or Beat the agreed stint first. 1749 Berkeley in Fraser Life viii. (1871) 320 Their stint, on account of health, is an hour and half a day for painting. 1803 T. Netherton in Naval Chron. XV. 314 The Caulkers..are employed by stint on new work. 1866 Carlyle Remin. (1881) I. 285 Here..I..took to doing ‘German Romance’ as my daily work, ‘ten pages daily’ my stint. 1891 Labour Commission Gloss. s.v., If a man is engaged to work for eight hours, and a certain quantity of work given him to perform in that time, he is said to be working by stint. 1904 Kipling Traffics & Discov. 369 They were letting in the water for the evening stint at Robert's Mill. 1955 S. Wilson Man in Gray Flannel Suit (1956) xxii. 170 After college had come a brief stint in the Army. 1957 Economist 21 Dec. 1073/1 No really outstanding executives for private business have ever been ready to take on a stint in the hardest jobs that industry in this country has to offer. 1965 Listener 24 June 933/2 This is the end of my stint for The Listener. 1976 H. Wilson Governance of Britain vii. 130 His three or four weeks' compulsory stint as ‘Minister in Attendance’ at Balmoral. 1978 S. Brill Teamsters viii. 307 He..then served a stint as a railroad brakeman. |
| β 1773 R. Fergusson Farmer's Ingle ix, Yet frae the russet lap the spindle plays Her e'ening stent reels she as weel's the lave. 1789 Ross Helenore i. (ed. 3) 49 Their stent [1768 task] was mair than they cou'd well mak out. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm III. 754 On shifting the workers from one stent to another. 1887 Kentish Gloss., Stent, a word used by the oyster dredgers in North Kent, to denote that amount or number of oysters, fixed by the rules of their association, which they may dredge in one day. 1898 E. P. Evans Evol. Ethics v. 176 Spinoza had to secure his subsistence by grinding his stent of lenses before he could gratify his love of philosophy. |
b. Mining. (See
quots.)
| α 1850 Ogilvie, Stint... In coal mines, a measure of work two yards long by one broad, which each miner clears before he removes to another place. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-mining, Stint. 1. (Midland.) A measure of length by which colliers hole and cut coal... 2. (Gloucestershire.) A certain number of trams filled per man per day. 3. (South Staffordshire.) A collier's day's work. 1888 Daily News 5 Oct. 2/5 The minimum wages was fixed at 3s. 4d. per day or stint for thick-coal men. |
| β 1864 Daily Tel. 26 Oct., What is termed a day does not represent a day's work..but a certain cubical quantity of coal known as a ‘stent’. |
† c. As
advb. accusative: In fulfilment of an appointed task.
Obs.| 1618 R. Bolton Florus ii. vi. (1636) 98 That most dangerous Captaine having..markt..where..the Easterne winde blew stint as it were [L. quasi ad constitutum]. |
8. Prescribed, destined, or customary limit.
† a. of spatial extension or progress. Also, destination or goal of a journey.
Obs.| α 1601 Holland Pliny v. ix. I. 98 The ordinarie heighth of it is sixteene cubites. Vnder that gage the waters overflow not all. Above that stint, they are a let and hinderance. 1618 Ralegh Rem. (1644) 114 You are now imbarked in your final voyage, and not far from the stint and period of your course. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. ii. xiii. §5 This Power of repeating, or doubling any Idea we have of any distance,..without being ever able to come to any stop or stint. |
| β 1509 Barclay Shyp of Folys 18 If thou be dampned, than art thou at thy stent. 1563 Sackville Induct. Mirr. Mag. vi, Erythius that in the cart fyrste went Had euen nowe attaynde his iourneyes stent. |
† b. of duration.
Obs.| 1587 T. Hughes Misfort. Arthur i. ii. 75 Fron. How can you then attempt a fresh offence? Guen. Who can appoint a stint to her offence? 1596 Spenser Astrophel, Mourn. Thestylis 51 No humble speech nor mone, may moue the fixed stint Of destinie or death. 1620 Quarles Feast for Worms viii. G 4 b, The stint of Niniuey was forty dayes, To cry for grace, and turne from euill wayes. 1633 Bp. Hall Hard Texts, O.T. 144 God keeps the stint of their life secret from them. a 1659 Bp. Brownrig Serm. (1674) I. iv. 62 Satan set a stint to Job's suffering. 1693 Evelyn De La Quint. Compl. Gard., Refl. Agric. 68 Every Plant has a peculiar, determinate, certain, and infallible Stint or Term, for the Beginning and Duration of its Action. |
† c. of expansion or increase.
Obs.| 1598–1603 Stow Surv. (1908) II. 205 The number of the Citizens..farre exceedeth proportion of Hippodamus, which appoynted 10000. and of others which haue set downe other numbers, as meete stintes in theyr opinions to bee well gouerned. 1606 L. Bryskett Civil Life 192 For that mans desires had their determinate stint, wheras Alexanders increased stil, the more he enlarged his dominions. 1645 Milton Colast. 12 A man..puft up with no luck at all, above the stint of his capacity. 1729 Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 140 Every one of our passions and affections hath its natural stint and bound. |
9. (See
quot.)
| 1792 G. Cartwright Jrnl. Labrador I. Gloss. p. xv, Stint, the dam made by beavers across a stream, to raise the water to a height convenient for their purpose. |
10. attrib. and
Comb., as
stint allowance;
stintholder, a holder of a stint of pasture;
stint-holer Mining (see
quot.);
† stint-key (?
nonce-wd.), a key which checks the supply (of ale); in
quot. fig.| a 1814 Sailor's Ret. i. vii. in New Brit. Theatre II. 328 British sailors shall find there's no *stint allowance at Growl-Hall. |
| 1894 Carlisle Patriot 4 May 3/7 (Cumbld. Gloss.) The annual meeting of *stintholders..was held at the Wheatsheaf Inn. |
| 1891 Labour Commission Gloss., *Stint⁓holer, the man who undercuts the coal by ‘piece’. |
| 1827 C. Webbe Harvest-Home iv, And the quaint and jocund tale Takes the *stint-key from the ale. |
▪ II. stint, n.2 (
stɪnt)
Also 5–6
stynt(e, 6
styntt. β. 6
stent.
[Of obscure origin.] A common name for any of the smaller Sandpipers (genus
Tringa),
esp. the Dunlin. Also a provincial name for the Sanderling (
Calidris arenaria).
| α 1466 Introniz. Abp. Nevell in Leland Collect. (1774) II. 6 Quayles and Styntes rost. 1519 in Archæologia XXV. 422, iij Plovers, iij Spowes, & iij Stynts. 1531–2 Durh. Household Bk. (Surtees) 129, 6 dd stynts, 12 d. 1½ dd dunlyngs, 6d. 1622 Drayton Poly-olb. xxv. 339 For near this batning Isle [Axholme], in me is to be seen..The Puet, Godwin, Stint, the palate that allure. 1688, 1774, 1837 [see purre1]. 1893 in Cozens-Hardy Broad Norf. 49 There's a rare mess of stints on Breydon sometimes. 1902 C. J. Cornish Naturalist on Thames 245 Canvey Island... Stints..were flitting everywhere on the mud and ooze. |
b. With distinguishing prefix (see
quots.).
| 1843 Yarrell Brit. Birds II. 643 The Little Sandpiper, or Little Stint..goes through seasonal changes of colour in its plumage. 1848 C. A. Johns Week at Lizard 331 Temminck's Stint (Tringa Temminckii).—Very rare. 1898 Morris Austral Eng. 439 The Australian species are Curlew Stint Tringa subarquata, Gmel. Little Stint T. ruficollis. Sharp-tailed Stint T. acuminata, Horsf. |
▪ III. stint, v. (
stɪnt)
Forms: α. 1
styntan, 3
Ormin stinntenn, 3–5
stunt, (3
stunte, 5
stonte), 4–6
stynte,
stinte, (4
styntt, 5
styntte), 4–7
stynt, 3–
stint; β. 3–7
stente, 4–
stent.
pa. tense (contracted forms); α. 3
stunte, 4
stinte, 4– 5
stynt(e,
stint; β. 3–5
stent(e.
pa. pple. (contracted forms); α. 3
stint, 4
stunt,
i-stunt,
y-stynt,
i-stynt,
stynte, 4–6
stynt, 5
stinte; β. 5
stente.
[OE. styntan to blunt, dull; the simple vb. occurs only once (in Corpus Gl., rendering L. hebetare), but cf. the compounds ástyntan, to blunt, dull, to check, stop (ME. astint v.), ætstyntan to blunt (teeth), make ineffective (ME. atstunt v.), forstyntan to blunt. The OE. verb corresponds formally to OScandinavian *stynta (MSw. stynta, OIcel. stytta) to shorten:—OTeut. type *stuntjan, f. *stunto- adj. (OE. stunt stupid, foolish, MHG. stunz stumpy, MSw. stunt-er, OIcel. stutt-r short, scanty: cf. stunt a. and v.). It is uncertain whether the ME. and mod.E. senses of the vb. are developed from unrecorded senses in OE., or are due to Scandinavian influence. In certain uses this
vb. closely approaches in meaning the etymologically unrelated
stent v.
1 Apparently some confusion has taken place between the two verbs, and as the phonetic variants
stent,
stint are common to both, it is sometimes doubtful to which verb a particular use belongs.]
I. To cut short, cease, stop.
1. intr. To cease action; to leave off (doing something); to desist, forbear. Now only
arch. and
dial. Const.
† of,
in † fro, and
to with inf.
| α c 1200 Ormin 12844 Þatt menn þa sholldenn blinnenn, & stanndenn stille, & stinntenn þa To þewwtenn Godd tatt wise. a 1225 Ancr. R. 202 Þe ueorðe hweolp is Idelnesse: þet is, hwo se stunt mid alle. a 1300 Cursor M. 1740 Of his precheing þan con he stint. Ibid. 26059 If he ne had of his folis stint. c 1305 Land Cokayne 99 Þer beþ briddes..Þat stinteþ neuer by har miȝt Miri to sing dai and niȝt. 13.. Bonaventura's Medit. 878 Fro wepyng she ne myȝt stynte no stounde. c 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 1213 With sorweful herte..styntynge in my tale For ferde. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 4096 Bot euer þey song & dauncede yliche fast & nolde not stonte þere for no-mone. c 1460 Oseney Reg. 12 That þat parte þe which my modur holdeth, whenne so euer she stynteth to holde hit, þat hit come in to þ⊇ lordeship of the church. 1470–85 Malory Arthur i. xv. 56 He stynte not tyl he had slayne xx knyȝtes. c 1520 Skelton Magnyf. 2188 Holde thy hande, dawe, of thy dagger, and stynt of thy dyn. 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. (1821) II. 423 Als sone as the Inglismen wer cumin to this hill, thay stintit of thair fleing. 1556 Robinson More's Utopia (1895) p. xcix, But I wil neuer stynte, nor rest, vntil I haue gotte the full and exacte knowledge hereof. 1576 Gascoigne Steele Gl. (Arb.) 67 Art thou a seruing man? then serue againe, And stint to steale as common soldiours do. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. iii. 48 Pretty foole it stinted, and said I. a 1650 K. John & Bishop viii. in Child Ballads I. 411 And thirdly, tell mee or euer I stinte, What is the thing, bishopp, that I doe thinke. 1677 W. Hughes Man of Sin ii. ii. 25 The strange Amazing Proofs made use of by them! But it is flatly necessary, that I should bound myself:..I will stint at Twelve. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. x, ‘Whisht, Effie,’ said her sister; ‘our father's coming out o' the byre.’—The damsel stinted in her song. 1819 Shelley Peter Bell vi. xxiv. 3 Their fierce successors, who..would neither stint nor stick Our flesh from off our bones to pick. 1869 Browning Ring & Bk. viii. 240, I see him strain on tip-toe, soar and pour Eloquence out, nor stay, nor stint at all. 1881 Leicestersh. Gloss. s.v., Coom, yo' stint, or oi'll meek ye! |
| β a 1300 Cursor M. 3842 Abute hir hals þan he hir hent, And thris he kyst hir ar he stent [other texts stint]. 13.. Guy Warw. 849 Of rideing wil þai neuer stent To þai com to þe turnament. c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 678 But nathelees, for ernest ne for game He of his crueel purpos nolde stente. c 1470 Harding Chron. xxxiii. v, For whiche [his death] his people of wepyng coulde not stent. 1563 Sackville Induct. Mirr. Mag. xxxii, To her selfe oft would she [Remorse] tell Her wretchednes, and cursing neuer stent To sob and sigh. c 1590 J. Stewart Poems (S.T.S.) II. 42 O gif thy luifers knew, thay vold not stent To giwe the ayde. 1785 R. Forbes Ulysses Answ. Ajax lxxiii, I..Syne took his coach, an' milk-white staigs, 'Ere ever I wad stent. |
† b. with
pr. pple. Obs.| c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode iii. xliii. (1869) 159 Whan the first hath stinte etinge..that oother..seith he wole ete also. 1518 H. Watson Hist. Oliver of Castile (Roxb.) D 4, In suche sorowe he neuer stynted rydynge tyll that he came to a lytell vyllage. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Comprimo, Lachrymas comprimere, to stint weepyng. |
† c. To cease to speak
of.
Obs.| c 1450 Merlin x. 145 But now stenteth the tale of hem, and returneth to speke of the vij kynges. Ibid. xv. 253 Of hem I shall stinte, and tell of the parliament that kynge Brangue heilde. |
† 2. Of processes, conditions, impersonal agencies: To cease, abate, come to an end.
Obs.| α c 1205 Lay. 31891 Þe quale gon to stunte. a 1300 Cursor M. 6026 Þe tres it [the tempest] brake, þe gresse it brint, At þe land iessen it stint. 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 91 Men seþ wel þat þe see seseþ & stinteþ, But whan þe wind on þe watur þe wawus arereþ. c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 1630 Bot at þe last, when þair lyfe sall stynt, Þan sall all ioy be fra þam tynt. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. ii. pr. v. (1868) 45 Certis þan is þilke moneye precious, whan it..stynteþ to ben had by vsage of large ȝeuyng. c 1375 Cursor M. 23172 (Fairf.) Ȝour sorou salle neuer stint. c 1400 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) ii. lxv. (1859) 59 Hit is ful hye tyme, that the discencion of you bothe stynte, and take an ende. c 1460 Towneley Myst. i. 161 We mon haue payne that neuer shall stynt. 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 28 Streaming teares that neuer stint. 1628 Wither Brit. Rememb. ii. 489 Nor can I finde a reason how it [the plague] stinted, Or how our totall ruine was prevented. 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. s.v. Stint, Weeping stinteth: arescit lachryma. |
| β c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 1238 Right so Criseyde whan hire drede stente, Opned hire herte and tolde hym hire entente. c 1384 ― H. Fame i. 221 Ther saw I how the tempest stent. c 1470 Henry Wallace ix. 239 Weyll bruk thow it! all thus stentis our stryff. 1530 Dial. betw. Gentl. & Husbandman 452 (Arb.) 147 Their furious malice never stentyd till they had the lights oute quenchyd. 1587 T. Hughes Misfort. Arthur i. Chorus 23 In Brytain warres and discord will not stent: Till Vther's line and offspring quite be spent. |
3. To cease moving, pause in a journey, to halt, stop, stand still.
† Also, to turn aside from pursuit, to stay in conflict.
Obs.| α c 1290 Becket 1118 in S. Eng. Leg. 138 Fiue and twenti mile he wende..Are he stunte in anie stude. c 1290 Magdalene 187 ibid. 467 In one olde porche hy stunten al þat nyȝht. a 1300 Cursor M. 4321 For bettur it es bi-time to stint Þan folu þi prai þat es bot tint. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 13025 Wilde he [Beofs] nere stynte ne ses Vntil he cam in to alle þe pres Þer Petron was. 1338 ― Chron. (1725) 10 Hard was þe bataile, als þei togider stynt. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. vi. 66 Twei stokkes þer stondeþ but stunt þou not þere. 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas i. vii. (1544) 9 b, He fond..a place pleasant of larges wheras he stynt and gan a citie rayse. c 1475 Henryson Poems (S.T.S.) III. 39 For seik hir suth I sall, And noþer stynt nor stand for stok nor stone. 1513 Douglas æneis vi. v. 75 Anchises son tho stintis a litle stound, And baith his futsteppis fixit in the ground. a 1650 Rising in North xxxviii. in Child Ballads III. 406 Vntill they came to Yorke castle, I-wis they neuer stinted nor blan. c 1749 Robin Hood & Allen a Dale xv. ibid. 174 He hasted over the plain, He did neither stint nor lin, Vntil he came unto the church. 1768 Ross Helenore 20 But I shall never stint, Till o' the truth the verity be kent; Tho' to the warld's end my race should be. 1818 Scott Rob Roy xxi, But come on, what stint ye for? |
| β 13.. Sir Beues 4025 Ne stente neuer sire Saber, Til þat he in Ingelonde were. c 1400 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) ii. lvii. (1859) 55 And so I stent a whyle to see what maner thyng hit was, that hadde suche a wykked sauour. a 1450 Le Morte Arth. 1844 The other All agayne than stente; Aftyr hym dorste folowe no moo. 1745 A. Skirving Tranent Muir i. in Herd's Coll. Sc. Songs (1776) I. 109 The Chevalier..Did march up Brisle brae, man, And thro' Tranent, e'er he did stent. |
† b. Of a thing: To cease moving, to come to a stop.
Obs.| α 1390 Gower Conf. I. 197 Hire Schip goth in among hem alle, And stinte noght, er it be falle And [etc.]. c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 161 The sheld he put vnto that dint, And in the sheld the stroke stint. 1533 Bellenden Livy i. xv. (S.T.S.) I. 85 Thir treis [sc. huge rafts of fire]..war inflammyt cruelly be þe violent wyndis, and styntit never quhil þai come..to þe pillaris of þe brig. |
| β c 1374 Chaucer Troylus i. 273 Þurgh þat rout his eye perceyvid and so depe hit went Til on Cryseyd hit smote & þer it stent. a 1420 Aunters of Arthur 579 (Douce MS.) He bronched him yne withe his bronde,..Þe swerd stent for no stuf, hit was so wel steled. |
† c. Of a stream, blood: To cease flowing.
Obs.| 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 530 Ȝe [with your thirsty armies] maken stinte of his strem a stronde ful huge, Þat nilus..namned is wide. 1579–80 North Plutarch, Antonius (1595) 1004 The wounde..killed him not presently, for the bloud stinted a litle when he was layed. 1616 R. C. Times Whistle 2808 The springs of lust..being drawne dry The lesser streames would stint immediatly. 1626 G. E. Vicary's Englishm. Treasure 68 Take..Nettles and bruse them, and then lay them upon the wound..and it will stynt presently. |
† d. Of the sun: To stand still (in its apparent course) at the summer and winter solstice.
Obs.| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 329 Þe sonne stynteþ twyes a ȝere: ones a somer, whan he goþ no heiȝer; and eftsones a wynter, whanne he gooþ no lower. |
† e. To turn
aside,
backward.
Obs.| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 7424 For þe Saxons did þem bakward stynt. Ibid. 10864, I trowe his stede a syde stynt. |
† 4. To abstain from moving, stand still; to remain in a place, to stay.
Obs.| a 1340–70 Alisaunder 386 Þei þat stint at hur stroke stirred no more. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 309 And at þe meuynge and styntynge of þat boole þe Egipcians meued and stynte vp on þe erthe [ad cujus motum seu stationem ægyptii in terra movebantur seu stabant]. a 1450 Le Morte Arth. 3947 Syr Ector tent not to hys stede, Whedyr he wold stynt or Renne Away. c 1470 Henry Wallace xi. 628 Quhen twa was ded, the tothir wald nocht stynt, Maid thaim to fle. |
| β c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. ii. 116 Whan this was don no lengere sche ne stente. a 1450 Le Morte Arth. 3936 At the laste they myght no lenger stent. |
† 5. trans. To cause (a person) to cease action, to cause to desist. Const.
of,
from.
Obs.| α 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1725) 220 Sir Gilbert herd say of þer dedes ille, Of non þe had ay to stynt ne hold þam stille. 13.. Will. Palerne 4056 Þe king..was so styf in a studie þat non him stint miȝt. 1387–8 T. Usk Test. Love iii. iv. (Skeat) 108 Tho liste me a litel to speke, and gan stinte my penne of my wryting, and sayde in this wyse. c 1450 Brut ii. 331 Þe King sent his lettres to þe Erle of Warwyk, chargyng hym..þat he shulde stynt, redresse & amende the evel doers & brekers of his pees. c 1489 Caxton Blanchardyn 149 The kynge byganne..to wepe and so ded blanchardyn, so that Sadoyne nor Beatryx..coude do no thynge to stynte them. 1653 Milton Ps. viii. ii, Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings thou Hast founded strength because of all thy foes To stint th' enemy. |
| β c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 510 And if he herde song or Instrument, Thanne wolde he wepe he myghte nat be stent. 1819 Tennant Papistry Storm'd (1827) 107 That frae nocturnal 'sault may stent Thir rybalds o' the Testament. |
6. To discontinue (an action); to hold in check, restrain (one's own actions or organs of action). Now
arch. and
dial.| α 13.. Will. Palerne 61 Þe child com of þe caue & his criynge stint. c 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 1441, I mote my tonge stynten nede. c 1386 ― Miller's Prol. 36 The Reue answerde and seyde ‘stynt thy clappe’. 1423 Jas. I Kingis Q. 118 The lytill birdis smale Styntith thaire song. 1563 B. Googe Eglogs vii. (Arb.) 57, I neuer could as thou canst stynt, the teares of my complaynt. 1592 R. Wilmot Tancred & Gismund ii. iii, He..ere I scarce had My tale out tolde, praid me to stint my suite. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, i. ii. 76 We must not stint Our necessary actions, in the feare To cope malicious Censurers. 1618 Rowlands Sacred Mem. 37 Weepe not he said, but stint thy vse of teares. 1624 J. Usher in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 131 In continueing the History of the Brittish..beyond the yeare 600 (where I purposed to stint my selfe). a 1633 Austin Medit. (1635) 29 Cease, all Creatures; peace all Things;..Stint your ever-humming noyce. 1839 Bailey Festus (1852) 394 Stint your breath. 1868 Morris Earthly Par., Doom Acrisius I. 266 The thin jackals waiting for the feast Stinted their hungry howls as he passed by. 1876 Robinson Whitby Gloss. s.v., ‘Stint your hand,’ withold it, as in the act of pouring. 1886 R. F. Burton Arab. Nts. (abr. ed.) I. 127 They stinted not their going..till all went down by the trap-door. |
| β c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 4098 Bot þe parson..badde hem þat þey shulde stent hurre song or ellus þens gone. a 1440 Sir Degrev. 206 His game wolt he never stent. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. iv. 12 Yet n'ould she stent Her bitter rayling. 1881 Leicester Gloss. s.v., Yo' stent yer nize! |
† b. To stay or suspend (a lawsuit).
Cf. astint v. 1.
Obs.| 1491 Churchw. Acc. St. Dunstan's, Canterb. (MS.), Be the consent of the executores the ple was stentyd. |
† 7. To cause to cease, bring to an end, check, stop (an event or state of affairs, actions of others).
Obs. Often in alliterative phrase,
to stint the strife.
| α a 1310 in Wright Lyric P. viii. 31 A stythye stunte hire sturne stryf, that ys in heovene hert in-hyde. c 1366 Chaucer A.B.C. 63 Þanne shalt þou boþe stinte al his greuaunce And make oure foo to failen of his praye. 1375 Barbour Bruce v. 184 And syne he drew him to the hicht, To stynt bettir his fais mycht. c 1402 Lydg. Compl. Bl. Knt. 256 And tonges false..Han gonne a werre that wil not stinted be. 1544 Betham Precepts War i. clxiii. H vj, To stint the weapynges and skrykes of women. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. iv. iv. 86 The Eagle suffers little Birds to sing,..Knowing that with the shadow of his wings, He can at pleasure stint their melodie. 1613–16 W. Browne Brit. Past. i. ii. 43 She..stints his cry With many a sweet and pleasing Lullaby. 1680 C. Nesse Church Hist. 160 Strife is easier stirred than stinted. 1763 Brit. Mag. IV. 495 Stinting flame by bating fuel. |
| β c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 2442 Swich strif ther is bigonne..Bitwixe Venus..And Mars..That Iuppiter was bisy it to stente. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Acts iv. 5–7 It was no common or smalle matter, whiche they so carefully labored to stente. |
† b. To assuage, quench (grief, pain, appetite).
| α c 1374 Chaucer Troylus v. 686 Yevinge him hope..That she shal come, and stinten [MS. Harl. 2280 stenten] al his sorwe. 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe (1541) 81 b, The powrynge of cold water upon ones head hath stinted the reume. 1580 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 107 Achilles speare could as wel heale as hurt; the scorpion though he sting, yet he stints the paine. 1583 B. Melbancke Philotimus T ij, If this construction be applied to your stomacke, it will be a good confection to stint your shameles loue. 1620 Quarles Feast for Worms ii. D 2 To stint his griefe, He chuses death. |
| β c 1374 Stenten [see α above]. 1601 Holland Pliny xxiv. vi. II. 177 All the rest doe..stent the inveterat cough. 1666 G. Harvey Morbus Angl. vi. (1672) 15 But the other implyes a very difficult cure, not by restoring the Spermatick parts..but onely by stenting and removing the Corruption of the forementioned Essentials. |
† c. To stop (rain, tempest, fire, etc.).
Obs.| α a 1300 Cursor M. 9151 Helias, þat prophet,..þat stint þe rain thoru his praiyer. 1538 Elyot Dict., Restinguo, to stint or put oute, or cesse, as fyre, lyght, and thurst. 1690 C. Nesse Hist. & Myst. O. & N.T. I. 127 God stinted and stilled the flood. |
| β 1594 Selimus G 4, The god that vales [sic] the seas, And can alone this raging tempest stent. |
† d. To cause (a thing) to leave off its action.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 476/1 Styntyn or make a thynge to secyn of hys werke or mevynge, obsto. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 127 A whole set or draught of springs,..some bigning or growing, others barely stirring or twitching, and after all so long stinted and so often checkt. |
† e. ? To deprive of force, make of none effect.
| α 1509 Barclay Shyp of Folys 258 b, Thou wretchyd lust dost stynt abate and swage The strength of man, and his audacyte. 1631 Gouge God's Arrows iii. §43. 258 Where faith hath failed, the divine power hath been stinted. |
| β 1619 Sir A. Gorges tr. Bacon's De Sap. Vet. 127 As for simple bodies, their powers are not many, though certaine and violent, as existing without being weakned, diminished, or stented by mixture. |
8. To cause (a fluid, etc.) to stop flowing or emanating;
esp. to staunch (blood).
Obs. exc. dial.| α 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vii. lxx. (1495) 290 Some medycynes constreyne and stynten blode. a 1400 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xxviii. 13 Heil sterre þat neuer stunteþ liht. 1470–85 Malory Arthur vii. xviii. 241 The mayden Lynet..vnarmed hym and serched his woundes and stynted his blood. 1528 Paynel Salerne's Regim. b iiij b, The vtilite is to make thycke the thynne bloud, to stynte the superfluous runnynge therof. 1599 Breton Disc. Scholler & Souldiour 30 A Cobweb and Salt..will Stint a bleeding. |
| β 1548 Elyot's Dict. s.v. Sisto, Sistere sanguinem, to stent bleedyng. 1601 Holland Pliny xxvi. xiii. II. 263 The juice if it bee conveighed up into the nosthrils, stenteth bleeding at nose. 1657 N. Billingsley Brachy-Martyrol. xxi. 76 Nor shall the opened vein be stented. 1891 Hartland (Devon) Gloss., Staint, to stanch. Some people have the power of ‘staintin' blid’ by repeating a charm. |
† 9. To cause (a person, animal, oneself) to cease moving, to bring to a stand.
Obs. Stent survives
dial. in Somerset and Devon in the sense ‘to bring (a horse) to a stand’ (said of difficulties or obstacles). See
Eng. Dial. Dict.| α a 1330 Otuel 1571 King karnifees him haueþ istunt. c 1400 Song Roland 460 Then he stintid his sted & stod still sone. c 1450 Merlin x. 154 For the kynges were stynted at the entre of the forest by a river. 1450–1530 Myrr. our Ladye 42 As a man that rennyth downewarde from an hye hyl: he may not stynte hymselfe,..tyll he comethe to the vale. 1533 Bellenden Livy ii. xxvi. (S.T.S.) I. 238 Þe consul, seand þe place vnganand for batall, styntit his army. 1680 H. More Apocal. Apoc. 82 Nor were they stinted here, but won also a great part of Italy. |
| β c 1450 Cov. Myst. (1841) 396 Go stent me yone body wyth youre stonys. |
† b. To stop (a blow).
Obs.| a 1330 Otuel 497 Þat strok ich mente to þe, & now it is on þi stede istunt. c 1470 Henry Wallace vi. 567 Quhan euir thai hyt, na harnes mycht thaim stynt. |
10. To check the growth of (an animal, plant); to arrest (growth); to force (a plant)
into bloom by restricting its supply of nourishment.
Cf. stunt v.
| 1735 Somerville Chase iv. 117 The laborious Chace Shall stint his [a young hound's] growth. 1789 E. Darwin Bot. Gard. (1791) I. iv. 478 Where cruder juices swell the leafy vein, Stint the young germ, [etc.]. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 698 Young pigs are very susceptible of cold, and if exposed to it..their growth will be..stinted. 1844 Ld. Brougham Brit. Const. xv. (1862) 234 The vices and the weaknesses, which peaceful times and regular government either nip in the bud, or stint in their growth. 1845 Florist's Jrnl. (1846) VI. 147 The plant..was stinted into a blooming condition. |
II. To limit, apportion, or appoint definitely.
11. trans. To set bounds, ends, or limits to, to limit in extent or scope, to confine to certain limits. Now
rare. Also,
† to fix the maximum price of. Const.
† at,
to.
| 1513 Douglas æneis iv. Prol. 260 To stint all thing salue thine awin appetite, So was in luif thi frawart destanie. 1591 Savile Tacitus, Hist. iv. xl. 199 To moderate and stint the public expenses. 1604 T. Wright Passions vi. 346 Those wise and godly men which every day allot themselves a certaine time, stinting their howers for meditation. 1621 T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 7 By him, who hath the houre glasse of our life in his hand, who hath stinted our dayes how long they shall runne. 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia iv. 165 Corne was stinted at two shillings six pence the bushell. 1640 Fuller Joseph's Coat etc. 59 The Passeover by God was stinted to bee used no oftner. 1643 Baker Chron., Jas. I 140 And to keep the Order from swarming, he stinted it within the number of onely 200. 1661 Power Exp. Philos. Pref. b j b, They..that..think the particles of Matter may be too little, and that nature is stinted at an Atom, and must have a non ultra of her sub⁓divisions. 1727 Gay Fables xiv. 47 Stint not to truth the flow of wit, Be prompt to lye, whene'er 'tis fit. 1781 Cowper Retirem. 719 Friends (for I cannot stint..that name to one). 1813 Byron Br. Abydos i. xiv, Nor these [battlements] will rash intruder climb To list our words, or stint our time. 1863 Kinglake Crimea (1877) I. ii. 22 The law of nations does not stint the right of executing justice. 1870 J. H. Newman Gram. Assent ii. viii. 259 When words are substituted for symbols, it will be its aim to circumscribe and stint their import as much as possible. |
† b. intr. Of a portion of land: To end, have its boundary or limit.
Obs.| 1613 North Riding Rec. (1886) IV. 143 Thone acre a brode wrangland, stinting att the strete. |
12. trans. To limit (the pasturage of common land) to a certain number of cattle; also, to assign a limited right of pasturage to (a person).
| 14.. Coventry Leet-bk. 438 Item,..the Maister of S. Jones..to go vnstynted, and the Comons of the Cite be stynted, no man to passe his rate. 1523 Fitzherb. Surv. 3 b, In the whiche close euery man is stynted and sette to a certayntie howe many beestes he shall haue in the same. 1652 W. Blithe Eng. Improv. Impr. (ed. 3) App., That all Commons..may be stinted or limited to a set number of cattell. 1808 J. C. Curwen Hints Econ. Feeding Stock 51 A dry sheltered pasture..which had been so hard stinted as to afford them [the cows] little or no food. 1831 Croke Case of Otmoor 23 Otmoor was not a common without stint; but was liable to be stinted by Orders from the Moor Court. 1880 J. Williams Rights of Common 84 A frith man..was appointed by the cattle gate owners to take care that Bretherdale Bank was properly stinted. |
† b. To hold a stint of. Also
absol. Obs.| 1686 Grassmen's Acc. (Surtees) 95 Every inhabitant which stints in y⊇ Common pasture shall send a mowder to scayle y⊇ s{supd} Common pasture. 1698 Ibid. 93 All and every person qualifyed to stint y⊇ s{supd} Moor shall pay Threepence per Gate yearly for each Gate they shall stint. |
† 13. To prescribe or appoint definitely (a course of action, an amount, place, time, etc.); to restrict (a person) to a particular course of action or the like.
Obs.| a 1513, 1586 [see stinted ppl. a. 1, 1 b]. 1590 J. Greenwood Collect. Sclaund. Art. B ij b, We wonder..that they dare be so bold as to set & stint the holy ghost, what, when, and how manie words to vtter in prayer. 1610 [see stint n.1 2 a]. |
| absol. 1641 Milton Animadv. 19 Remon. And if the Lord's Prayer be an ordinary, and stinted form, why not others? Ans. Because there bee no other Lords that can stint with like authority. |
† b. intr. To fix a time for something.
Obs.| 1656 in Burton's Diary (1828) I. 231 He fully stinted to have been in York that night. |
14. trans. To restrict (a person, his share or right) with respect to quantity or number; to limit in amount of allowance or indulgence.
| α 1592 Nashe P. Penilesse E 4 b, Yron cups..with yron pinnes in them, to stinte euery man how much he should drinke. 1593 ― Christ's T. M 3, God stinted him, what Trees and fruites he should eate on. a 1617 Bayne On Eph. (1658) 84 He hath not stinted us to any certain degree of knowledge. 1639 Fuller Holy War iii. xiv. 132 Wives he might have kept sans number, but stinted himself to one or two. a 1692 Shadwell Volunteers i. i, Eugen...May you..live till you shall wish to dye... Teres. I vow, I wish you may live an Hundred Years... M. G. Bl. A Dod Wench, that's not so well, thou stint'st me. 1710 Addison Tatler No. 255 ¶2 We ought to stint our selves in our most lawful Satisfactions. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xv. III. 591 Had he been wise he would have..stinted himself to one bottle at a meal. |
| β 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 105 He, fearing the Female to lauish and to be no sparer of such vittailes as they haue,..stenteth the Female and giueth hir hir task. 1678 Sir G. Mackenzie Crim. Laws Scot. ii. xv. §vi. (1699) 214 The Justice Court has its Macers, in which they are not stented to a particular number. 1724 Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) I. 58 Baith I canna get To ane by law we're stented. 1842 J. Aiton Dom. Econ. (1857) 150 Set the jobs by the piece, and not by day's wages... Give the preference to the men of your own parish. Don't stent them too tightly. 1860–95 J. Nicholson Kilwuddie (ed. 4) 166 (E.D.D.) Though stented to twa meals a day. 1894 Northumb. Gloss., Stent,..to limit. ‘Aa's stented tiv an oor at dinner.’ |
15. (Now the most frequent use.) To limit unduly in supply; to keep on short allowance, to scant. Const.
of.
| α 1722 De Foe Plague (1754) 136 If you stint us, we shall make ourselves the better allowance. 1769 Goldsm. Des. Vill. 40 One only master grasps the whole domain, And half a tillage stints thy smiling plain. 1794 Girlhood of M. J. Holroyd (1896) 262 The Horse..has been stinted of his Oats ever since. 1812 Combe Picturesque xxii, A work like this must not be stinted, Two thousand copies shall be printed. 1842 A. Combe Physiol. Digestion (ed. 4) 254 It is no uncommon practice to stint the healthy appetites of the young. 1850 A. Jameson Leg. Monast. Ord. (1863) 404 Of virtuous and religious parents who stinted themselves of necessary things. 1875 Swinburne Ess. Chapman 65 The double thread of the main plot is stinted of room to work in. 1885–6 Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. cxxvii. 2 They stint themselves in their meals. 1907 J. H. Patterson Man-Eaters of Tsavo App. i. 324 But stint them of their rice, and they at once become sulky mutineers. |
| β 1865 W. H. L. Tester Poems 166 (E.D.D.) Dinna stent us whan ye carve. |
b. To limit (a supply) unduly; to give in scanty measure.
| 1838 Prescott Ferd. & Is. (1846) II. xviii. 156 They were not disposed to stint the measure of it when his deserts were once established. 1880 ‘V. Lee’ Italy iii. ii. 108 The deputation of patricians..stinted neither trouble nor money to obtain first rate performers. |
| absol. 1878 Marie A. Brown Nadeschda 17 On the way pluck roses, do not stint. |
c. intr. for refl. To ‘pinch’, go short. ?
dial.| 1848 Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton xxxvii, But it's in things for show they cut short; while for such as me, it's in things for life we've to stint. 1865 ― Wives & Dau. xliii, I would have stinted and starved if mamma and I had got on..happily together. |
16. dial. To apportion a ‘stint’ of work to (a person); also, to fix upon a definite portion of work as a stint. (
Cf. stint n.1 7.)
| 1794 A. Young Agric. Suffolk 76 Boys spin hemp, stinted at six-pence a day, one with another. 1866 W. Gregor Banff Gloss., Stent, to appoint a certain work; as, ‘They stentit thimsels wee thir spinnan.’ 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-mining 241 Stint, to fix upon, or agree to, a certain number of trams being filled per stall per day. |
b. To assign (a workman)
to a definite task.
| 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm III. 753 The field-workers of the farm..are placed or stented to the work, as it is termed, at every 2 rows. Ibid. 1058. |
17. pass. Of a mare: To be served (by a horse): see
quot. 1856. Const.
to. Also of a ewe: To conceive.
| 1823 ‘Jon Bee’ Dict. Turf s.v., A mare which has received a horse is said to be stinted to him. 1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Rural Sports ii. i. vii. 343/1 It is usual after putting the mare to the horse to take her to him every nine days, until she refuses him, when she is considered ‘stinted’. 1884 West. Morn. News 30 Aug. 1/6 Most of the ewes are stinted early in lamb. |
▪ IV. stint var. stent n.5