Dent
nounA small hollow or depression in a surface, made by pressure or a blow.
How to spell dent
4 letters · 1 syllable
How to pronounce dent
What does dent mean?
- nounA small hollow or depression in a surface, made by pressure or a blow.
- verbTo make a hollow or depression in a surface by pressure or a blow.
Dent in a sentence
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noun
A small dent in the car door cost a fortune to repair.
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verb
A single careless knock can dent the soft aluminium panel.
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noun
The dropped tin left a dent in the wooden floor.
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verb
Loose tools rolling around will dent the boot of the car.
Where does dent come from?
Language of origin: Germanic
The word 'dent' began life around 1300 as a variant spelling of 'dint', which came from the Old English 'dynt', meaning a blow or a stroke delivered with a weapon. At first the word named the impact itself rather than its result, but over time the sense shifted from the blow to the hollow mark that a blow leaves behind, which is the meaning we use today. The spelling and notch-like sense were probably reinforced by the Old French 'dent', meaning 'tooth' (from Latin 'dens', 'dentis'), the same root that gives us 'dental' and 'dentist'. That tooth connection is a useful memory hook, since a dent is the sort of bite-shaped hollow a blow presses into a surface. The older form 'dint' survives mainly in the phrase 'by dint of', a fossil reminder that both words are really one.
How the word is built
- dent (a single root; an early variant of 'dint', meaning a blow or the mark left by one)
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