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HINT

[hint]

Example Sentences Origin

noun

an indirect, covert, or helpful suggestion; clue: Give me a hint as to his identity.

a very slight or hardly noticeable amount; soupçon: a hint of garlic in the salad dressing.

perceived indication or suggestion; note; intimation: a hint of spring in the air.

Obsolete. an occasion or opportunity.

verb (used with object)

to give a hint of: gray skies hinting a possible snowfall.

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Hint is one of our favorite verbs.

So is absquatulate. Does it mean:

to spend time idly; loaf.

to flee; abscond:

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verb (used without object)

to make indirect suggestion or allusion; subtly imply (usually followed by at): The article hinted at corruption in the mayor's office.

Origin:
1595–1605; (noun) orig., opportunity, occasion, apparently variant of obsolete hent grasp, act of seizing, derivative of the v.: to grasp, take, Middle English henten, Old English hentan; (v.) derivative of the noun

Related forms

hint·er, noun

un·hint·ed, adjective

Synonyms
1. allusion, insinuation, innuendo; memorandum, reminder; inkling. 5. imply. Hint, intimate, insinuate, suggest denote the conveying of an idea to the mind indirectly or without full or explicit statement. To hint is to convey an idea covertly or indirectly, but intelligibly: to hint that one would like a certain present; to hint that bits of gossip might be true. To intimate is to give a barely perceptible hint, often with the purpose of influencing action: to intimate that something may be possible. To insinuate is to hint artfully, often at what one would not dare to say directly: to insinuate something against someone's reputation. Suggest denotes particularly recalling something to the mind or starting a new train of thought by means of association of ideas: The name doesn't suggest anything to me.

Antonyms
5. express, declare.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source

Link To HINT

Example Sentences

Diagramless puzzle solvers who want no hint should avert their eyes from this correction.

But on the other hand, if that coffee date gets put off for a third time, consider taking the hint.

Officials hint that the go-ahead for such a resumption would be given only if no negotiations had begun by then.

EXPAND

Diagramless puzzle solvers who want no hint should avert their eyes from this correction.

But on the other hand, if that coffee date gets put off for a third time, consider taking the hint.

Officials hint that the go-ahead for such a resumption would be given only if no negotiations had begun by then.

The photos and field notes in this gallery back him up, and reveal a hint of menace, for good measure.

Clinical trials hint that treatment strategy is not a dead end.

Served in paper-thin slices on bread, lardo is white and silky smooth with a hint of ham and herbs.

These oils hint at the wonderful variety of these large, sunny flowers.

And this might hint at the project's true value: keeping the kids quiet, wherever you happen to be.

She listened without a hint of defensiveness, and worked hard to hear what people were saying.

But the episode does, perhaps, hint at how seriously he expects his proposed solution to be taken.

Hundreds of circles, squares, and other geometric shapes once hidden by forest hint at a previously unknown ancient society that.

Cosmic expansion may leave astronomers of the far future with no hint of the big bang that started it.

The model is overall a light gray with the tiniest hint of green, not sky blue.

The porch and façade give no hint of the modernity inside.

Mistakes were made, he says, without offering an apology or a hint of culpability.

The speck of comfort for some is the hint that the predicament of the budget airlines could be worse still.

Voyager data, taken from specific regions within the boundary zone, had offered no hint that the ribbon existed.

Fresh clues hint at how the first living organisms arose from inanimate matter.

Entrances to the parkway appear regularly, but they are unobtrusive with no hint of civilization in sight.

The days are often sparkling and sunny but cool, with a hint of the coming winter in the crisp night.

If the hint doesn't apply to the ancestor, you can ignore the hint.

Goldstein reserves a hint of sympathy, a sense that his is a noble calling gone off the rails.

The only hint of menace was the number of people wearing face masks.

One hint to the sea's long-term history is that it lies below sea level.

Transformed muscle fibers hint at new strategies for muscle-wasting diseases.

Many other pieces also hint at political relevance, often using contrasting images to comment on social issues.

And if you find one with a hint of tropical fruit, you'll have a link to the sesame oil in the dish too.

They are dream gadgets that hint at possibilities beyond what current technology can support.

Not a single hint that literature holds anything special in his heart.

Indeed, the historical record provides a hint that something was afoot around this time.

And though largely gray today, patches of paint hint at once brightly colored clothes.

Clues in the text hint that the poet knew his astronomy.

There was no record or hint of emotion of a victimation complex.

Crisp green apple, pear, and cherry with a hint of peach and sprinkling of fresh herbs.

If you get stuck and can't find an item, you can ask for a hint.

If you were willing to give him a gentle hint that this is not the way to go about.

Six is not enough to be sure that oscillation is going on, but it is a strong hint that it might be.

Soon after came the first hint of the frozen northern ocean of today.

Particle collisions hint at existence of undiscovered gluon.

People always make drama when the hint of race is mentioned.

Light blue berries with hint of wild blueberry flavor.

Filtered handily without a hint of color distortion.

And do be sure to include that helpful hint during orientation.

Vaguely humanoid but with more than a hint of coming from another planet.

While the birds seem to be declining, some improvements hint at hope that populations can bounce back.

Cultural twists on the concept hint at new ways of lifting your spirits and making you more.

Spiced up with a hint of chile heat, it's a one-bowl, no-cook no-brainer.

Seen from below, the giant silo doors give little hint that there's a blue sky beyond.

Time was when the chancellor had only to hint at resignation to ensure his people fell trembling into line.

Other clues also hint that the victims hailed from diferent regions.

Cultural twists on the concept hint at new ways of lifting your spirits and making you more content with life.

Dried apricots and a hint of bourbon are mashed with creamy sweet potatoes in this crowd-pleasing side.

Notably absent in the statement is any hint that any legalities are involved.

Even a hint of spontaneity in legislative elections can make the party squirm.

The company took the hint at their next board meeting and so named the company.

Even a hint of alcohol in a drink tastes strongly of decay to me and thus ruins any flavor it may have.

It changes with my mood?anything from slightly spicy to old-rose or a hint of citrus.

To humans, they hint at an unappreciated world of animal communication.

The only hint of nearby strife is the heavy presence of watchful security guards.

Recent findings lay bare the origins of human hairlessness-and hint that naked.

It gave me my first hint that honeybees were in trouble when they vanished from my garden for two years.

One detail you won't find in the post is any hint of a time frame.

It suits all concerned to hint darkly that the banks are paying a high price.

There's not even any hint here of any technological approach.

It seems to be a dictatorship-but officials semi-privately hint at their distaste for their leader's antics.

Experiments hint at a subtle difference between them that may explain why antimatter is so rare.

He is sharp-witted, but with more than a hint of brawn:.

Bitter tastes often signal a food might be toxic or poisonous, whereas a sour zing may hint that something has fermented or.

He is chasing shadows-with a hint of desperation in his latest moves.

While those with a different form detect a hint of vanilla.

His voice is eerily soothing, his gaze steady, with a hint of an imperturbable smile.

But this stage could hint at what needs to happen to make the chloroplast a permanent part of the cell.

His final ordeal might have inspired great self-pity, though he displayed no hint of it.

Maybe such a way really needs the likes of us for there to be any interest or even the slightest hint of meaning.

Decency and honesty she had in plenty, and on occasion a hint of steel.

To that end, preliminary results hint that they might originate from stem cells in the heart, he reports.

The first hint is that the process requires a diamond surface covered with oxygen atoms.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

hint (hɪnt)

—n
1.	a suggestion or implication given in an indirect or subtle manner: he dropped a hint
2.	a helpful piece of advice or practical suggestion
3.	a small amount; trace

—vb (when intr, often foll by at; when tr, takes a clause as object)
4.	to suggest or imply indirectly

[C17: of uncertain origin]

'hinter

—n

'hinting

—n

'hintingly

—*adv*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

hint

1604, from obsolete hent, from O.E. hentan "to seize," from P.Gmc. *khantijanan (cf. Goth. hinþan "to seize"), related to hunt. Modern sense and spelling first attested in Shakespeare.

FOLDOC

Computing Dictionary

HINT definition

Hierarchical Information NeTs.
A language for the CDC 3600.
["HINT: A Graph Processing Language", R.D. Hart, Michigan State U, Apr 1970].
(1994-12-07)

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

hint

see take a hint.

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