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dent

 - 13 dictionary results
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dent

1  [dent]
–noun
1. a hollow or depression in a surface, as from a blow.
2. a noticeable effect, esp. of reduction: to leave a dent in one's savings; a dent in one's pride.
–verb (used with object)
3. to make a dent in or on; indent: The impact dented the car's fender.
4. to have the effect of reducing or slightly injuring: The caustic remark dented his ego.
–verb (used without object)
5. to show dents; become indented: Tin dents more easily than steel.
6. to sink in, making a dent: Nails dent into metal.
—Idioms
7. make a dent, Informal. to cause a person to take heed; make an impression: The doctor told him to stop smoking, but it didn't make a dent.
8. make a dent in, to show initial progress; pass an initial stage of (work, thought, solving a problem, etc.): I haven't even made a dent in this pile of work.
Use dent in a Sentence
Origin:
1250–1300; ME dente, var. of dint
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dent

2  [dent]
–noun
1. a toothlike projection, as a tooth of a gearwheel.
2. Textiles. the space between two wires through which the warp ends are drawn in the reed of a loom.
Origin:
1545–55; < MF < L dent- (s. of dēns) tooth

dent-

 
var. of denti- before a vowel: dentin.

dent.

 
1. dental.
2. dentist.
3. dentistry.

denti-

 
a combining form meaning “tooth,” used in the formation of compound words: dentiform.
Also, especially before a vowel, dent-.
Compare odonto-.

Origin:
< L, comb. form of dēns, s. dent-; see tooth
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To dent
dent 1   (děnt)   
n.  

  1. A depression in a surface made by pressure or a blow: a dent in the side of a car.

  2. Informal A significant, usually diminishing effect or impression: The loss put a dent in the team's confidence.

  3. Informal Meaningful progress; headway: at least made a dent in the work.

v.   dent·ed, dent·ing, dents

v.   tr.
To make a dent in.
v.   intr.
To become dented: a fender that dents easily.

[Middle English dent, variant of dint, blow, from Old English dynt.]
dent 2   (děnt)   
n.  See tooth.

[French; see dentist.]
tooth   (tōōth)   


(click for larger image in new window)
n.   pl. teeth (tēth)

    1. One of a set of hard, bonelike structures rooted in sockets in the jaws of vertebrates, typically composed of a core of soft pulp surrounded by a layer of hard dentin that is coated with cementum or enamel at the crown and used for biting or chewing food or as a means of attack or defense.

    2. A similar structure in invertebrates, such as one of the pointed denticles or ridges on the exoskeleton of an arthropod or the shell of a mollusk.

    3. Something that injures or destroys with force. Often used in the plural: the teeth of the blizzard.

    4. teeth Effective means of enforcement; muscle: "This . . . puts real teeth into something where there has been only lip service" (Ellen Convisser).

  2. A projecting part resembling a tooth in shape or function, as on a comb, gear, or saw.

  3. A small, notched projection along a margin, especially of a leaf. Also called dent2.

  4. A rough surface, as of paper or metal.

    1. Something that injures or destroys with force. Often used in the plural: the teeth of the blizzard.

    2. teeth Effective means of enforcement; muscle: "This . . . puts real teeth into something where there has been only lip service" (Ellen Convisser).

  6. Taste or appetite: She always had a sweet tooth.

v.   (tōōth, tōōth) toothed, tooth·ing, tooths

v.   tr.

  1. To furnish (a tool, for example) with teeth.

  2. To make a jagged edge on.

v.   intr.
To become interlocked; mesh.

[Middle English, from Old English tōth; see dent- in Indo-European roots.]
Word History: Eating, biting, teeth, and dentists are related not only logically but etymologically; that is, the roots of the words eat, tooth, and dentist have a common origin. The Proto-Indo-European root *ed-, meaning "to eat" and the source of our word eat, originally meant "to bite." A participial form of *ed- in this sense was *dent-, "biting," which came to mean "tooth." Our word tooth comes from *dont-, a form of *dent-, with sound changes that resulted in the Germanic word *tanthuz. This word became Old English tōth and Modern English tooth. Meanwhile the Proto-Indo-European form *dent- itself became in Latin dēns (stem dent-), "tooth," from which is derived our word dentist. We find a descendant of another Proto-Indo-European form *(o)dont- in the word orthodontist.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

dent 
c.1325, "a strike or blow," dialectal variant of M.E. dint (q.v.); sense of "indentation" first recorded 1565, apparently infl. by indent.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: dent
Function: abbreviation
dental; dentist; dentistry
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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dent- pref.
Variant of denti-.

denti- or dent- or dento-
pref.

  1. Tooth: dentalgia.

  2. Dental: dentilabial.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Idioms & Phrases

dent

see make a dent in.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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