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.
Origin: 1250–1300; Middle English dente, variant of dint