Hypertext Webster Gateway: "dint"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Dint \Dint\, n. [OE. dint, dent, dunt, a blow, AS. dynt; akin to
Icel. dyntr a dint, dynta to dint, and perh. to L. fendere
(in composition). Cf. 1st {Dent}, {Defend}.]
1. A blow; a stroke. [Obs.] ``Mortal dint.'' --Milton. ``Like
thunder's dint.'' --Fairfax.
2. The mark left by a blow; an indentation or impression made
by violence; a dent. --Dryden.
Every dint a sword had beaten in it [the shield].
--Tennyson.
3. Force; power; -- esp. in the phrase by dint of.
Now you weep; and, I perceive, you feel The dint of
pity. --Shak.
It was by dint of passing strength That he moved the
massy stone at length. --Sir W.
Scott.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Dint \Dint\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Dinted}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Dinting}.]
To make a mark or cavity on or in, by a blow or by pressure;
to dent. --Donne. Tennyson.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
dint
n : interchangeable with `means' in the expression `by dint of'
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