DENT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does dent mean? 

• DENT (noun)
  The noun DENT has 3 senses:

1. an appreciable consequence (especially a lessening)

2. a depression scratched or carved into a surface

3. an impression in a surface (as made by a blow)

  Familiarity information: DENT used as a noun is uncommon.

• DENT (verb)
  The verb DENT has 1 sense:

1. make a depression into

  Familiarity information: DENT used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DENT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An appreciable consequence (especially a lessening)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Context example:

it made a dent in my bank account

Hypernyms ("dent" is a kind of...):

consequence; effect; event; issue; outcome; result; upshot (a phenomenon that follows and is caused by some previous phenomenon)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A depression scratched or carved into a surface

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Synonyms:

dent; incision; prick; scratch; slit

Hypernyms ("dent" is a kind of...):

depression; impression; imprint (a concavity in a surface produced by pressing)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dent"):

score; scotch (a slight surface cut (especially a notch that is made to keep a tally))

Derivation:

dent (make a depression into)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An impression in a surface (as made by a blow)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

dent; ding; gouge; nick

Hypernyms ("dent" is a kind of...):

blemish; defect; mar (a mark or flaw that spoils the appearance of something (especially on a person's body))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "dent"):

dig (a small gouge (as in the cover of a book))

Derivation:

dent (make a depression into)

• DENT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they dent    ... he / she / it dents   
Past simple: dented   
Past participle: dented   
-ing form: denting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make a depression into

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

dent; indent

Context example:

The bicycle dented my car

Hypernyms (to "dent" is one way to...):

bend; deform; flex; turn; twist (cause (a plastic object) to assume a crooked or angular form)

"Dent" entails doing...:

hit (deal a blow to, either with the hand or with an instrument)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

dent (an impression in a surface (as made by a blow))

dent (a depression scratched or carved into a surface)

 Context examples 

Deficiency in the enamel tissue that results in the formation of grooves, pits, or dents on the surface of the affected teeth.

(Enamel Hypoplasia, NCI Thesaurus)

He lifted one of Wolf's fore legs and examined the foot-pads, pressing them and denting them with his thumb. "Kind of soft," he remarked. "He ain't been on trail for a long time."

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

I could feel the soft, shivering touch of the lips on the super-sensitive skin of my throat, and the hard dents of two sharp teeth, just touching and pausing there.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

As a result, you will be able to put a strong dent in any debt you might be carrying and be able to put aside money to build a nest egg.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

The researchers planted 45 hybrid corn plants representing the major types of corn — popcorn, broom corn, dent, flint and others — to look for variation in their responses to high ozone levels.

(Study finds rising ozone a hidden threat to corn, National Science Foundation)

I will, declared the Scarecrow, for, if you found that you could not jump over the gulf, Dorothy would be killed, or the Tin Woodman badly dented on the rocks below.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

A question about whether an individual has or had swelling or pitting; which occurs when you press firmly on your skin and the dent stays long enough to feel it when you slide the pad of your finger across it.

(Have Swelling with Pitting, NCI Thesaurus)

Like dents in a bumper, we can see the damage by looking for ghostly trails of dust extending outward from the disk, showing that another galaxy might have passed through, dragging dust from our galaxy along for the ride.

(All we are is dust in the interstellar wind, NSF)

Here they dropped the poor Woodman, who fell a great distance to the rocks, where he lay so battered and dented that he could neither move nor groan.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

And when the tinsmiths came, bringing with them all their tools in baskets, she inquired, Can you straighten out those dents in the Tin Woodman, and bend him back into shape again, and solder him together where he is broken?

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)