Stint STINT, v.t. [Gr., narrow.]
1. To restrain within certain limits; to bound; to confine; to limit; as, to stint the body in growth; to stint the mind in knowledge; to stint a person in his meals.
Nature wisely stints our appetite.
2. To assign a certain task in labor, which being performed, the person is excused from further labor for the day, or for a certain time; a common popular use of the word in America.
STINT, n. A small bird, the Tringa cinctus.
STINT, n.
1. Limit; bound; restraint.
2. Quantity assigned; proportion allotted. The workmen have their stint.
Our stint of woe is common.

stint n 1: an unbroken period of time during which you do something; "there were stretches of boredom"; "he did a stretch in the federal penitentiary" [syn: stretch, stint] 2: smallest American sandpiper [syn: least sandpiper, stint, Erolia minutilla] 3: an individual's prescribed share of work; "her stint as a lifeguard exhausted her" v 1: subsist on a meager allowance; "scratch and scrimp" [syn: scrimp, stint, skimp] 2: supply sparingly and with restricted quantities; "sting with the allowance" [syn: stint, skimp, scant]

stint I. verb Etymology: Middle English, from Old English styntan to blunt, dull; akin to Old Norse stuttr scant Date: 13th century intransitive verb 1. archaic stop, desist 2. to be sparing or frugal <not stinting with their praise> transitive verb 1. archaic to put an end to ; stop 2. a. archaic to limit within certain boundaries b. to restrict with respect to a share or allowance <stinted herself of luxuries> • stinter noun II. noun Date: 1593 1. a. a definite quantity of work assigned b. a period of time spent at a particular activity <served a brief stint as a waiter> 2. restraint, limitation Synonyms: see task III. noun (plural stints; also stint) Etymology: Middle English stynte Date: 15th century any of several small sandpipers (genus Calidris)

stint
v. & n.
--v.tr.
1 supply (food or aid etc.) in a niggardly amount or grudgingly.
2 (often refl.) supply (a person etc.) in this way.
--n.
1 a limitation of supply or effort (without stint).
2 a fixed or allotted amount of work (do one's stint).
3 a small sandpiper, esp. a dunlin.
Derivatives:
stinter n. stintless adj.
Etymology: OE styntan to blunt, dull, f. Gmc, rel. to STUNT(1)

stint (stints) A stint is a period of time which you spend doing a particular job or activity or working in a particular place. He is returning to this country after a five-year stint in Hong Kong. N-COUNT: with supp, oft adj N, N prep

stint stɪnt v. & n. --v.tr. 1 supply (food or aid etc.) in a niggardly amount or grudgingly. 2 (often refl.) supply (a person etc.) in this way. --n. 1 a limitation of supply or effort (without stint). 2 a fixed or allotted amount of work (do one's stint). 3 a small sandpiper, esp. a dunlin. øøstinter n. stintless adj. [OE styntan to blunt, dull, f. Gmc, rel. to STUNT(1)]

Sanderling \San"der*ling\, n. [Sand + -ling. So called because it obtains its food by searching the moist sands of the seashore.] (Zo["o]l.) A small gray and brown sandpiper ({Calidris arenaria}) very common on sandy beaches in America, Europe, and Asia. Called also curwillet, sand lark, stint, and ruddy plover.

Stint \Stint\, n. (Zo["o]l.) (a) Any one of several species of small sandpipers, as the sanderling of Europe and America, the dunlin, the little stint of India ({Tringa minuta}), etc. Called also pume. (b) A phalarope.

Stint \Stint\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stinted; p. pr. & vb. n. Stinting.] [OE. stinten, stenten, stunten, to cause to cease, AS. styntan (in comp.) to blunt, dull, fr. stunt dull, stupid; akin to Icel. stytta to shorten, stuttr short, dial, Sw. stynta to shorten, stunt short. Cf. Stent, Stunt.] 1. To restrain within certain limits; to bound; to confine; to restrain; to restrict to a scant allowance. I shall not go about to extenuate the latitude of the curse upon the earth, or stint it only to the production of weeds. --Woodward. She stints them in their meals. --Law. 2. To put an end to; to stop. [Obs.] --Shak. 3. To assign a certain (i. e., limited) task to (a person), upon the performance of which one is excused from further labor for the day or for a certain time; to stent. 4. To serve successfully; to get with foal; -- said of mares. The majority of maiden mares will become stinted while at work. --J. H. Walsh.

Stint \Stint\, v. i. To stop; to cease. [Archaic] They can not stint till no thing be left. --Chaucer. And stint thou too, I pray thee. --Shak. The damsel stinted in her song. --Sir W. Scott.

Stint \Stint\, n. [Also written stent. See Stint, v. t.] 1. Limit; bound; restraint; extent. God has wrote upon no created thing the utmost stint of his power. --South. 2. Quantity or task assigned; proportion allotted. His old stint -- three thousand pounds a year. --Cowper.

stint I. v. a. 1. Limit, bound, restrain, confine. 2. Straiten, pinch, distress, begrudge, put on short allowance. II. v. n. Stop, cease, desist. III. n. 1. Limit, bound, restraint. 2. Quantity assigned, allotted portion.

stint stɪnt n. 1 share, quota, allotment, bit, assignment, stretch, shift, term, time, job, chore, task, routine, turn, tour, duty, responsibility, obligation, charge: She had done her stint of washing-up and refused to do any more. 2 control, curb, limit, limitation, restriction, check, restraint, constraint, condition, qualification, reservation: The committee is free to exercise without stint its power to raise membership fees. --v. 3 control, curb, limit, restrict: Don't stint yourself, lunch is on the firm. 4 skimp, scrimp, be stingy or cheap or penurious or parsimonious or sparing or frugal, hold back (on), withhold, economize, pinch (pennies), cut corners, Colloq Brit be mingy: They certainly didn't stint on the food and drink at Andrea's party.

161 Moby Thesaurus words for "stint": allotment, amount, anchor watch, apportionment, assignment, begrudge, bit, bound, bout, box, box in, box up, busywork, caliber, chare, charge, check, chore, circumscribe, circumscription, commission, compass, condition, confine, confinement, constraint, contain, control, copyright, cramp, cramping, curb, cut, cut corners, day shift, degree, devoir, discipline, dogwatch, draw the line, duty, economize, errand, exercise, extent, famish, fish to fry, full time, go, grade, graveyard shift, grudge, half time, hedge about, height, hem, hem in, homework, interval, job, job of work, keep from spreading, keep within bounds, labor, leap, level, limit, limitation, live upon nothing, lobster trick, localize, make-work, mark, matters in hand, measure, mission, moderate, narrow, night shift, notch, nuance, obligation, odd job, overtime, part time, participation, pas, patent, peg, period, piece of work, pinch, pinch pennies, pitch, plane, plateau, point, project, proportion, qualification, qualify, quantity, quota, range, ratio, reach, register, relay, remove, reservation, responsibility, restrain, restraint, restrict, restriction, round, routine, rung, scale, scamp, scant, scope, scrape, screw, scrimp, service, shade, shadow, share, shift, short, skimp, space, spare, specialize, split schedule, split shift, stair, standard, starve, step, straiten, stretch, stricture, sunrise watch, swing shift, task, term, things to do, tighten, time, tour, tour of duty, tread, trick, turn, turn of work, watch, withhold, work, work shift

look up a word or phrase