dent

1 of 5

verb

ˈdent 

dented; denting; dents

transitive verb

1

: to make a dent in

dent a car

2

: to have a weakening effect on

intransitive verb

: to form a dent by sinking inward : become dented

dent

2 of 5

noun (1)

1

: a depression or hollow made by a blow or by pressure

2

: an appreciable impression or effect often made against resistance

hasn't made a dent in the problem

specifically : a weakening or lessening effect

costs that have made a dent in the budget

dent

3 of 5

noun (2)

: tooth sense 2a

dent

4 of 5

abbreviation

dental; dentist; dentistry

dent-

5 of 5

combining form

variants or denti- or dento-

: tooth : teeth

dentiform

Synonyms of dent

Verb

• reduce
• decrease
• lower

Noun (1)

• hole
• pit
• cavity

Examples of dent in a Sentence

Verb

I'm afraid I dented the wall pretty badly when I was hammering in that nail.

Many of the cans were badly dented.

Some types of metal dent more easily than others.

The team's confidence has been dented by a recent series of losses.

Noun (1)

there was a big dent in the car's hood where something had hit it

a little belt-tightening would at least make a small dent in our credit-card debt

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Margins for ServiceNow were a concern, and so was subscription revenue growth, which was dented by the war. —Morgan Chittum, CNBC, 25 Apr. 2026

The controversy could dent Anthropic’s bottom line amid an increasingly bitter race with rival OpenAI. —Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 24 Apr. 2026

Noun

The 21-pitch at-bat When Belt stepped in the box for his first at-bat on April 22, 2018, second baseman Joe Panik had already put a dent into Jaime Barria’s pitch count by making the righty throw seven pitches before hitting a single. —Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 25 Apr. 2026

Smooth Dents and Remove Stains from Wood Wooden floors and tables can be extremely prone to dents, nicks, and stains, but an iron can be a surprisingly effective way to clear off water stains and smooth out dents. —Ashley Chalmers, The Spruce, 23 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English, short for indenten to make dents in, indent

Noun (2)

French, literally, tooth, from Latin dent-, dens

Combining form

Middle English denti-, from Latin, from dent-, dens tooth — more at tooth

First Known Use

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun (1)

1565, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

1703, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing dent

• dent corn
• make/put a dent

Rhymes for dent

• bent
• blent
• cent
• ent
• fent
• lent
• meant
• pent
• rent
• rente
• scent
• sent

Kids Definition

dent

1 of 2 verb

ˈdent 

1

: to make a dent in or on

2

: to become marked by a dent

dent

2 of 2 noun

1

: a notch or hollow made by a blow or by pressure

2

a

: an impression or effect made usually against resistance

that purchase made a big dent in our savings

b

: noticeable progress

made a dent in our pile of work

Medical Definition

dent

abbreviation

dental; dentist; dentistry

Biographical Definition

Dent

biographical name

ˈdent 

Joseph Mal*a*by ˈma-lə-bē  1849–1926 English publisher