squint

adjective

\ˈskwint

Definition of squint

(Entry 1 of 3)

1 of an eye : looking or tending to look obliquely or askance (as with envy or disdain)

2 of the eyes : not having the visual axes parallel : crossed

squint

verb

squinted; squinting; squints

Definition of squint (Entry 2 of 3)

intransitive verb

1a : to have an indirect bearing, reference, or aim

b : to deviate from a true line

2a : to look in a squint-eyed manner

b : to be cross-eyed

c : to look or peer with eyes partly closed

transitive verb

: to cause (an eye) to squint

squint

noun

Definition of squint (Entry 3 of 3)

1 : strabismus

2 : an instance of squinting

3 : hagioscope

Other Words from squint Example Sentences Learn More about squint

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Other Words from squint

Verb

squinter noun

squintingly \ˈskwin-tiŋ-lē

\ adverb

Noun

squinty \ˈskwin-tē

\ adjective

Examples of squint in a Sentence

Verb

She had to squint to read the small print. He squinted through the haze of smoke. I had to squint my eyes to focus on the tiny letters. I noticed that he squints.

Noun

Her gaze narrowed into a squint.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Andrew Weitz, an intense, wiry man whom Jossen had hired to update his look, squinted at Jossen’s trousers. — Jane Mayer, The New Yorker, "The Man Who’s Helped Elon Musk, Tom Brady, and Ari Emanuel Get Dressed," 18 Mar. 2013 At his parole hearing in 2017, Gunin slouched in his chair and squinted uncomfortably at a webcam. — Jonathan Small, Good Housekeeping, "A Drunk Driver Destroyed Jennifer Tracy's Family. Now, She Wants to Save Him.," 2 July 2018 Meanwhile, along the wood line, the snipers lay on the ground, squinting through scopes at the action inside the bank. — Aaron Gell, Longreads, "Did Brian Easley Have to Die?," 9 Apr. 2018 At the blockbuster plenary sessions, the chairs stretched so far back that even the most youthful Silicon Valley college dropouts-turned VC hoovers had to squint to see the action up in front. — Aarian Marshall, WIRED, "Home From the Honeymoon, the Self-Driving Car Industry Faces Reality," 13 July 2018 After days trapped in darkened cattle cars, squinting into bright floodlights lining the tracks was almost unbearable. — Jay Winik, WSJ, "Trump’s Critics Desecrate the Holocaust," 21 June 2018 Ghana gave my Bay Area eyes, squinting into a bright blue sky, a whole new palette, a landscape and architecture and people in clothes and rioted textures and colors. — Aaron Gilbreath, Longreads, "Old In Art School," 20 June 2018 With these particular photos, Mann squints to see the men on the other side. — Cate Mcquaid, BostonGlobe.com, "At PEM, Sally Mann stays outside the comfort zone," 12 July 2018 Be your own thesaurus and fact-checker, and squint with your ears at phrasing that comes off as aggressively neutral. — Michael Andor Brodeur, BostonGlobe.com, "The official language of the US? It’s euphemism.," 21 June 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

But for these new forms to emerge, Black artists will need to treat Asian culture as more than a squint, and Asians will need to dig further into Black culture than simply a strategic means to coolness. — Andrew Chow, refinery29.com, "Let's Be Real: Asian And Black Artists Aren't "Celebrating" Each Other Through Hip-Hop," 22 May 2018 Their perma-squints are born of concentration, pressure and sunshine. — Paul Daugherty, Cincinnati.com, "Doc: Patrick Reed’s fire, anger could lead him to glory," 7 Apr. 2018 But Cincinnati brings a next-level combination of meat and cheese to any Super Bowl (or holiday) spread in the form of [squints, clutches pearls] ... hanky-panks? — Katie Vogel, Cincinnati.com, "It was a busy week in the news. Here's what you missed.," 2 Feb. 2018 People older than 32 thought squint, jingle, burlesque and pong were hilarious. — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, "Bepob Over Here Nitwit: Study Identifies the Funniest Words in the English Language," 3 Aug. 2017 Those naturally wide eyes of Harrelson’s are a long way from the scowly LBJ squint, the one that revealed a politico of wily resolve and charismatic duplicity. — Michael Phillips, idahostatesman, "Woody Harrelson tries on the prosthetic ears in ‘LBJ’," 2 Nov. 2017 Many fans showed outrage on social media Friday night as images immediately surfaced of Gurriel making an eye-squint gesture in the dugout after homering off of Darvish, who is half Japanese, during the Astros’ 5-3 win in Game 3. — Michael Mcgough, sacbee, "World Series: Gurriel's suspension set for 2018; fans think that's too late | The Sacramento Bee," 28 Oct. 2017 The sun forced her eye into a squint and lit up her short red hair. — Joshua Emerson Smith, sandiegouniontribune.com, "After crackdown on tent city, homeless recount Hepatitis horror stories," 30 Sep. 2017 Felt, whom Neeson plays mostly via a series of grumpy squints and barely perceptible nose-twitches, begins to suspect something much darker could be afoot, going far beyond a botched attempt to bug the Democratic Party’s election headquarters. — David Sims, The Atlantic, "Mark Felt Tells a Familiar Tale of the Watergate Scandal," 26 Sep. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'squint.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for squint

Adjective

probably aphetic form of earlier a squint, going back to Middle English a squynt, in the phrase beholden (loken) a squynt "to be cross-eyed, look obliquely," from a- a- entry 1 + squynt, of uncertain origin

Note: Middle English a squynt, asquint has been compared with Dutch schuin "aslant, slantingly, askew" (unknown in Middle Dutch, first attested as schuyn "transversus, obliquus" in the Dutch-Latin dictionary of Cornelis Kiliaan, 1599), though the nature of the relationship is unclear. (Dutch schuin is paralleled by Gronings [West Low German] schuun, Low German schün, hypothetically from Germanic *skeuni-.) The form asquint is attested early, already in the Ancrene Wisse (as an addition in one manuscript, British Library Cotton Nero A.14, mid-13th century), but if a putative early Middle Dutch [sχy:n], prior to the development of the diphthong, is the source, -squint seems an unlikely outcome. Variants without t (of skwyn "on a slant," askoyn, ascoign "askance") may have a more direct relationship to Dutch schuin.