dint

Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Origin: 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. obsolete “Mortal dint.” John Milton “Like thunder's dint.” Edward Fairfax

2. The mark left by a blow; an indentation or impression made by violence; a dent. John Dryden

Every dint a sword had beaten in it [the shield].— Alfred Tennyson

3. Force; power; — esp. in the phrase by dint of.

Now you weep; and, I perceive, you feel The dint of pity.— William Shakespeare

It was by dint of passing strength That he moved the massy stone at length.— Sir Walter Scott

To make a mark or cavity on or in, by a blow or by pressure; to dent. Donne. Tennyson.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54