faints

American

[faynts] / feɪnts /

Or feints

noun

(used with a plural verb)

the impure spirit produced in the first and last stages of the distillation of whiskey.

faints British

/ feɪnts /

plural noun

a variant spelling of feints

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of faints

1735–45; noun use (in plural) of faint (adj.)

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

faints

Yasser regularly faints when she tries to stand.

From Barron's ● Mar. 22, 2026

When Louise, angling for attention, participates in her church’s Inner Beauty pageant, her talent is holding her breath until she faints.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 7, 2026

In the pilot, the third-year medical student faints the first time in the exam room and has painfully awkward exchanges with her peers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2025

When a green resident faints, her fellow physicians wait for her to revive before tossing her back into the fray.

From Salon ● Jun. 23, 2025

This is a shock and she faints, and the burned one gets out of the mirror and into the pretty one’s body.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023