squint
to look with the eyes partly closed.
Ophthalmology. to be affected with strabismus; be cross-eyed.
to look or glance obliquely or sidewise; look askance.
to make or have an indirect reference to or bearing on; tend or incline toward (usually followed by toward, at, etc.).
to close (the eyes) partly in looking: The baby squinted his eyes at the bright lights.
to cause to squint; cause to look obliquely.
an act or instance of squinting.
Ophthalmology. a condition of the eye consisting in noncoincidence of the optic axes; strabismus.
Informal. a quick glance: Let me have a squint at that paper.
a looking obliquely or askance.
an indirect reference.
an inclination or tendency, especially an oblique or perverse one.
Also called hagioscope. (in a church) a small opening in a wall giving a view of the altar.
looking obliquely; looking with a side glance; looking askance.
Ophthalmology. (of the eyes) affected with strabismus.
Origin of squint
1Other words from squint
- squint·er, noun
- squint·ing·ly, adverb
- squint·ing·ness, noun
- un·squint·ing, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use squint in a sentence
I squinted at the spot, about five meters up the tree trunk, and saw only a brown knob speckled with gray.
On a cool night in Malaysia, scientists track mysterious colugos across the treetops | Yao-Hua Law | November 20, 2020 | Science NewsI squinted and tried to make out the tangerine-hued tendrils that snaked their way across the ground under a veil of hot steam.
Yellowstone National Park Is a Geyser Wonderland | Emily Pennington | November 18, 2020 | Outside OnlineIn a year already turned upside down by the coronavirus and economic upheaval, students were refreshing their screens, squinting at results and trying to make sense of the most consequential election of their young lives.
During election week like no other, teachers help students make sense of it all | Joe Heim, Hannah Natanson, Valerie Strauss | November 7, 2020 | Washington PostYou don’t need to squint when you’re looking for a blinding flash.
Astronomers have traced mysterious radio waves to a source in our own galaxy | Charlie Wood | November 4, 2020 | Popular-ScienceShe squinted, blinked sporadically, and tilted her head, as if straining to wrestle answers from her brain.
Jeopardy! Champion Julia Collins’s Brain Feels Like Mush | Sujay Kumar | November 20, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
He squinted at my name-tag and, after finding out that I was a fiction writer, asked what kind of work I did.
At her side was her calf, which turned and squinted at us through baby eyes.
Borana Joins the Fight to Save Kenya’s Rhinos…and Wants You to Help Too | Joanna Eede | February 18, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTI will never forget the rays of January sunshine that I squinted into after those seven hours were finally over.
She squinted up and down 55th before someone yelled directions, and she walked eastward to find it.
No one had seen Konnel, apparently, so I went outside and squinted along the dim, narrow street.
Fee of the Frontier | Horace Brown FyfeHe got up, planted both feet on it and teetered back and forth, chuckling up at Bud with his eyes squinted.
Cabin Fever | B. M. BowerHe moved one of those pointers you see there, and squinted around at the different scales and dials, and then stepped back.
Vanishing Point | C.C. BeckO'Day squinted his eyes, his lips moving in silent calculation.
From Place to Place | Irvin S. CobbParr squinted at the huts, around the doors of which lounged the other men.
The Devil's Asteroid | Manly Wade Wellman
British Dictionary definitions for squint
/ (skwɪnt) /
(usually intr) to cross or partly close (the eyes)
(intr) to have a squint
(intr) to look or glance sideways or askance
the nontechnical name for strabismus
the act or an instance of squinting; glimpse
Also called: hagioscope a narrow oblique opening in a wall or pillar of a church to permit a view of the main altar from a side aisle or transept
informal a quick look; glance
having a squint
informal crooked; askew
Origin of squint
1Derived forms of squint
- squinter, noun
- squinty, adjective
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
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