stint
1 Americanverb (used without object)
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stints,
present (3rd person singular)
-
stinted,
past participle, past
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stinting
present participle
-
to be frugal; get along on a scanty allowance.
Don't stint on the food.
They stinted for years in order to save money.
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Archaic. to cease action; desist.
verb (used with object)
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stints,
present (3rd person singular)
-
stinted,
past participle, past
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stinting
present participle
noun
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a period of time spent doing something.
a two-year stint in the army.
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an allotted amount or piece of work.
to do one's daily stint.
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limitation or restriction, especially as to amount.
to give without stint.
- Synonyms:
- tour of duty, tour, term, shift
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a limited, prescribed, or expected quantity, share, rate, etc..
to exceed one's stint.
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Obsolete. a pause; halt.
noun
verb
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to be frugal or miserly towards (someone) with (something)
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archaic to stop or check (something)
noun
-
an allotted or fixed amount of work
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a limitation or check
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obsolete a pause or stoppage
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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stintednessnoun
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stinternoun
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stintlessadjective
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unstintedadjective
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unstintingadjective
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stintedlyadverb
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stintinglyadverb
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unstintinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stintsimple
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stintssimple
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have stintedperfect
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has stintedperfect
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am stintingprogressive
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are stintingprogressive
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is stintingprogressive
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have been stintingperfect progressive
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has been stintingperfect progressive
Past
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stintedsimple
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had stintedperfect
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was stintingprogressive
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were stintingprogressive
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had been stintingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stint1
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English verb stinten, stenten “to cease,” Old English styntan “to make blunt, dull”; cognate with Old Norse stytta “to shorten” ( cf. stunt 1); noun derivative of the verb
Origin of stint2
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English; stynte, stint; further origin unknown
Explanation
The noun stint means a set amount of time in which you do something — often work of some sort. "She served a stint in the army, followed by a stint in an office setting, before settling on a career as a lounge singer." Unlike a project or vocation, a stint can refer to the stretch of time spent doing a particular job. You apply for a job, but you refer to your past stint in the Peace Corps. As a verb, stint means to be sparing or frugal, or restrict in a stingy manner ("to skimp"). "The school board chose to make cuts at the administrative level, rather than stint on the children's education."
Vocabulary lists containing stint
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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:
The Dodgers could have shut him down as a hitter, not for the season but for a stint on the injured list.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026
During Owens’ stint in Chicago, Biles regularly traveled between Illinois and Texas as construction continued on the couple’s custom mansion outside Houston.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
Ohtani is feeling “considerably” better than he was before the IL stint, according to Roberts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
Walmart ended a roughly 20-year partnership with Synchrony Financial in 2018 in part because of approval rates—only to return to the issuer after a tumultuous stint with Capital One.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
I started to expect that every hospital stint would end with her returning home.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
Fried has had two arduous IL stints dealing with a bone bruise on his left elbow.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
A-Baki's close ties with Trump, forged during multiple stints as Ecuador's ambassador to Washington, could help her stand out from a crowded field of eight candidates vying to lead the UN.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
He later had stints at Bayern Munich, Aston Villa and Al-Duhail before the return to Vasco.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
Instead, he followed a circuitous path that included cult comedy fame and sitcom stints.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
After stints in North Carolina, New York, Florida, Virginia, California, and a handful of other states, he returned home to southern Maryland and started work at a job that would change his life.
From "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates" by Wes Moore
Five or six spring-times, welcomed joyously, lovingly watched from the first celandine to the budding of the rose; who shall dare to call it a stinted boon?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025
The administration also hasn’t stinted on disaster aid.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 28, 2023
Or at least approaches its end, as we did on Saturday, four days before the fall equinox, on a day that may have stinted on true summer heat but supplied generous helpings of humidity.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 18, 2021
Wealthy countries stinted the cash they offered to poor nations to get clean technology.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2021
They all appear to originate only in such sheep as are exposed to the sapping influence of low damp situations, combined with stinted diet.
From A Treatise on Sheep: The Best Means for their Improvement, General Management, and the Treatment of their Diseases. by Ambrose Blacklock
Without stinting on Singapore expansion plans, Sands could buy back 20% to 30% of its current market capitalization, says Goldman.
From Barron's ● Dec. 23, 2025
He did this with elegant vengeance favoring formal power over narrative while stinting neither on his subjects’ dignity, nor on the harsh realities that many faced.
From New York Times ● Oct. 10, 2019
We remain convinced, in contradiction of all the available evidence, that stinting on sleep makes us heroic and industrious, rather than stupid and fat.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 3, 2018
My own were slow to get established, lacked vigor, flopped and were stinting in flower.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 8, 2018
The attendants also hurried to show the hospitality of the great house, setting food and wine before him and stinting him in nothing.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
