stint

¹ American  

[stint] / stɪnt /

verb (used without object)

1. to be frugal; get along on a scanty allowance.

   Don't stint on the food.

   They stinted for years in order to save money.

2. Archaic. to cease action; desist.

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verb (used with object)

1. to limit to a certain amount, number, share, or allowance, often unduly; set limits to; restrict.

   Synonyms:

   skimp, scrimp, economize

2. Archaic. to bring to an end; check.

noun

1. a period of time spent doing something.

   a two-year stint in the army.

2. an allotted amount or piece of work.

   to do one's daily stint.

3. limitation or restriction, especially as to amount.

   to give without stint.

   Synonyms:

   tour of duty, tour, term, shift

4. a limited, prescribed, or expected quantity, share, rate, etc..

   to exceed one's stint.

   Synonyms:

   portion, allotment

5. Obsolete. a pause; halt.

stint ² American  

[stint] / stɪnt /

noun

1. any of various small sandpipers of the genus Calidris, as the least sandpiper.

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stint ¹ British  

/ stɪnt /

verb

1. to be frugal or miserly towards (someone) with (something)

2. archaic to stop or check (something)

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noun

1. an allotted or fixed amount of work

2. a limitation or check

3. obsolete a pause or stoppage

stint ² British  

/ stɪnt /

noun

1. any of various small sandpipers of the chiefly northern genus Calidris (or Erolia ), such as C. minuta ( little stint )

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Other Word Forms

• stintedly adverb
• stintedness noun
• stinter noun
• stintingly adverb
• stintless adjective
• unstinted adjective
• unstinting adjective
• unstintingly adverb

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” ( stunt ¹ ); noun derivative of the verb

Origin of stint²

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English; stynte, stint; further origin unknown

Example Sentences

A brief stint as an apprentice architect taught him to draw in the Beaux-Arts mode but he quickly moved beyond this, as we see from the breathtaking drawing that opens the show.

From The Wall Street Journal

Across a week, three of those gym stints are strength-based and two conditioning.

From BBC

He began his second stint as chief executive last May, returning to help stabilize the finances of the behemoth he helped build.

From The Wall Street Journal

He never rose beyond private first class during a 1950s stint in the military, but he projected so much machismo that he seemed born to wear an officer’s uniform.

From The Wall Street Journal

He has been looking for full-time work since a recent stint in nonprofit organizing ended while living with family in a Boston suburb, with rents putting an apartment of his own out of reach.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• assignment
• duty
• job
• spell
• stretch
• tour