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stint1

[stint]
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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.
  2. Archaic. to bring to an end; check.
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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.
  4. a limited, prescribed, or expected quantity, share, rate, etc.: to exceed one's stint.
  5. Obsolete. a pause; halt.
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Origin of stint1

1150–1200; (v.) Middle English stinten, Old English styntan to make blunt, dull; (noun) Middle English, derivative of the v.; cognate with Old Norse stytta to shorten; cf. stunt1
Related formsstint·ed·ly, adverbstint·ed·ness, nounstint·er, nounstint·ing·ly, adverbstint·less, adjectiveun·stint·ed, adjectiveun·stint·ing, adjectiveun·stint·ing·ly, adverb
Can be confusedstent stint

Synonyms

See more synonyms for stint on Thesaurus.com
3. confine, restrain. 7. restraint, constraint. 8. allotment, portion.

stint2

[stint]
noun
  1. any of various small sandpipers of the genus Calidris, as the least sandpiper.
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Origin of stint2

1425–75; late Middle English stynte < ?
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for stint

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • "Stint it, Humphrey," said the tall squire, with a burst of laughter.

    The White Company

    Arthur Conan Doyle

  • I want to finish this stint, so as to have the afternoon off.

    The Green Satin Gown

    Laura E. Richards

  • There he stopped, not entirely because his "stint" was done, but because what he saw surprised him.

    Fair Harbor

    Joseph Crosby Lincoln

  • With you every path is plain to us, every river passable, and of provisions we shall know no stint.

    Anabasis

    Xenophon

  • Daisy clapped her hands with delight, and did not stint her praise or approval.

British Dictionary definitions for stint

stint1

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
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Derived Formsstinter, noun

Word Origin

Old English styntan to blunt; related to Old Norse stytta to cut short; see stunt 1

stint2

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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Word Origin

Old English; related to Middle High German stinz small salmon, Swedish dialect stinta teenager; see stunt 1
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

Word Origin and History for stint

v.

"to limit, restrain, to be sparing or frugal," Old English styntan "to blunt, make dull," from Proto-Germanic *stuntijanan (cf. Old Norse stuttr "short, scant," Middle High German stunz "blunt, short," German stutzen "to cut short, curtail, stop, hesitate"), from PIE root *(s)teu- "to beat, strike, push, thrust" (see steep (adj.)). Related: Stinted; stinting. The noun is attested from c.1300.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper