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:
Catchin' Sachin is the sub-plot to Root's second stint as captain, and he is adamant he can juggle the jobs of leadership and run-scoring.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
Morale aboard a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier already is difficult to maintain without a record-breaking stint, said Julie Roland, a retired veteran Navy lieutenant commander who worked briefly on the USS Lincoln.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Ewan joined him for the last stint in Yeovil and said she cannot wait to see koala bears in real life.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
In a stint that followed with the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
But he didn’t say it until Michael was already well out of the courtyard and probably feeling pretty good about his stint as the bad-ass.
From "The Miseducation of Cameron Post" by emily m. danforth
Russ Catron learned to make his shorter-term stints managing plants a selling point.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
When the time came to get an education, he skipped College Station for stints in New Haven and Cambridge.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
Over the past decade, I’ve moved from college in South Carolina to stints in a few local newsrooms to finally landing in New York in 2023.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
Neither Russell Martin nor Danny Rohl were able to restore past glories in their short stints in Govan while McInnes was taking Hearts to the verge of immortality.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
During summers home from Institute, the Coleman boys pulled stints as bellmen, and Katherine and her sister took jobs as personal maids to individual guests.
From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
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
Wealthy countries stinted the cash they offered to poor nations to get clean technology.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2021
President Obama has not stinted on handing out the Presidential Medal of Freedom during his time in office: He has bestowed it on at least 114 individuals, more than any of his predecessors.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 22, 2016
Was it a crafty sneer, or was it simply his stinted hospitality?
From What Will People Say? A novel by Rupert Hughes
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
The point is to provide an incentive to stick around, even if that means stinting on those who will not.
From New York Times ● Aug. 8, 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
I narrated its events, not stinting Pro Bono’s actions therein.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
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.
