stint
1 Americanverb (used without object)
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stints,
present (3rd person singular)
-
stinted,
past participle, past
-
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 first of those came just three minutes into his Chelsea debut in 1997, and it was with the Blues he enjoyed his best Premier League output before a later stint at Sunderland.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
He joined Vitol in 2012 after a stint at Goldman Sachs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
But an up and down second half included a short stint in the injured list, as the team kept an eye on his workload, and a move to the bullpen.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026
She previously had a brief stint as a spokesperson at the Department of Homeland Security.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
I say no, I’ve already had a stint of free lodging and now I have to take my chances with the market like anyone else.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
Though he began acting as a teenager with stints on “The Walking Dead” and “Euphoria” and continues to get cast as characters younger than he is, he’s never had that overly polished child-performer charm.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
A decade later—after stints at Meta Platforms and a startup backed by Andreessen Horowitz—Alfozan allegedly booked one-way plane tickets from San Francisco to Saudi Arabia for himself, his spouse and a family member.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
She had stints on Bill Clinton’s presidential bids, and Hillary Clinton’s senatorial operation.
From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026
"In my 20s, I went to war twice thinking I could outrun my feelings," the duke said, referring to his stints in Afghanistan as a member of the Army.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 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
Michael and Christian Blackwood began to work independently in the 1980s, but neither stinted on curiosity.
From New York Times ● Jun. 16, 2022
Wealthy countries stinted the cash they offered to poor nations to get clean technology.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2021
His use of figurative language was easy and natural, and not stinted; but his figures were always introduced as illustrations and not as arguments.
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 minor duds — the flea-beetled eggplants, the stinting watermelons — were overshadowed by all the successes, including a surfeit of choice varieties of tomatoes, greens, beans, squashes and okra, to name a few.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 22, 2020
They’ve done that without stinting on the wonder-inducing spectacle that was the Baroque’s reason for being.
From New York Times ● Oct. 14, 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
“No stinting, I see,” Luke said, taking up a fork with a gesture which would have confirmed his aunt’s worst suspicions.
From "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
