hint

From Middle English hinten, hynten, variant of henten (“to lay hold of, catch”), from Old English hentan (“to seize, grasp”), from Proto-West Germanic *hantijan, from Proto-Germanic *hantijaną. Doublet of hent. Related also to hunt.

• IPA^(key): /hɪnt/

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -ɪnt

hint (plural hints)

1. A clue.

   I needed a hint to complete the crossword.

2. An implicit suggestion that avoids a direct statement.

   He gave me a hint that my breath smelt.

3. A small, barely detectable amount.

   There was a hint of irony in his voice.

   I could taste a hint of lemon in my iced water.

   • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 2, in A Cuckoo in the Nest‎:

     Mother very rightly resented the slightest hint of condescension. She considered that the exclusiveness of Peter's circle was due not to its distinction, but to the fact that it was an inner Babylon of prodigality and whoredom, […] .

4. (computing) Information in a computer-based font that suggests how the outlines of the font's glyphs should be distorted in order to produce, at specific sizes, a visually appealing pixel-based rendering; an instance of hinting.

   This font does not scale well to small sizes; the hints for the 10-point letter 'g' still need work.

5. (databases) An instruction to the database engine as to how a query should be executed, for example whether to use an index or not.
6. (obsolete) An opportunity; occasion; fit time.
   • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene ii]:

     I, not remembering how I cried out then, / Will cry it o'er again: it is a hint / That wrings mine eyes to't.

• (small amount): see also Thesaurus:modicum.

hint (third-person singular simple present hints, present participle hinting, simple past and past participle hinted)

1. (intransitive) To imply without a direct statement; to provide a clue.

   She hinted at the possibility of a recount of the votes.

   • 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad‎:

     “I have tried, as I hinted, to enlist the co-operation of other capitalists, but experience has taught me that any appeal is futile that does not impinge directly upon cupidity. … .”

2. (transitive) To bring to mind by a slight mention or remote allusion; to suggest in an indirect manner.

   to hint a suspicion

   • 1735, [Alexander] Pope, An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot, London; Dublin: Re-printed by George Faulkner, bookseller, […], OCLC 6363280:

     Just hint a fault and hesitate dislike.

   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], OCLC 928184292:

     We shall not describe this tragical scene too fully; but we thought ourselves obliged, by that historic integrity which we profess, shortly to hint a matter which we would otherwise have been glad to have spared.

3. (transitive) To develop and add hints to a font.

   The typographer worked all day on hinting her new font so it would look good on computer screens.

• See also Thesaurus:allude

• Nith, thin, thin'

From English hint.

• IPA^(key): [ˈhenˀd̥]

hint n (singular definite hintet, plural indefinite hint or hints)

1. hint, clue

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• IPA^(key): [ˈhiˀnd̥], [hind̥]

hint

1. neuter singular of hin

Borrowing from English hint.

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hint f or m (plural hints, diminutive hintje n)

1. hint

• aanwijzing

• tip

hint

1. first-, second- and third-person singular present indicative of hinten
2. imperative of hinten

From an unattested stem of unknown origin + -t (causative suffix).[1][2]

• IPA^(key): [ˈhint]
• Hyphenation: hint
• Rhymes: -int

hint

1. (transitive) to scatter, sprinkle (to cause a substance to fall in fine drops (for a liquid substance) or small pieces (for a solid substance))

   Synonyms: szór, hullat

   A cukrász porcukrot hint a süteményre. ― The confectioner sprinkles powedered sugar on the cookie.

• hintés

(With verbal prefixes):

• hint in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

From English hint.

hint n (definite singular hintet, indefinite plural hint, definite plural hinta or hintene)

1. a hint
   • 2014, "Grepet av deg" by Sylvia Day, Bastion Forlag →ISBN

     Mykt og taktfast, erfarent, med akkurat det rette hintet av lidenskap holdt i tøyler.

     Soft and measured, experienced, with just the right hint of passion kept in check.

• “hint” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “hint” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

From English hint.

hint n (definite singular hintet, indefinite plural hint, definite plural hinta)

1. a hint

• “hint” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

From Middle English hunten, from Old English huntian.

hint

1. to hunt

• Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 46