1
: a depression or hollow made by a blow or by pressure
2
: an appreciable impression or effect often made against resistance
hasn't made a dent in the problem
specifically
: a weakening or lessening effect
costs that have made a dent in the budget
Synonyms
Examples of dent in a Sentence
Verb
I'm afraid I dented the wall pretty badly when I was hammering in that nail.
Many of the cans were badly dented.
Some types of metal dent more easily than others.
The team's confidence has been dented by a recent series of losses.
Recent Examples on the Web
Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 10 Apr. 2024
The Mark by Jean-George may dent your wallet, but this really is dining out New York-style at a very high level.
—John Mariani, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
Footage from local news outlets showed cars and metal fencing dented after the incident.
—Daniel Wu, Washington Post, 7 Mar. 2024
Regarding the dual strikes, the impacts of which continue to loom large over the industry, Yutani said the work stoppages didn’t dent the submissions.
—Chris Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Jan. 2024
The path immediately ahead may appear rocky, but Deutsche Bank expects that the airline will see strong business in the second and third quarters, even if the first quarter’s performance is dented by factors like the strikes.
—Prarthana Prakash, Fortune Europe, 12 Mar. 2024
Image Still, the falling-out hasn’t dented Mr. Peltz’s friendship with Mr. Perlmutter.
—Lauren Hirsch, New York Times, 16 Mar. 2024
The glasses need a specific filter and can't be scratched or dented.
—Binghui Huang, The Indianapolis Star, 13 Mar. 2024
Trump’s criminal cases don’t appear to have dented his support among the Republican base.
—Jonathan Shorman, Kansas City Star, 2 Mar. 2024
Irina Ivanova, Fortune, 13 Apr. 2024
With mentorship from the N.W.A star, Yo-Yo delivered a trio of albums that received critical acclaim but failed to make a dent on the Billboard 200.
—Liz Sanchez, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2024
Plastic producers need to make a dent in the problem
The Great Lakes don't have currents like oceans do, so the litter that people see didn't wash up from far away.
—Caitlin Looby, Journal Sentinel, 11 Apr. 2024
On top of that, higher-dollar cars barely made a dent in sales and production.
—Andy Kalmowitz / Jalopnik, Quartz, 11 Apr. 2024
The incident was nothing short of perverse: Israel targeted and killed people trying to make a dent in the imminent famine that Israel itself has engineered as part of its strategy to demoralize and destroy, in whole or in part*, the Palestinian population.
—Longreads, 5 Apr. 2024
Cloud Apartments hopes to use its affordable housing approach to make a dent in the housing woes nationwide.
—George Avalos, The Mercury News, 4 Apr. 2024
In terms of salary, her WNBA paycheck will barely make a dent in her net wealth: First-year WNBA players earn around $76,000 a year.
—Dylan Sloan, Fortune, 2 Apr. 2024
An infrastructure law passed by Congress with bipartisan support and signed by President Biden in 2021 is making a dent in that deficit, but key transportation projects are still beset by financial challenges.
—Peter Hermann, Washington Post, 29 Mar. 2024
Verb
Announcing such big financial commitments immediately dents the share price.
—Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 10 Apr. 2024
The Mark by Jean-George may dent your wallet, but this really is dining out New York-style at a very high level.
—John Mariani, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
Footage from local news outlets showed cars and metal fencing dented after the incident.
—Daniel Wu, Washington Post, 7 Mar. 2024
Regarding the dual strikes, the impacts of which continue to loom large over the industry, Yutani said the work stoppages didn’t dent the submissions.
—Chris Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Jan. 2024
The path immediately ahead may appear rocky, but Deutsche Bank expects that the airline will see strong business in the second and third quarters, even if the first quarter’s performance is dented by factors like the strikes.
—Prarthana Prakash, Fortune Europe, 12 Mar. 2024
Image Still, the falling-out hasn’t dented Mr. Peltz’s friendship with Mr. Perlmutter.
—Lauren Hirsch, New York Times, 16 Mar. 2024
The glasses need a specific filter and can't be scratched or dented.
—Binghui Huang, The Indianapolis Star, 13 Mar. 2024
Trump’s criminal cases don’t appear to have dented his support among the Republican base.
—Jonathan Shorman, Kansas City Star, 2 Mar. 2024
Noun
There is, however, a widespread and underused class of real estate that holds the potential to make a dent in this figure.
—Irina Ivanova, Fortune, 13 Apr. 2024
With mentorship from the N.W.A star, Yo-Yo delivered a trio of albums that received critical acclaim but failed to make a dent on the Billboard 200.
—Liz Sanchez, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2024
Plastic producers need to make a dent in the problem
The Great Lakes don't have currents like oceans do, so the litter that people see didn't wash up from far away.
—Caitlin Looby, Journal Sentinel, 11 Apr. 2024
On top of that, higher-dollar cars barely made a dent in sales and production.
—Andy Kalmowitz / Jalopnik, Quartz, 11 Apr. 2024
The incident was nothing short of perverse: Israel targeted and killed people trying to make a dent in the imminent famine that Israel itself has engineered as part of its strategy to demoralize and destroy, in whole or in part*, the Palestinian population.
—Longreads, 5 Apr. 2024
Cloud Apartments hopes to use its affordable housing approach to make a dent in the housing woes nationwide.
—George Avalos, The Mercury News, 4 Apr. 2024
In terms of salary, her WNBA paycheck will barely make a dent in her net wealth: First-year WNBA players earn around $76,000 a year.
—Dylan Sloan, Fortune, 2 Apr. 2024
An infrastructure law passed by Congress with bipartisan support and signed by President Biden in 2021 is making a dent in that deficit, but key transportation projects are still beset by financial challenges.
—Peter Hermann, Washington Post, 29 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dent.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near dent
Cite this Entry
“Dent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dent. Accessed 20 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
dent
1 of 2 verb1
: to make a dent in or on
2
: to become marked by a dent
dent
2 of 2 noun1
: a notch or hollow made by a blow or by pressure
2
a
: an impression or effect made usually against resistance
that purchase made a big dent in our savings
b
: noticeable progress
made a dent in our pile of work
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