make/put a dent
idiom
: to decrease something slightly or to make something somewhat weaker
We tried our best to fix the problem, but nothing we did seems to have made a dent.
—often + inIt's going to take more than a new law to make a dent in the city's drug crime.
a vacation that won't put too big a dent in your wallet
Examples of make/put a dent in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
But these policies hardly put a dent in consumption.
—
Rodney Coates, The Conversation, 27 Jan. 2025
Friendly outings put a dent in your budget as the moon and Venus clash.
—USA TODAY, 10 Jan. 2025
Financial penalties wouldn’t put a dent in the company’s bottom line, John Solvie, a Clark County water quality compliance manager, told county Public Works Director Denis Cederburg in an email.
—Daniel Rothberg, ProPublica, 8 Jan. 2025
To make a dent in the more than 1,000 gigatonnes of excess CO2 lingering in Earth’s atmosphere, and the few dozen gigatonnes continuing to be emitted each year from human activities, companies would have to process ocean water in biblical proportions.
—IEEE Spectrum, 26 Dec. 2024
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Rodney Coates, The Conversation, 27 Jan. 2025
Friendly outings put a dent in your budget as the moon and Venus clash.
—USA TODAY, 10 Jan. 2025
Financial penalties wouldn’t put a dent in the company’s bottom line, John Solvie, a Clark County water quality compliance manager, told county Public Works Director Denis Cederburg in an email.
—Daniel Rothberg, ProPublica, 8 Jan. 2025
To make a dent in the more than 1,000 gigatonnes of excess CO2 lingering in Earth’s atmosphere, and the few dozen gigatonnes continuing to be emitted each year from human activities, companies would have to process ocean water in biblical proportions.
—IEEE Spectrum, 26 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for make/put a dent
Dictionary Entries Near make/put a dent
Cite this Entry
“Make/put a dent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/make%2Fput%20a%20dent. Accessed 4 Feb. 2025.
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