Library / English Dictionary

HINT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

An indication of potential opportunity

Example:

a good lead for a job

Synonyms:

confidential information; hint; lead; steer; tip; wind

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("hint" is a kind of...):

counsel; counseling; counselling; direction; guidance (something that provides direction or advice as to a decision or course of action)

Derivation:

hint (drop a hint; intimate by a hint)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A slight indication

Synonyms:

clue; hint

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("hint" is a kind of...):

indicant; indication (something that serves to indicate or suggest)

Derivation:

hint (drop a hint; intimate by a hint)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An indirect suggestion

Example:

not a breath of scandal ever touched her

Synonyms:

breath; hint; intimation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("hint" is a kind of...):

proffer; proposition; suggestion (a proposal offered for acceptance or rejection)

Derivation:

hint (drop a hint; intimate by a hint)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A just detectable amount

Example:

a tint of glamour

Synonyms:

hint; suggestion; tint; trace

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Hypernyms ("hint" is a kind of...):

small indefinite amount; small indefinite quantity (an indefinite quantity that is below average size or magnitude)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hint"):

spark (a small but noticeable trace of some quality that might become stronger)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A slight but appreciable amount

Example:

this dish could use a touch of garlic

Synonyms:

hint; jot; mite; pinch; soupcon; speck; tinge; touch

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Hypernyms ("hint" is a kind of...):

small indefinite amount; small indefinite quantity (an indefinite quantity that is below average size or magnitude)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hint"):

snuff (a pinch of smokeless tobacco inhaled at a single time)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Drop a hint; intimate by a hint

Synonyms:

hint; suggest

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "hint" is one way to...):

convey ((of information) make known; pass on)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "hint"):

adumbrate; insinuate; intimate (give to understand)

clue in (provide someone with a clue)

advert; allude; touch (make a more or less disguised reference to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence example:

They hint that there was a traffic accident

Derivation:

hint (an indication of potential opportunity)

hint (a slight indication)

hint (an indirect suggestion)

Credits

 Context examples: 

She frequently gave me hints of it.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

“Is this a hint to me, Lizzy,” said her father, “to send for the horses?”

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

“I suppose she wouldn't be inclined to forgive him now,” hinted Peggotty.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Diana and Mary having kissed him, left the room—in compliance, I think, with a whispered hint from him: I tendered my hand, and wished him a pleasant journey.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Bill spoke gravely and slowly, with no hint of the anger that was raging within.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Meg thought it was too cruel to hint about her sad failure, and the last atom of patience vanished as he spoke.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The finding hints at new ways to alter the body’s energy balance to treat conditions such as obesity and diabetes.

(Cool temperature alters human fat and metabolism, NIH)

Scientists have found traces of fatty acids - key building blocks of biological cells - in acidic streams in the UK, which they say hint that life may once have existed on Mars.

(Red Planet May Have Harbored Life in Past, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

“That pieces of a Norse boat were found so far north hints of the risks these hunters might have ended up taking in their quest for ivory.”

(Over-hunting walruses contributed to the collapse of Norse Greenland, University of Cambridge)

The presence of such elements could offer hints of whether life could be present, or if the planets are habitable.

(New Clues to TRAPPIST-1 Planet Compositions, Atmospheres, NASA)