From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
dent
n 1: an appreciable consequence (especially a lessening); "it
made a dent in my bank account"
2: a depression scratched or carved into a surface [syn:
incision, scratch, prick, slit, dent]
3: an impression in a surface (as made by a blow) [syn: dent,
ding, gouge, nick]
v 1: make a depression into; "The bicycle dented my car" [syn:
indent, dent]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Dent \Dent\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dented; p. pr. & vb. n.
Denting.]
To make a dent upon; to indent.
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The houses dented with bullets. --Macaulay.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Dent \Dent\, n. [F., fr. L. dens, dentis, tooth. See Tooth.]
(Mach.)
A tooth, as of a card, a gear wheel, etc. --Knight.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Dent \Dent\ (d[e^]nt), n. [A variant of Dint.]
1. A stroke; a blow. [Obs.] "That dent of thunder."
--Chaucer.
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2. A slight depression, or small notch or hollow, made by a
blow or by pressure; an indentation.
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A blow that would have made a dent in a pound of
butter. --De Quincey.
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