Dint

Part of speech: noun (n.)

1. A blow; a stroke. [Obs.] "Mortal dint." Milton. "Like thunder's dint." Fairfax.

2. The mark left by a blow; an indentation or impression made by violence; a dent. Dryden. Every dint a sword had beaten in it [the shield]. Tennyson.

3. Force; power; -- esp. in the phrase by dint of. Now you weep; and, I perceive, you feel The dint of pity. Shak. It was by dint of passing strength That he moved the massy stone at length. Sir W. Scott.

Part of speech: verb (v.)

To make a mark or cavity on or in, by a blow or by pressure; to dent. Donne. Tennyson.