Dint n.
1. A blow; a stroke. [Obs.] “Mortal dint.” --Milton. “Like thunder's dint.”
2. The mark left by a blow; an indentation or impression made by violence; a dent.
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.
Dint, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dinted; p. pr. & vb. n. Dinting.] To make a mark or cavity on or in, by a blow or by pressure; to dent.
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dint
n : interchangeable with `means' in the expression `by dint of'