1
as in hole
a sunken area forming a separate space
there was a big dent in the car's hood where something had hit it
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in decrease
the amount by which something is lessened
a little belt-tightening would at least make a small dent in our credit-card debt
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to reduce
to make smaller in amount, volume, or extent
hopefully this vacation won't dent our bank account too much
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of dent
Gieson Cacho, Mercury News, 3 Apr. 2025
Many crossover tracks take weeks, if not months, to make a dent in radio rotation, especially at country stations.
—Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.com, 30 Mar. 2025
Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Apr. 2025
The cars were dented, with a number of windows broken with traffic cones, police said.
—Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 31 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dent
Noun
The system will leave a huge dent in gamers’ wallets.
—Gieson Cacho, Mercury News, 3 Apr. 2025
Many crossover tracks take weeks, if not months, to make a dent in radio rotation, especially at country stations.
—Hugh McIntyre, Forbes.com, 30 Mar. 2025
Verb
The German luxury automaker said Trump's tariffs would dent its profit margin by 2.5 percentage points on a gross basis, without mitigation measures that could include cutting the sales of its entry-level models in the U.S. and offering only its higher-end vehicles, sources told Bloomberg.
—Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Apr. 2025
The cars were dented, with a number of windows broken with traffic cones, police said.
—Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 31 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dent
Noun
-
One obstacle the Bengals face in their quest for postseason play, however, is the outbreak of injuries that started in spring training and have created a significant hole in their offense.—
Nicholas Creel,
MSNBC Newsweek,
20 Apr. 2025
-
One interesting depiction of the Last Supper was found above a German coat of arms, which depicted a goblet, a platter, and a round piece of bread with a hole in it, similar to a Jerusalem bagel.—
Andrea Margolis,
FOXNews.com,
19 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Under Bukele's tenure, El Salvador has seen a dramatic decrease in its crime rate.—
Kathryn Watson,
CBS News,
14 Apr. 2025
-
Fort Lauderdale: $3.06, according to AAA, a 10-cent decrease from last week.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
14 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
The goal of this prescribed burn is to decrease the existing fire hazard and to prevent and reduce the impact of future fires in the area.—
CA WILDFIRE BOT,
Sacbee.com,
21 Apr. 2025
-
Traditional office leasing implies maintainable overheads, upkeep costs and long-term financial commitments; modular offices eliminate them and reduce construction costs by as much as 30%.—
Ascend Agency,
New York Daily News,
21 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Up and down pit road, many crew chiefs anticipated a race where tire conservation would be the primary difference between winning and losing.—
Jordan Bianchi,
New York Times,
14 Apr. 2025
-
Kyle Larson stayed out, and Blaney won the race off pit road.—
Shane Connuck,
Charlotte Observer,
13 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Such reductions would likely require cuts to Medicaid, the joint federal-state health care plan for low-income residents, but exactly how those cuts would be implementedhas yet to be decided.—
Danielle J. Brown,
Baltimore Sun,
18 Apr. 2025
-
Obviously, income reductions aren't advisable but can come with an income-tax silver lining.—
Russ Wiles,
USA Today,
18 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Fluoride helps prevent cavities in teeth and can be found naturally in water — but at levels that are too low to offer any benefit to people.—
Nathaniel Weixel,
The Hill,
11 Apr. 2025
-
While almost all bodies of water contain the naturally-occurring mineral at some level, scientists discovered in the 1930s that upping the amount could boost public dental health and prevent cavities.—
Cybele Mayes-Osterman,
USA Today,
8 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
That was the sharpest drop except for that seen at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.—
Betty Lin-Fisher,
USA Today,
20 Apr. 2025
-
That's a drop of 11 from the previous Sunday-to-Friday reporting period.—
Nicholas Creel,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
This is a result of a profit-first capitalist system in crisis in the epoch of imperialism’s decline.—
Harrison Mantas,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
20 Apr. 2025
-
Most of the decline in yields was from a decrease in the real, after-inflation yield demanded by investors, which reversed some of the increase from the previous week.—
Bill Stone,
Forbes.com,
19 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dent. Accessed 25 Apr. 2025.
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