squint

1 of 3

adjective

1
of an eye : looking or tending to look obliquely or askance (as with envy or disdain)
2
of the eyes : not having the visual axes parallel : crossed

squint

2 of 3

verb

squinted; squinting; squints

intransitive verb

1
a
: to have an indirect bearing, reference, or aim
b
: to deviate from a true line
2
a
: to look in a squint-eyed manner
b
: to be cross-eyed
c
: to look or peer with eyes partly closed

transitive verb

: to cause (an eye) to squint
squinter noun
squintingly adverb

squint

3 of 3

noun

1
2
: an instance of squinting
3
squinty adjective

Examples of squint in a Sentence

Verb She had to squint to read the small print. He squinted through the haze of smoke. I had to squint my eyes to focus on the tiny letters. I noticed that he squints. Noun Her gaze narrowed into a squint.
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Some kids may be sensitive to light and start to squint, as well. Aria Bendix, NBC News, 28 Feb. 2024 Brooklyn adorably squinted at the camera in her gray Raiders dress, with her hair done in pigtails. Hannah Sacks, Peoplemag, 26 Feb. 2024 Along the sidewalk, couples stroll hand in hand, squinting in the sun on an abnormally warm winter morning. Stefano Montali, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2024 The wind kicked up a cloud of dust, and the governors squinted into the sun. Rachel Monroe, The New Yorker, 8 Feb. 2024 Repetitive sequences of survivors clambering up the mountainside, wading through snow, and squinting into the sun add little in the way of narrative momentum and, an hour or so in, the movie begins to drag. Madeleine Kearns, National Review, 8 Feb. 2024 They can no more be discovered with pure thought than Jupiter’s moons can be discerned by squinting. Quanta Magazine, 26 Jan. 2024 Market Realignment: Global and Demographic Changes As streaming’s traditional strongholds level off, the industry’s gaze is squinting at untapped markets. Callum McLennan, Variety, 31 Jan. 2024 The grownups squinted in confusion, while the children whipped their hands through the air. Sophia Hollander, The New Yorker, 22 Jan. 2024
Noun
About a guy who doesn’t say much, has a bit of a squint, a questionable moral compass, gets the girl and rides out of town at the end. Angelique Jackson, Variety, 20 Dec. 2023 But such squints are a poor substitute for certainty; greater clarity may come from JWST's measurement of how much iron the nebula holds. Phil Plait, Scientific American, 10 Nov. 2023 In these spare road ballads and cowgirl waltzes, Williamson reads Raymond Carver aloud by a pool bar, drinks with boys who worship Townes, and squints at an ex whose new girlfriends just keep getting younger. Pitchfork, 6 Dec. 2023 Boy squints at picture and realizes girl’s second cousin kind of looks like a younger Mark Ruffalo, which boy thinks is kind of cool. Jen Kim, The New Yorker, 12 Sep. 2023 My six-year-old nephew, after sampling water from Australia with a TDS of 1,300, squints at me. Krista Stevens, Longreads, 5 July 2023 His eyes narrow into the slightest squint. BostonGlobe.com, 24 Mar. 2021 Take a good squint. Alex Hutchinson, Outside Online, 2 Aug. 2020 Broadhorn was another name for a flatboat — square of bow, shallow of draft and requiring little in the way of construction expertise — because the long, curved steering oars were wielded from atop the cabin and appeared like giant horns at a squint. Ben McGrath, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'squint.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

probably aphetic form of earlier a squint, going back to Middle English a squynt, in the phrase beholden (loken) a squynt "to be cross-eyed, look obliquely," from a- a- entry 1 + squynt, of uncertain origin

Note: Middle English a squynt, asquint has been compared with Dutch schuin "aslant, slantingly, askew" (unknown in Middle Dutch, first attested as schuyn "transversus, obliquus" in the Dutch-Latin dictionary of Cornelis Kiliaan, 1599), though the nature of the relationship is unclear. (Dutch schuin is paralleled by Gronings [West Low German] schuun, Low German schün, hypothetically from Germanic *skeuni-.) The form asquint is attested early, already in the Ancrene Wisse (as an addition in one manuscript, British Library Cotton Nero A.14, mid-13th century), but if a putative early Middle Dutch [sχy:n], prior to the development of the diphthong, is the source, -squint seems an unlikely outcome. Variants without t (of skwyn "on a slant," askoyn, ascoign "askance") may have a more direct relationship to Dutch schuin.

Verb

derivative of squint entry 1

Noun

derivative of squint entry 2

First Known Use

Adjective

1579, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1599, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

Noun

circa 1652, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of squint was in 1579

Dictionary Entries Near squint

Cite this Entry

“Squint.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/squint. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

squint

1 of 2 verb
1
a
: to look with a side glance (as in jealousy or disdain)
b
: to be cross-eyed
2
: to look or peer with eyes partly closed
squinter noun

squint

2 of 2 noun
1
: inability to direct both eyes to the same object due to a fault of the muscles of the eyeball
2
: the act or an instance of squinting
squinty
ˈskwint-ē
adjective

Medical Definition

squint

1 of 2 intransitive verb
1
: to be cross-eyed
2
: to look or peer with eyes partly closed

squint

2 of 2 noun
1
2
: an instance or habit of squinting
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