What does "stint" mean?

1. (a period of work) a set period of time that you spend doing a particular job or activity. 2. (to limit or restrict) to limit the amount of something you give or use, often because you are being very careful or cheap. 3. (a type of bird) a very small bird that lives near water and has long legs for wading.

How do you use "stint"?

Often used with the preposition 'in' or 'as'. Commonly used in the negative ('did not stint on') to emphasize generosity.

stint

n. · v.

US //ˈstɪnt// UK //stˈɪnt// stint

1 a period of work (n.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

a set period of time that you spend doing a particular job or activity.

a fixed or allotted period of work, service, or specific activity.

Example

After a two-year stint in the army, he returned home to start university.

Example

She completed a brief stint as a junior researcher in London before being headhunted by a major firm in New York.

Usage

Often used with the preposition 'in' or 'as'.
2 to limit or restrict (v.)
C1 Advanced Formal

to limit the amount of something you give or use, often because you are being very careful or cheap.

to restrict someone to a small or meager allowance; to be frugal or sparing with resources.

Example

The hotel didn't stint on the breakfast, providing a huge variety of fresh food.

Example

The organizers did not stint on the decorations, ensuring that every hall was draped in expensive silk and fresh flowers.

Usage

Commonly used in the negative ('did not stint on') to emphasize generosity.
- scrimp
- skimp
- restrict
- limit
- lavish
- squander

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3 a type of bird (n.)
C2 Proficiency Technical Science

a very small bird that lives near water and has long legs for wading.

any of several small wading birds in the genus Calidris, similar to a sandpiper.

Example

We saw a little stint feeding in the mud at the edge of the lake.

Example

The estuary is a vital stopover for migratory shorebirds, including the red-necked stint and other small waders.
- sandpiper

Etymology 1

From Middle English stinten, from Old English styntan (“to make blunt”) and stintan (attested in āstintan (“to make dull, stint, assuage”)), from Proto-West Germanic stuntijan, from Proto-Germanic stuntijaną and Proto-Germanic stintaną (“to make short”), probably influenced in some senses by cognate Old Norse *stynta, stytta (“to make short, shorten”).

Etymology 2

Origin unknown.