SQUINT

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does squint mean? 

• SQUINT (noun)
  The noun SQUINT has 2 senses:

1. abnormal alignment of one or both eyes

2. the act of squinting; looking with the eyes partly closed

  Familiarity information: SQUINT used as a noun is rare.

• SQUINT (adjective)
  The adjective SQUINT has 1 sense:

1. (used especially of glances) directed to one side with or as if with doubt or suspicion or envy

  Familiarity information: SQUINT used as an adjective is very rare.

• SQUINT (verb)
  The verb SQUINT has 3 senses:

1. cross one's eyes as if in strabismus

2. be cross-eyed; have a squint or strabismus

3. partly close one's eyes, as when hit by direct blinding light

  Familiarity information: SQUINT used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SQUINT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Abnormal alignment of one or both eyes

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

squint; strabismus

Hypernyms ("squint" is a kind of...):

abnormalcy; abnormality (an abnormal physical condition resulting from defective genes or developmental deficiencies)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "squint"):

convergent strabismus; cross-eye; crossed eye; esotropia (strabismus in which one or both eyes turn inward toward the nose)

divergent strabismus; exotropia; walleye (strabismus in which one or both eyes are directed outward)

Derivation:

squint (be cross-eyed; have a squint or strabismus)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of squinting; looking with the eyes partly closed

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("squint" is a kind of...):

look; looking; looking at (the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually)

Derivation:

squint (cross one's eyes as if in strabismus)

• SQUINT (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(used especially of glances) directed to one side with or as if with doubt or suspicion or envy

Synonyms:

askance; askant; asquint; sidelong; squint; squint-eyed; squinty

Context example:

sidelong glances

Similar:

indirect (not direct in spatial dimension; not leading by a straight line or course to a destination)

• SQUINT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they squint    ... he / she / it squints   
Past simple: squinted   
Past participle: squinted   
-ing form: squinting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cross one's eyes as if in strabismus

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

squinch; squint

Context example:

The children squinted so as to scare each other

Hypernyms (to "squint" is one way to...):

grimace; make a face; pull a face (contort the face to indicate a certain mental or emotional state)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

squint (the act of squinting; looking with the eyes partly closed)

squinter (a person with strabismus)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be cross-eyed; have a squint or strabismus

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "squint" is one way to...):

look (perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

They squint up the hill

Derivation:

squint (abnormal alignment of one or both eyes)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Partly close one's eyes, as when hit by direct blinding light

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Context example:

The driver squinted as the sun hit his windshield

Hypernyms (to "squint" is one way to...):

look (have a certain outward or facial expression)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

 Context examples 

My aunt, with her hands behind her, walked up and down the room, until the gentleman who had squinted at me from the upper window came in laughing.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

At last, however, we got alongside, and were met and saluted as we stepped aboard by the mate, Mr. Arrow, a brown old sailor with earrings in his ears and a squint.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

And here, in the very first stage, I was supplanted by a shabby man with a squint, who had no other merit than smelling like a livery-stables, and being able to walk across me, more like a fly than a human being, while the horses were at a canter!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

His chin was cocked over the coachman's shoulder, so near to me, that his breath quite tickled the back of my head; and as I looked at him, he leered at the leaders with the eye with which he didn't squint, in a very knowing manner.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The gentleman spoken of was a gentleman with a very unpromising squint, and a prominent chin, who had a tall white hat on with a narrow flat brim, and whose close-fitting drab trousers seemed to button all the way up outside his legs from his boots to his hips.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Only gradually did I become aware that the automobiles which turned expectantly into his drive stayed for just a minute and then drove sulkily away. Wondering if he were sick I went over to find out—an unfamiliar butler with a villainous face squinted at me suspiciously from the door.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)