hint

[hint] /hɪnt/
noun
1.
an indirect, covert, or helpful suggestion; clue:
Give me a hint as to his identity.
2.
a very slight or hardly noticeable amount; soupçon:
a hint of garlic in the salad dressing.
3.
perceived indication or suggestion; note; intimation:
a hint of spring in the air.
4.
Obsolete. an occasion or opportunity.
verb (used with object)
5.
to give a hint of:
gray skies hinting a possible snowfall.
verb (used without object)
6.
to make indirect suggestion or allusion; subtly imply (usually followed by at):
The article hinted at corruption in the mayor's office.
Origin
1595-1605; (noun) orig., opportunity, occasion, apparently variant of obsolete hent grasp, act of seizing, derivative of the v.: to grasp, take, Middle English henten, Old English hentan; (v.) derivative of the noun
Related forms
hinter, noun
unhinted, adjective
Synonyms
1. allusion, insinuation, innuendo; memorandum, reminder; inkling. 5. imply. Hint, intimate, insinuate, suggest denote the conveying of an idea to the mind indirectly or without full or explicit statement. To hint is to convey an idea covertly or indirectly, but intelligibly: to hint that one would like a certain present; to hint that bits of gossip might be true. To intimate is to give a barely perceptible hint, often with the purpose of influencing action: to intimate that something may be possible. To insinuate is to hint artfully, often at what one would not dare to say directly: to insinuate something against someone's reputation. Suggest denotes particularly recalling something to the mind or starting a new train of thought by means of association of ideas: The name doesn't suggest anything to me.
Antonyms
5. express, declare.
Examples from the web for hinting
  • His critics labeled his business dealings as shady, hinting at ties to organized crime.
  • hinting at its scale, the story says, a mountain walked or stumbled.
British Dictionary definitions for hinting

hint

/hɪnt/
noun
1.
a suggestion or implication given in an indirect or subtle manner: he dropped a hint
2.
a helpful piece of advice or practical suggestion
3.
a small amount; trace
verb
4.
when intr, often foll by at; when tr, takes a clause as object. to suggest or imply indirectly
Derived Forms
hinter, noun
hinting, noun
hintingly, adverb
Word Origin
C17: of uncertain origin
Word Origin and History for hinting

hint

n.

c.1600, apparently from obsolete hent, from Middle English hinten "to tell, inform" (c.1400), from Old English hentan "to seize," from Proto-Germanic *hantijanan (cf. Gothic hinþan "to seize"), related to hunt (v.). Modern sense and spelling first attested in Shakespeare.

v.

1640s, from hint (n.). Related: Hinted; hinting.

Idioms and Phrases with hinting

hint

see: take a hint