indent
verbEtymology Partly from Middle English indenten (“to dent in”), equivalent to in- + dent (see dent); partly from Middle English indenten, endenten, from Old French endenter (“to cut notches into”), from en- (“in-, en-”) + dent (“tooth”), from Latin dēns.
9 senses
- 1To notch; to jag; to cut into points like a row of teeth
- 2To be cut, notched, or dented.
- 3To dent; to stamp or to press in; to impress
- 4To cut the two halves of a document in duplicate, using…
- 5To enter into a binding agreement by means of such…
- 6To engage (someone), originally by means of indented contracts.
- 7To begin (a line or lines) at a greater or lesser…
- 8To crook or turn; to wind in and out; to zigzag.
- 9To make an order upon; to draw upon, as for military stores.
To notch; to jag; to cut into points like a row of teeth
- to indent the edge of paper
To be cut, notched, or dented.
To dent; to stamp or to press in; to impress
- indent a smooth surface with a hammer
- to indent wax with a stamp
Historical To cut the two halves of a document in duplicate, using a jagged or wavy line so that each party could demonstrate that their copy was part of the original whole.
Obsolete To enter into a binding agreement by means of such documents; to formally commit (to doing something); to contract.
- The Polanders indented with Henry, Duke of Anjou, their new-chosen king, to bring with him an hundred families of artificers into Poland., New York, 2001, p.91
- And is this now the Person who is to oblige his Maker? to indent and drive bargains with the Almighty?1698, Robert South, Twelve Sermons upon Several Subjects and Occasions, London: Thomas Bennet, page 28:
1 more example
- 1803, John Browne Cutting, “A Succinct History of Jamaica” in Robert Charles Dallas, The History of the Maroons, London: Longman and Rees, Volume 1, pp. xlii-xliii, […] he accidentally met with the commander of a trading vessel bound to Barbadoes, and being actuated by an adventurous spirit, [he] bargained for a passage by indenting himself to serve a planter for four years after his arrival in that island.
Obsolete To engage (someone), originally by means of indented contracts.
- to indent a young man to a shoemaker; to indent a servant
Media, Publishing, Typography To begin (a line or lines) at a greater or lesser distance from the margin. See indentation, and indention. Normal indent pushes in a line or paragraph. "Hanging indent" pulls the line out into the margin.
- to indent the first line of a paragraph one em
- to indent the second paragraph two ems more than the first
Obsolete To crook or turn; to wind in and out; to zigzag.
- Seeing Orlando, it vnlink'd it selfe, And with indented glides, did slip awayc. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:
Government, Military, Politics, War India, Singapore To make an order upon; to draw upon, as for military stores.
Dated elsewhere
- What is the rule observed in India in indenting upon England for military stores ?1832 May 23, John Byng examining Jasper Nicolls in the House of Commons
- Derived terms
- dedent, hanging indent, indentwise