Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DINT, n. [Sax. dynt, a blow or striking. It may be connected with din and ding.]

1. A blow; a stroke. – Milton.
2. Force; violence; power exerted; as, to win by dint of arms, by dint of war, by dint of argument or importunity.
3. The mark made by a blow; a cavity or impression made by a blow or by pressure on a substance; often pronounced dent. His hands had made a dint. – Dryden.