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indent

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A cut or notch in the margin of anything, or a recess like a notch.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ihndehnt

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ɪnˈdɛnt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A cut or notch in the margin of anything, or a recess like a notch.

  2. A certificate, or intended certificate, issued by the government of the United States at the close of the Revolution, for the principal or interest of the public debt.

  3. A stamp; an impression.

  4. A requisition or order for supplies, sent to the commissariat of an army.

verb

  1. Notch the edge of or make jagged

  2. transitive

    To notch; to jag; to cut into points like a row of teeth

  3. intransitive

    To be cut, notched, or dented.

  4. To dent; to stamp or to press in; to impress

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced (estimated)
Frequency
Uncommon
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A cut or notch in the margin of anything, or a recess like a notch.

Used this way, indent is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use indent

  • “Indent the paragraphs of a letter.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Space / begin

hanging indentleft indentline indentincrease indent

Other combinations

indent markerright indentindent buttondecrease indent

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • indentationnounDerived noun

    A concave cut into a surface or edge (as in a coastline).

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • zea mays indentatanounRelated term

    Corn whose kernels contain both hard and soft starch and become indented at maturity.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

noun

Sense: cut or notch in the margin of anything

indentation

verb

Sense: notch the edge of or make jagged

indenture

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.