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indent
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As a noun, indent means a cut or notch in the margin of anything, or a recess like a notch. As a verb, it means notch.
Meanings of indent
19 meaningsnoun
A cut or notch in the margin of anything, or a recess like a notch.
A stamp; an impression.
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.
A requisition or order for supplies, sent to the commissariat of an army.
An order for goods to be exported or imported
The space left between the margin and the start of an indented line
Similar: indentation, indention, indenture
verb
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”
typographyTo 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”
Cut or tear along an irregular line so that the parts can later be matched for authentication
“indent the documents”
Notch the edge of or make jagged
Bind by or as if by indentures, as of an apprentice or servant
“an indentured servant”
Similar: indenture
Older and rare meanings (5)
historicalTo 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.
obsoleteTo enter into a binding agreement by means of such documents; to formally commit (to doing something); to contract.
obsoleteTo engage (someone), originally by means of indented contracts.
“to indent a young man to a shoemaker; to indent a servant”
obsoleteTo crook or turn; to wind in and out; to zigzag.
militaryIndiadatedTo make an order upon; to draw upon, as for military stores.
Meanings from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0).