Lint
name, noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 Clinging fuzzy fluff that clings to fabric or accumulates in one's pockets or navel etc. uncountable, usually
"Clean the lint out of the vacuum cleaner's filter."
- 2 cotton or linen fabric with the nap raised on one side; used to dress wounds wordnet
- 3 A fine material made by scraping cotton or linen cloth; used for dressing wounds. uncountable, usually
- 4 fine ravellings of cotton or linen fibers wordnet
- 5 The fibrous coat of thick hairs covering the seeds of the cotton plant. uncountable, usually
Show 1 more definition
- 6 Raw cotton ready for baling. uncountable, usually
- 1 To perform a static check on (source code) to detect stylistic or programmatic errors. transitive
"You should lint your JavaScript code before committing it."
- 1 A surname.
Example
More examples"Be sure to clear the lint trap before you run the dryer. Otherwise, you might start a fire."
Etymology
From Middle English lynet, linet, from Old French linette (“grain of flax”), diminutive of lin (“flax”); or, from Medieval Latin linteum, from Latin līnum (“flax”).
From the lint Unix utility, written in 1979, which analyses programs written in the C language, itself named after the undesirable bits of fiber and fluff found in sheep's wool (see etymology 1).
* As an occupational English surname, from the noun lint, chiefly in the Scottish English sense "flax fibers for spinning." * As a Dutch surname, from several placenames with the element Lint, probably from linde (“lime tree”).