"squint" definition, meaning, and origin

Adjective

Derived from asquint (“obliquely, with a sidelong glance”).

An expression in which the eyes are partly closed.
The look of eyes which are turned in different directions, as in strabismus.
- He looks handsome although he's got a slight squint.
A quick or sideways glance; a short look; a peep.
- —And here she is, says Alf, that was giggling over the Police Gazette with Terry on the counter, in all her warpaint. —Give us a squint at her, says I. - 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 12: The Cyclops]”, in...
- "Better have a squint yourself," suggested Horace, withdrawing his implement and resigning the position. "Listening posts are more in your line by all accounts, inspector." - 1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London:
A hagioscope.
The angle by which the transmission signal is offset from the normal of a phased array antenna.
An opening, often arched, through an internal wall of a church, providing an oblique view of the altar.

To look with the eyes partly closed, as in bright sunlight, or as a threatening expression.
- The children squinted to frighten each other.
- “A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron;[…]. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, and from time to time squinting sideways, as usual, in the ever-renewed...
To look or glance sideways.
Synonyms: skew
To look with, or have eyes that are turned in different directions; to suffer from strabismus.
To have an indirect bearing, reference, or implication; to have an allusion to, or inclination towards, something.
- Yet if the following sentence means anything, it is a squinting toward hypnotism. - 1887, The Forum:
To be not quite straight, off-centred; to deviate from a true line; to run obliquely.
To turn to an oblique position; to direct obliquely.
- to squint an eye