dedent

dedent verb: to outdent; to remove an indent from. Also the alternative form of detent.

Verb (1)

dedent (third-person singular simple present dedents, present participle dedenting, simple past and past participle dedented)

(transitive) To outdent; to remove an indent from.
- Dedent Region If there were any need to prove that Python was a programmer's tool, and not something written for anyone with the slightest grasp of the English language, instead of the Python language, this menu option would dissuade them from that belief. Really, who would call something dedent?...2008, Matthew A. Telles, Python Power!: The Comprehensive Guide, →ISBN
- If the body of the if statement, the failwith, was dedented four spaces and therefore lined up with the if keyword, the F# compiler would yield a warning.2009, Chris Smith, Programming F#, →ISBN, page 7

dedent (plural dedents)

dedent (third-person singular simple present dedents, present participle dedenting, simple past and past participle dedented)

To remove a dent or dents from.
- In the drawing at the bottom of the page are shown the structural features of a dedenting machine as built by The Vol-U-Meter Company, Inc.1937, Compressed Air Magazine, volume 42, page 5230
- To sell at the “reconditioned” price ceiling, the used drum must be thoroughly cleaned, dedented, painted, fully repaired to insure that the drum is liquid tight, and be supplied with the necessary openings, closures and gaskets to make the drum fit for use as a shipping container.1945, The Bulletin of the National Association of Purchasing Agents, volume 16, page 12

dedent is also the alternative form of detent.

Really, who would call something dedent? ...2008, Matthew A. Telles, Python Power!: The Comprehensive Guide, →ISBN:
The first line of code dedented (moved back a notch) after a block structure does not belong to the block structure.2016, Laura Tateosian, Python For ArcGIS, page 24:

Verb
third-person singular present	dedents
present participle	dedenting
past participle	dedented
past	dedented
Noun
plural	dedents

From de- + indent.

From de- + dent.

What does dedent mean?: Dedent means to outdent; to remove an indent from.
How do you use dedent in a sentence?: Really, who would call something dedent? ...
What part of speech is dedent?: Dedent can be a verb or a noun.
What is the past tense of dedent?: The past tense of dedent is dedented.

Adapted from Wiktionary: dedent (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “dedent.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dedent. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.