Word.ws English Dictionary

makes a dent

makes a dent is the third-person singular simple present indicative of make a dent.

Meaning of make a dent

Verb

make a dent (third-person singular simple present makes a dent, present participle making a dent, simple past and past participle made a dent)

  1. (figuratively) To make an impression; to have an effect on; to chip away at.
    • If an actor doesn't have a point of view, he doesn't make a dent. And I mean to make a dent.1938 December 18, Bosley Crowther, quoting John Garfield, “A man who means to make a dent”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see make, a, dent.

Questions about makes a dent

What is makes a dent the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Makes a dent is the third-person singular simple present indicative of make a dent.

Words near makes a dent in the dictionary

  1. makes a case for
  2. makes a cat laugh
  3. makes a clean breast
  4. makes a dash for it
  5. makes a decision
  6. makes a dent
  7. makes a difference
  8. makes a dollar out of fifteen cents
  9. makes a face
  10. makes a fist of
  11. makes a fool of

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: makes a dent (page history and authors); make a dent (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:

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