Lint \Lint\ (l[i^]nt), n. [AS. l[imac]net flax, hemp, fr.
l[imac]n flax; or, perh. borrowed fr. L. linteum a linen
cloth, linen, from linteus linen, a., fr. linum flax, lint.
See Linen.]
1. Flax.
[1913 Webster]
2. Linen scraped or otherwise made into a soft, downy or fleecy substance for dressing wounds and sores; also, fine ravelings, down, fluff, or loose short fibers from yarn or fabrics. [1913 Webster]
Lint doctor (Calico-printing Mach.), a scraper to remove lint from a printing cylinder. [1913 Webster]
lint
noun1: fine ravellings of cotton or linen fibers
2: cotton or linen fabric with the nap raised on one side; used to dress wounds
70 Moby Thesaurus words for "lint": Ace bandage, Band-Aid, adhesive tape, air pollution, application, attritus, band, bandage, bandaging, binder, brace, bran, cast, cataplasm, clue, compress, cosmic dust, cotton, court plaster, cravat, crumb, crumble, down, dressing, dust, dust ball, efflorescence, eiderdown, elastic bandage, epithem, fallout, farina, filings, floss, flour, flue, fluff, four-tailed bandage, fur, fuzz, gauze, grits, groats, kittens, meal, pile, plaster, plaster cast, pledget, poultice, powder, pussies, raspings, roller, roller bandage, rubber bandage, sawdust, sling, smut, soot, splint, sponge, stupe, swansdown, tampon, tape, tent, thistledown, tourniquet, triangular bandage
lint
[from Unix's lint(1), named for the bits of fluff it supposedly picks from programs]
1. vt. To examine a program closely for style, language usage, and portability problems, esp. if in C, esp. if via use of automated analysis tools, most esp. if the Unix utility lint(1) is used. This term used to be restricted to use of lint(1) itself, but (judging by references on Usenet) it has become a shorthand for any exhaustive review process at some non-Unix shops, even in languages other than C. Also as v. delint.
2. n. Excess verbiage in a document, as in ?This draft has too much lint?.
lint
A Unix C language processor which carries out more thorough checks on the code than is usual with C compilers.
Lint is named after the bits of fluff it supposedly picks from programs. Judging by references on Usenet this term has become a shorthand for desk check at some non-Unix shops, even in languages other than C. Also used as delint.
(1994-11-14)
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