Home › Glossary › Letter D

dent

Craft Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Dent means to make a hollow mark or impression on a surface; in poetry, it can suggest a small wound, indentation, or the marking of memory.

Detailed Definition
Literally, a dent is a depression made by pressure or impact. In poetry, the term may appear in tactile or metaphorical language to suggest damage, trace, or the shaping force of experience. It belongs in craft terms because it points to material alteration and visible mark-making.
Example
Example in poetry:
A dent in a childhood toy can serve as a small but powerful image of time's damage in a memory poem; A poet may describe a dent in a car as evidence of an accident that reshapes the poem's narrative; Dents in armor appear in epic poetry as visible marks of battle and endurance; A poem about aging might describe dents in furniture as quiet witnesses to decades of family life; A dented photograph frame can symbolize imperfect but cherished memory; Poets sometimes use a dent in the earth, like a footprint, to mark a fleeting human presence.
Additional Notes
Dent suggests a small, often permanent mark left by impact or pressure, making it a useful term for discussing poems about memory, trauma, or the lasting effects of seemingly minor events; unlike more dramatic terms like shatter or crack, dent implies damage that is visible but not destructive, which makes it apt for poems exploring resilience or the way small hurts accumulate without breaking a person or object entirely; instructors might pair dent with chip and abrade to discuss a family of craft terms describing subtle, non-catastrophic damage.
Also Known As
indent dimple depress notch
Skip to main content