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faints

American

[feynts] / feɪnts /

Or feints

noun

(used with a plural verb)

the impure spirit produced in the first and last stages of the distillation of whiskey.

faints British

/ feɪnts /

plural noun

a variant spelling of feints

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of faints

1735–45; noun use (in plural) of faint (adj.)

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Yasser regularly faints when she tries to stand.

From Barron's • Mar. 22, 2026

When Louise, angling for attention, participates in her church’s Inner Beauty pageant, her talent is holding her breath until she faints.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 7, 2026

In the pilot, the third-year medical student faints the first time in the exam room and has painfully awkward exchanges with her peers.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 5, 2025

When a green resident faints, her fellow physicians wait for her to revive before tossing her back into the fray.

From Salon • Jun. 23, 2025

Immediately he can smell it: the perfume is so sweet, so outrageously sweet, that he nearly faints.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023