Sc. Also 5 stynt. [? Altered form of STEND v.1, due to the influence of the pa. t. and pa. pple. stent.]
1. trans. To extend, stretch out or set (a tent, sail, curtain, net, etc.) in its proper position.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, XVI. 282. He … gert ane tent soyne stentit be.
c. 1430. Pilgr. Lyf Manhode, IV. vi. (1869), 177. Þe cordes þat þe wylde beste hadde stented [orig. tendu] in my wey.
1496. Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot., I. 293. Giffin to xij pynouris to stent the Kingis pailȝounis, vij s.
1508. Dunbar, Gold. Targe, 236. To schip thai went, And swyth vp saile vnto the top thai stent.
a. 1510. Douglas, King Hart, 378. The courtinis all of gold about the bed Weill stentit was quhair fair Dame Plesance lay. Ibid. (1513), Æneis, III. iv. 111. The south wyndis stentis furth strait our schete.
1597. Skene, De Verb. Sign., s.v. Particata, But of the vulgar people there is but ane forme of metting vsed…, to wit,… be ane string or coard, of sex elnes lang, stented betwixt twa staues.
1651. D. Calderwood, Hist. Kirk (1843), II. 365. An ensigne was caried before her … stented betwixt two speeres.
1806. Morison, Decis., XXXIII. 14280. He … stented his nets across both the head and foot of another pool.
1815. W. Finlayson, Sc. Rhymes, 85 (E.D.D.). Your fiddle sweet, stent ilka string, An dinna spare ’t.
1900. Law Rep., App. Cases, 409. No net had ever been declared illegal that had not been fixed or stented.
† b. transf. To set up, erect (a tomb). Obs.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, IX. iv. 120. And in my memor vp a tumbe to stent.
† c. To hang with curtains. Obs.
1512. Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot., IV. 279. Item,… deliverit to Thome of Pebles to stent the wyndois of the Palace of Linlithgow…, xxxvj elnis Bertane claith.
† 2. To extend (a person) on, in (an instrument of torture). Also with out. Obs.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xxxvii. (Vincent), 155. Þar-for in a frame stent hyme in lynth & brede, lith & lyme. Ibid., xlviii. (Juliana), 157. A quhele þan he gert sone dycht,… & stent hir þar-one but hone vith cordis.
c. 1500. Kennedy, Passion of Christ, 783. Lord, my syn … Garis þe now ly stentit on þe tre.
1728. Ramsay, Fables, Miser & Minos, 44. Should he … stented be on Ixion’s wheel?
† 3. To keep in place, stiffen (garments, etc.). Obs.
1488. Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot., I. 139. Item, for thre elne of rownde braide clayth to stynt the saim thre dowblatis. Ibid. (1501), II. 26. Item, for xviij elne cammas to stent the samyn ruf, xviij s. Ibid. (1504), 293. Payit … for lynyng clath to stent the said cheseb on, iij s. Ibid. (1552–3), X. 164. Item, v. quarteris small canves to stent the same [doublat], iij s. ix d.
4. transf. To distend (the stomach). Obs.
1801. J. Thomson, Poems Scot. Dial., 51. As lang as we get meal and bread, And ither things to stent our wame.
Hence Stented ppl. a.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, I. xi. 7. The quene was set at deis, Vndir hir glorius stentit capitale.
18[?]. Burns’ Mary Morrison, ii. in Whitelaw, Sc. Songs (1844), 49. Yestreen, when to the stented string The dance gaed through the lichtit ha’.
