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 desk check 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".