dent = meaningful progress; headway

[vil]

Dear teachers,

Would you be kind enough to explain to me the proper meaning of the word in bold in the following excerpt from the NYT’s article “Vast Bailout by U.S. Proposed in Bid to Stem Financial Crisis”?

“The bailout discussions came on a day when the Federal Reserve poured almost $300 billion into global credit
markets and barely put a dent in the level of alarm.

”I know at least three different meanings of the word in question.

dent =

1. A depression in a surface made by pressure or a blow: a dent in the side of a car.
2. Informal. A significant, usually diminishing effect or impression: The loss put a dent in the team's confidence.
3. Informal. Meaningful progress; headway: at least made a dent in the work.

In my opinion the author made use of the meaning Nr.3 in the present case but I can’t comprehend the living bond between the positive “progress”, “headway”, “advance” and the negative “a depression in a surface made by pressure or a blow”. Probably the “missing link” is one of the following verbs “ pierce”, “drive a hole in”, “elbow o’s way”, “force a passage”

Thank you for your efforts.

Regards,

V.

[bhaisahab]

Informal. A significant, usually diminishing effect or impression: The loss put a dent in the team's confidence.

I think the author is using this meaning, alarm and confidence both being abstract, whereas the other two refer to a car and work, both concrete.

[colloquium]

My new car put a huge dent in my savings.

In this sense it means to reduce. I think this interpretation fits your example sentence well.

The bailout discussions came on a day when the Federal Reserve poured almost $300 billion into global credit markets and barely managed to reduce the level of alarm

I am not a teacher.

[susiedqq]

“The bailout discussions came on a day when the Federal Reserve poured almost $300 billion into global credit markets and barely put a dent in the level of alarm.


This is a poorly worded sentence.

How about:

The bailout discussions came on a day when the Federal Reserve poured almost $300 billion into global credit markets, which barely lowered the level of alarm in the financial world.
.