0 past simple and past participle of hint
1 to say or do something that shows what you think or want, usually in a way that is not direct:
[ + (that) ] Mum's hinted (that) she might pay for my trip to Mexico.
He's hinted at the possibility of moving to Canada.
My boss hinted that I'm being considered for promotion.
They've been hinting at the possibility of launching a take-over bid.
Sometimes it's better to hint at the truth rather than state it directly.
Their impact for the local level, however, has been all but hinted at.
But there is another possible starting point, hinted at by the phenomenon of molecular imprinting.
Many studies have hinted, a posteriori, that this may not be the case.