I could not tell my brother flat out that my mother was angry, so I had to use my facial expression as hint for him to be quiet.

I left a trail of bread crumbs behind me as I went through the woods, as a hint to anyone that followed me as to where I had gone.

I could not discover the answer to my friend’s trivia question, so I had to ask for a hint from him to help me get the answer.

You can give someone a hint to help them find the answer to something, but if you just give them the answer directly they won’t learn anything.

A person’s expression is often a hint as to their mood, so you should read that hint carefully before doing something silly.