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Meaning of CANT

Pronunciation:  kânt

WordNet Dictionary
 
 Definition: 
  1. [n]  two surfaces meeting at an angle different from 90 degrees
  2. [n]  stock phrases that have become nonsense through endless repetition
  3. [n]  insincere talk about religion or morals
  4. [n]  a characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves); "they don't speak our lingo"
  5. [n]  a slope in the turn of a road or track; the outside is higher than the inside in order to reduce the effects of centrifugal force
  6. [adj]  having the slant of a bevel; "a bevel edge"; "a cant buttress"
  7. [v]  heel over; "The tower is tilting"; "The ceiling is slanting"
 
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 Synonyms: argot, bank, bevel, bevel, beveled, buzzword, camber, cant over, chamfer, inclined, jargon, lingo, patois, pious platitude, pitch, slang, slant, tilt, vernacular
 
 See Also: cock, edge, hokum, incline, meaninglessness, move, nonsense, nonsensicality, non-standard speech, rhyming slang, side, slope, splay, talk, talking

 

 

Webster's 1913 Dictionary
 
 Definition: 
  1. \Cant\, n. [OF., edge, angle, prof. from L. canthus the
iron ring round a carriage wheel, a wheel, Gr. ? the corner
of the eye, the felly of a wheel; cf. W. cant the stake or
tire of a wheel. Cf. {Canthus}, {Canton}, {Cantle}.]
1. A corner; angle; niche. [Obs.]
         The first and principal person in the temple was
         Irene, or Peace; she was placed aloft in a cant.
                                               --B. Jonson.
2. An outer or external angle.
3. An inclination from a horizontal or vertical line; a slope
   or bevel; a titl. --Totten.
4. A sudden thrust, push, kick, or other impulse, producing a
   bias or change of direction; also, the bias or turn so
   give; as, to give a ball a cant.
5. (Coopering) A segment forming a side piece in the head of
   a cask. --Knight.
6. (Mech.) A segment of he rim of a wooden cogwheel.
   --Knight.
7. (Naut.) A piece of wood laid upon the deck of a vessel to
   support the bulkheads.
{Cant frames}, {Cant timbers} (Naut.), timber at the two ends
   of a ship, rising obliquely from the keel.

  2. \Cant\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Canted}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Canting}.]
1. To incline; to set at an angle; to tilt over; to tip upon
   the edge; as, to cant a cask; to cant a ship.
2. To give a sudden turn or new direction to; as, to cant
   round a stick of timber; to cant a football.
3. To cut off an angle from, as from a square piece of
   timber, or from the head of a bolt.

  3. \Cant\, n. [Prob. from OF. cant, F. chant, singing, in
allusion to the singing or whining tine of voice used by
beggars, fr. L. cantus. See {Chant}.]
1. An affected, singsong mode of speaking.
2. The idioms and peculiarities of speech in any sect, class,
   or occupation. --Goldsmith.
         The cant of any profession.           --Dryden.
3. The use of religious phraseology without understanding or
   sincerity; empty, solemn speech, implying what is not
   felt; hypocrisy.
         They shall hear no cant from me.      --F. W.
                                               Robertson
4. Vulgar jargon; slang; the secret language spoker by
   gipsies, thieves, tramps, or beggars.

  4. \Cant\, a.
Of the nature of cant; affected; vulgar.
      To introduce and multiply cant words in the most
      ruinous corruption in any language.      --Swift.

  5. \Cant\, v. i.
1. To speak in a whining voice, or an affected, singsong
   tone.
2. To make whining pretensions to goodness; to talk with an
   affectation of religion, philanthropy, etc.; to practice
   hypocrisy; as, a canting fanatic.
         The rankest rogue that ever canted.   --Beau. & Fl.
3. To use pretentious language, barbarous jargon, or
   technical terms; to talk with an affectation of learning.
         The doctor here, When he discourseth of dissection,
         Of vena cava and of vena porta, The meser[ae]um and
         the mesentericum, What does he else but cant. --B.
                                               Jonson
         That uncouth affected garb of speech, or canting
         language, if I may so call it.        --Bp.
                                               Sanderson.

  6. \Cant\, n. [Prob. from OF. cant, equiv. to L. quantum; cf.
F. encan, fr. L. in quantum, i.e. ``for how much?'']
A call for bidders at a public sale; an auction. ``To sell
their leases by cant.'' --Swift.

  7. \Cant\, v. t.
to sell by auction, or bid a price at a sale by auction.
[Archaic] --Swift.
 
Thesaurus Terms
 
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