'Cant' definitions:

Definition of 'cant'

(from WordNet)
noun
Stock phrases that have become nonsense through endless repetition [syn: buzzword, cant]
noun
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 [syn: bank, cant, camber]
noun
A characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves); "they don't speak our lingo" [syn: slang, cant, jargon, lingo, argot, patois, vernacular]
noun
Insincere talk about religion or morals [syn: cant, pious platitude]
noun
Two surfaces meeting at an angle different from 90 degrees [syn: bevel, cant, chamfer]
verb
Heel over; "The tower is tilting"; "The ceiling is slanting" [syn: cant, cant over, tilt, slant, pitch]

Definition of 'Cant'

From: GCIDE
  • Cant \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. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. To give a sudden turn or new direction to; as, to cant round a stick of timber; to cant a football. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. To cut off an angle from, as from a square piece of timber, or from the head of a bolt. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Cant'

From: GCIDE
  • Cant \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.] [1913 Webster]
  • The first and principal person in the temple was Irene, or Peace; she was placed aloft in a cant. --B. Jonson. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. An outer or external angle. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. An inclination from a horizontal or vertical line; a slope or bevel; a titl. --Totten. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. (Coopering) A segment forming a side piece in the head of a cask. --Knight. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. (Mech.) A segment of he rim of a wooden cogwheel. --Knight. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. (Naut.) A piece of wood laid upon the deck of a vessel to support the bulkheads. [1913 Webster]
  • Cant frames, Cant timbers (Naut.), timber at the two ends of a ship, rising obliquely from the keel. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Cant'

From: GCIDE
  • Cant \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. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. The idioms and peculiarities of speech in any sect, class, or occupation. --Goldsmith. [1913 Webster]
  • The cant of any profession. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. The use of religious phraseology without understanding or sincerity; empty, solemn speech, implying what is not felt; hypocrisy. [1913 Webster]
  • They shall hear no cant from me. --F. W. Robertson [1913 Webster]
  • 4. Vulgar jargon; slang; the secret language spoker by gipsies, thieves, tramps, or beggars. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Cant'

From: GCIDE
  • Cant \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. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Cant'

From: GCIDE
  • Cant \Cant\, v. t. to sell by auction, or bid a price at a sale by auction. [Archaic] --Swift. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Cant'

From: GCIDE
  • Cant \Cant\, a. Of the nature of cant; affected; vulgar. [1913 Webster]
  • To introduce and multiply cant words in the most ruinous corruption in any language. --Swift. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Cant'

From: GCIDE
  • Cant \Cant\, v. i.
  • 1. To speak in a whining voice, or an affected, singsong tone. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. To make whining pretensions to goodness; to talk with an affectation of religion, philanthropy, etc.; to practice hypocrisy; as, a canting fanatic. [1913 Webster]
  • The rankest rogue that ever canted. --Beau. & Fl. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. To use pretentious language, barbarous jargon, or technical terms; to talk with an affectation of learning. [1913 Webster]
  • 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 [1913 Webster]
  • That uncouth affected garb of speech, or canting language, if I may so call it. --Bp. Sanderson. [1913 Webster]

Synonyms of 'cant'

From: Moby Thesaurus

Words containing 'Cant'