Cant
Cant , noun
[Old French, edge, angle, prof. from Latin canthus the iron ring round a carriage wheel, a wheel, Greek {not transcribed} the corner of the eye, the felly of a wheel; compare Welsh cant the stake or tire of a wheel. Compare Canthus, Canton, Cantle.]
1.
A corner; angle; niche. [Obsolete]
The first and principal person in the temple was Irene, or Peace; she was placed aloft in a cant.
2.
An outer or external angle.
3.
An inclination from a horizontal or vertical line; a slope or bevel; a tilt. — 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.
(Mechanics) A segment of he rim of a wooden cogwheel. — Knight
7.
(Nautical) A piece of wood laid upon the deck of a vessel to support the bulkheads.
Collocations (1)
Cant frames or Cant timbers (Nautical) , timber at the two ends of a ship, rising obliquely from the keel.
Cant , transitive verb
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.
Cant , noun
[Probably from Old French cant, French chant, singing, in allusion to the singing or whining tine of voice used by beggars, from Latin 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.
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.
4.
Vulgar jargon; slang; the secret language spoken by gypsies, thieves, tramps, or beggars.
Cant , adjective
Of the nature of cant; affected; vulgar.
To introduce and multiply cant words in the most ruinous corruption in any language.
Cant , intransitive verb
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.
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 meseraum and the mesentericum,
What does he else but cant.
That uncouth affected garb of speech, or canting language, if I may so call it.
Cant , noun
[Probably from Old French cant, equiv. to Latin quantum; compare French encan, from Latin in quantum, that is “for how much?”]
A call for bidders at a public sale; an auction.
for how much?
To sell their leases by cant.
Cant , transitive verb
to sell by auction, or bid a price at a sale by auction. [Archaic] — Swift