cant Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun stock phrases that have become nonsense through endless repetition
    buzzword.
  2. 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
    camber; bank.
  3. noun a characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves)
    patois; argot; vernacular; slang; jargon; lingo.
    • they don't speak our lingo
  4. noun insincere talk about religion or morals
    pious platitude.
  5. noun two surfaces meeting at an angle different from 90 degrees
    bevel; chamfer.
  6. verb heel over
    tilt; slant; cant over; pitch.
    • The tower is tilting
    • The ceiling is slanting

WordNet

Cant noun
Etymology
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.
Definitions
  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 athe deck of a vessel to support the bulkneads.
Cant transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Canted; present participle & verbal noun Canting
Definitions
  1. To incline; to set at an angle; to titl 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
Etymology
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.
Definitions
  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. F. W. Robertson
  4. Vulgar jargon; slang; the secret language spoker by gipsies, thieves. tramps, or beggars.
Cant adjective
Definitions
  1. Of the nature of cant; affected; vulgar.
    To introduce and multiply cant words in the most ruinous corruption in any language. Swift.
Cant intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To speak in a whining voice, or an affected, sinsong 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 termes; to talk with an affectation of learning.
    The doctor here, When he discqurseth of dissection, Of vena cava and of vena porta, The meseræum and the mesentericum, What does he else but cant. B. Jonson
    That uncouth affected garb of speech, or canting hanguage, if I may so call it. Bp. Sanderson.
Cant noun
Etymology
Prob. from OF. cant, equiv. to L. quantum; cf. F. encan, fr. L. in quantum, i.e. "for how much?"
Definitions
  1. A all for bidders at a public sale; an auction. "To sell their leases by cant." Swift.
Cant transitive verb
Definitions
  1. to sell by auction, or bid a price at a sale by auction. Archaic Swift.

Webster 1913