cant
IPA: kˈænt
noun
- (countable) An argot, the jargon of a particular class or subgroup.
- (countable, uncountable) A private or secret language used by a religious sect, gang, or other group.
- A language spoken by some Irish Travellers; Shelta.
- (uncountable, derogatory) Empty, hypocritical talk.
- (uncountable) Whining speech, such as that used by beggars.
- (countable, heraldry) A blazon of a coat of arms that makes a pun upon the name (or, less often, some attribute or function) of the bearer, canting arms.
- (obsolete) A call for bidders at a public fair; an auction.
- (obsolete) Side, edge, corner, niche.
- Slope, the angle at which something is set.
- A corner (of a building).
- An outer or external angle.
- An inclination from a horizontal or vertical line; a slope or bevel; a tilt.
- A movement or throw that overturns something.
- A sudden thrust, push, kick, or other impulse, producing a bias or change of direction; also, the bias or turn so given.
- (coopering) A segment forming a side piece in the head of a cask.
- A segment of the rim of a wooden cogwheel.
- (nautical) A piece of wood laid upon the deck of a vessel to support the bulkheads.
- (lumbering) An unfinished log after preliminary cutting.
- (regional, forestry) A parcel, a division.
- A surname.
verb
- (intransitive) To speak with the jargon of a class or subgroup.
- (intransitive) To speak in set phrases.
- (intransitive) To talk, beg, or preach in a singsong or whining fashion, especially in a false or empty manner.
- (intransitive, heraldry) Of a blazon, to make a pun that references the bearer of a coat of arms.
- (obsolete) To sell by auction, or bid at an auction.
- (transitive) To set (something) at an angle.
- (transitive) To give a sudden turn or new direction to.
- (transitive) To bevel an edge or corner.
- (transitive) To overturn so that the contents are emptied.
- (transitive, obsolete) To divide or parcel out.
adjective
- (Britain, dialect) Lively, lusty.
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Examples of "cant" in Sentences
- Palin cant even finish a sentence when asked a question she just flip flops around.
- If Palin cant stand up to the media how will she be ablt to stand up to terrorists??
- This kind of cant is nowadays a pure anachronism, for the Northern business man is no longer prosperous.
- They to whom what they call the cant of the Puritan is an offence, themselves have established and practise a distinct anti-Puritan cant with which we are all familiar.
- Both Captain and Mrs. Caldwell protested strongly against what they called cant; and they seemed to have called everything cant except an occasional cold reading aloud of the Bible on Sundays, and the bald observance of the church service.
- Lemme see, here, Palin cant write her own book, cant remember talking points [TelePalmter], cant take the heat of being governor [quit] cant handle the media, cant handle the public with cameras and cell phones, cant handle blogger journalists.
- During his after-life Scott was wont to pride himself upon being a man of business, and he averred, in contradiction to what he called the cant of sonneteers, that there was no necessary connection between genius and an aversion or contempt for the common duties of life.
- I {p. 128} dwell on this matter because it was always his favorite tenet, in contradiction to what he called the cant of sonneteers, that there is no necessary connection between genius and an aversion or contempt for any of the common duties of life; he thought, on the contrary, that to spend some fair portion of every day in any matter of fact occupation is good for the higher faculties themselves in the upshot.
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