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Webster 1913 Edition

Cant

Cant

,
Noun.
[OF., edge, angle, prof. from L.
canthus
the iron ring round a carriage wheel, a wheel, Gr. [GREEK] 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.

Cant

,
Verb.
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.

Cant

,
Noun.
[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.

Cant

,
Adj.
Of the nature of cant; affected; vulgar.
To introduce and multiply
cant
words in the most ruinous corruption in any language.
Swift.

Cant

,
Verb.
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 meseræum 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.

Cant

,
Noun.
[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.

Cant

,
Verb.
T.
to sell by auction, or bid a price at a sale by auction.
[Archaic]
Swift.

Webster 1828 Edition

Cant

CANT

,
Verb.
T.
1.
In popular usage, to turn about, or to turn over, by a sudden push or thrust; as, to cant over a pail or a cask.
2.
To toss; as, to cant a ball.
3.
To speak with a whining voice, or an affected singing tone.
[In this sense, it is usually intransitive.]
4.
To sell by auction, or to bid a price at auction.

CANT

,
Noun.
1.
A toss; a throw, thrust or push with a sudden jerk; as, to give a ball a cant. [This is the literal sense.]
2.
A whining, singing manner of speech; a quaint, affected mode of uttering words either in conversation or preaching.
3.
The whining speech of beggars, as in asking alms and making complaints of their distresses.
4.
The peculiar words and phrases of professional men; phrases often repeated, or not well authorized.
5.
Any barbarous jargon in speech.
6.
Whining pretension to goodness.
7.
Outcry, at a public sale of goods; a call for bidders at an auction.
This use of the word is precisely equivalent to auction, auctio, a hawking, a crying out, or in the vulgar dialect, a singing out, but I believe not in use in the U. States.

CANT

,
Noun.
A nich; a corner or retired place.
Cant-timbers, in a ship, are those which are situated at the two ends.

Definition 2024

çant

çant

See also: cant, cânt, can't, ca'n't, and Cant.

Old French

Noun

çant m ‎(oblique plural çanz or çantz, nominative singular çanz or çantz, nominative plural çant)

  1. Alternative form of cent, a hundred
    circa 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:
    Plus de cinc çanz foiz mervelliee[.]
    More than five hundred times amazed.

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