cant

• POS: Adjective, Noun, Verb (intransitive), Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

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.].

•  A corner; angle; niche.  [1913 Webster]

  "The first and principal person in the temple was Irene, or Peace; she was placed aloft in a cant."  [1913 Webster]
•  An outer or external angle.  [1913 Webster]
•  An inclination from a horizontal or vertical line; a slope or bevel; a titl.  Totten.  [1913 Webster]
•  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]
•  A segment forming a side piece in the head of a cask.  Knight.  [1913 Webster]
•  A segment of he rim of a wooden cogwheel.  Knight.  [1913 Webster]
•  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.

cant, v. t. 

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

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.].

•  An affected, singsong mode of speaking.  [1913 Webster]
•  The idioms and peculiarities of speech in any sect, class, or occupation.  Goldsmith.  [1913 Webster]

  "The cant of any profession."  [1913 Webster]
•  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."  [1913 Webster]
•  Vulgar jargon; slang; the secret language spoker by gipsies, thieves, tramps, or beggars.  [1913 Webster]

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."  [1913 Webster]

cant, v. i. 

•  To speak in a whining voice, or an affected, singsong tone.  [1913 Webster]
•  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."  [1913 Webster]
•  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 meseræum and the mesentericum,
  What does he else but cant."  [1913 Webster]

  "That uncouth affected garb of speech, or canting language, if I may so call it."  [1913 Webster]

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.  Swift.  [1913 Webster]

cant, v. t. 

 to sell by auction, or bid a price at a sale by auction.  Swift.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

cant, n. & v.
--n.
1 insincere pious or moral talk.
2 ephemeral or fashionable catchwords.
3 language peculiar to a class, profession, sect, etc.; jargon.
--v.intr. use cant.

Idiom

canting arms Heraldry arms containing an allusion to the name of the bearer.

cant, n. & v.
--n.
1 a a slanting surface, e.g. of a bank. b a bevel of a crystal etc.
2 an oblique push or movement that upsets or partly upsets something.
3 a tilted or sloping position.
--v.
1 tr. push or pitch out of level; tilt.
2 intr. take or lie in a slanting position.
3 tr. impart a bevel to.
4 intr. Naut. swing round.

Idiom

cant-dog (or -hook) an iron hook at the end of a long handle, used for rolling logs.

Etymology

ME f. MLG kant, kante, MDu. cant, point, side, edge, ult. f. L cant(h)us iron tire

THESAURUS

cant

Aesopian language, Babel, Greek, L, Pecksniffery, Tartuffery, Tartuffism, about ship, affectation, affectedness, alert, angle, angularity, animate, animated, apex, argot, ascend, babble, back and fill, bank, be hypocritical, bear away, bear off, bear to starboard, beat, beat about, bend, bifurcation, bight, blandish, box off, break, bring about, bring round, cant round, careen, cast, cast about, change course, change the heading, chevron, cipher, climb, code, coin, colloquialize, come about, corner, crank, crook, crotchet, cryptogram, decline, deflection, descend, dialect, diction, dictionary, dip, dogleg, double Dutch, double a point, drop, elbow, ell, empty gesture, fall, fall away, fall off, false piety, falseness, fetch about, fork, furcation, garble, gay, gibberish, gift of tongues, give lip service, give mouth honor, glossolalia, go about, go downhill, go uphill, gobbledygook, goody-goodiness, grade, gybe, heave round, heel, hook, humbug, hypocrisy, hypocriticalness, idiom, inclination, incline, inflection, insincerity, jargon, jargonize, jibe, jibe all standing, jumble, keel, keen, knee, language, lay down, lean, leaning, leaning tower, lexicon, lie along, lingo, lip service, list, mealymouthedness, miss stays, mouth, mouthing, mumbo jumbo, mummery, noise, nook, oiliness, ostentatious devotion, palaver, patois, patter, pecksniffery, pharisaicalness, pharisaism, phraseology, pidgin, pietism, pietisticalness, piety, piousness, pitch, play the hypocrite, ply, point, pretension, put about, put back, quoin, rake, recline, reek of piety, religionism, religiosity, render lip service, retreat, rise, round a point, sanctimoniousness, sanctimony, scatology, scramble, secret language, self-righteousness, sham, sheer, shelve, shift, shop, sidle, slang, slant, slew, slope, snivel, snuffle, snuffling, soft soap, soft-soap, speak, speech, spirited, sprightly, swag, sway, sweet talk, sweet-talk, swerve, swing round, swing the stern, taboo language, tack, talk, throw about, tilt, tip, tokenism, tower of Pisa, turn, turn back, unction, unctuousness, uprise, use language, veer, vernacular, vertex, vivacious, vocabulary, vulgar language, wear, wear ship, wind, yaw, zag, zig, zigzag

ROGET THESAURUS

cant

Neologism

N neology, neologism, newfangled expression, nonce expression, back-formation, caconym, barbarism, archaism, black letter, monkish Latin, corruption, missaying, malapropism, antiphrasis, pun, paranomasia, play upon words, word play, double- entendre, palindrome, paragram, anagram, clinch, abuse of language, abuse of terms, dialect, brogue, idiom, accent, patois, provincialism, regionalism, localism, broken English, lingua franca, Anglicism, Briticism, Gallicism, Scotticism, Hibernicism, Americanism, Gypsy lingo, Romany, pidgin, pidgin English, pigeon English, Volapuk, Chinook, Esperanto, Hindustani, kitchen Kaffir, dog Latin, macaronics, gibberish, confusion of tongues, Babel, babu English, chi-chi, figure of speech, byword, colloquialism, informal speech, informal language, substandard language, vernacular, vulgar language, obscene language, obscenity, vulgarity, jargon, technical terms, technicality, lingo, slang, cant, argot, St. Gile's Greek, thieves' Latin, peddler's French, flash tongue, Billingsgate, Wall Street slang, pseudology, pseudonym, Mr, So-and-so, wha d'ye call 'em, whatchacallim, what's his name, thingummy, thingumbob, je ne sais quoi, neologist, coiner of words, neologic, neological, archaic, obsolete, colloquial, Anglice.

Nomenclature

N nomenclature, naming, nuncupation, nomination, baptism, orismology, onomatopoeia, antonomasia, name, appelation, appelative, designation, title, heading, rubric, caption, denomination, by-name, epithet, style, proper name, praenomen, agnomen, cognomen, patronymic, surname, cognomination, eponym, compellation, description, antonym, empty title, empty name, handle to one's name, namesake, term, expression, noun, byword, convertible terms, technical term, cant, named, hight, ycleped, known as, what one may well, call fairly, call properly, call fitly, nuncupatory, nuncupative, cognominal, titular, nominal, orismological, beggar'd all description.

Impiety

N impiety, sin, irreverence, profaneness, profanity, profanation, blasphemy, desecration, sacrilege, scoffing, hypocrisy, pietism, cant, pious fraud, lip devotion, lip service, lip reverence, misdevotion, formalism, austerity, sanctimony, sanctimoniousness, pharisaism, precisianism, sabbatism, sabbatarianism, odium theologicum, sacerdotalism, bigotry blue laws, hardening, backsliding, declension, perversion, reprobation, sinner, scoffer, blasphemer, sacrilegist, sabbath breaker, worldling, hypocrite, Tartufe, Mawworm, bigot, saint, Pharisee, sabbatarian, formalist, methodist, puritan, pietist, precisian, religionist, devotee, ranter, fanatic, juramentado, the wicked, the evil, the unjust, the reprobate, sons of men, sons of Belial, the wicked one, children of darkness, impious, irreligious, desecrating, profane, irreverent, sacrilegious, blasphemous, un-hallowed, un-sanctified, un-regenerate, hardened, perverted, reprobate, hypocritical, canting, pietistical, sanctimonious, unctuous, pharisaical, overrighteous, righteous over much, bigoted, fanatical, priest-ridden, under the mask of religion, under the cloak of religion, under the pretense of religion, under the form of religion, under the guise of religion, giovane santo diavolo vecchio.

Obliquity

N obliquity, inclination, slope, slant, crookedness, slopeness, leaning, bevel, tilt, bias, list, twist, swag, cant, lurch, distortion, bend, tower of Pisa, acclivity, rise, ascent, gradient, khudd, rising ground, hill, bank, declivity, downhill, dip, fall, devexity, gentle slope, rapid slope, easy ascent, easy descent, shelving beach, talus, monagne Russe, facilis descensus averni.

Impulse

VB flash on the mind, say what comes uppermost, improvise, extemporize, give an impetus, impel, push, start, give a start to, set going, drive, urge, boom, thrust, prod, foin, cant, elbow, shoulder, jostle, justle, hustle, hurtle, shove, jog, jolt, encounter, run against, bump against, butt against, knock one's head against, run one's head against, impinge, boost, bunt, carom, clip y, fan, fan out, jab, plug, strike, knock, hit, tap, rap, slap, flap, dab, pat, thump, beat, blow, bang, slam, dash, punch, thwack, whack, hit hard, strike hard, swap, batter, dowse, baste, pelt, patter, buffet, belabor, fetch one a blow, poke at, pink, lunge, yerk, kick, calcitrate, butt, strike at, whip, come into a collision, enter into collision, collide, sideswipe, foul, fall foul of, run foul of, telescope, throw.

& Sophistry

N intuition, instinct, association, hunch, gut feeling, presentiment, premonition, rule of thumb, superstition, astrology, faith (supposition), sophistry, paralogy, perversion, casuistry, jesuitry, equivocation, evasion, chicane, chicanery, quiddet, quiddity, mystification, special pleading, speciousness, nonsense, word sense, tongue sense, false reasoning, vicious reasoning, circular reasoning, petitio principii, ignoratio elenchi, post hoc ergo propter hoc, non sequitur, ignotum per ignotius, misjudgment, false teaching, sophism, solecism, paralogism, quibble, quirk, elenchus, elench, fallacy, quodlibet, subterfuge, subtlety, quillet, inconsistency, antilogy, a delusion, a mockery, and a snare, claptrap, cant, mere words, lame and impotent conclusion, meshes of sophistry, cobwebs of sophistry, flaw in an argument, weak point, bad case, overrefinement, hairsplitting, intuitive, instinctive, impulsive, independent of reason, anterior to reason, gratuitous, hazarded, unconnected, unreasonable, illogical, false, unsound, invalid, unwarranted, not following, inconsequent, inconsequential, inconsistent, absonous, absonant, unscientific, untenable, inconclusive, incorrect, fallacious, fallible, groundless, unproved, non sequitur, it does not follow, deceptive, sophistical, jesuitical, illusive, illusory, specious, hollow, plausible, ad captandum, evasive, irrelevant, weak, feeble, poor, flimsy, loose, vague, irrational, nonsensical, foolish, frivolous, pettifogging, quibbling, finespun, overrefined, at the end of one's tether, au bout de son latin, intuitively, by intuition, illogically, non constat, that goes for nothing.

Falsehood

N falsehood, falseness, falsity, falsification, deception, untruth, guile, lying, untruth, guile, lying, misrepresentation, mendacity, perjury, false swearing, forgery, invention, fabrication, subreption, covin, perversion of truth, suppression of truth, suppressio veri, perversion, distortion, false coloring, exaggeration, prevarication, equivocation, shuffling, fencing, evasion, fraud, suggestio falsi, mystification, simulation, dissimulation, dissembling, deceit, blague, sham, pretense, pretending, malingering, lip homage, lip service, mouth honor, hollowness, mere show, mere outside, duplicity, double dealing, insincerity, hypocrisy, cant, humbug, jesuitism, jesuitry, pharisaism, Machiavelism, organized hypocrisy, crocodile tears, mealy-mouthedness, quackery, charlatanism, charlatanry, gammon, bun-kum, bumcombe, flam, bam, flimflam, cajolery, flattery, Judas kiss, perfidy, il volto sciolto i pensieri stretti, unfairness, artfulness, misstatement, false, deceitful, mendacious, unveracious, fraudulent, dishonest, faithless, truthless, trothless, unfair, uncandid, hollow-hearted, evasive, uningenuous, disingenuous, hollow, sincere, Parthis mendacior, forsworn, artificial, contrived, canting, hypocritical, jesuitical, pharisaical, tartuffish, Machiavelian, double, double tongued, double faced, double handed, double minded, double hearted, double dealing, Janus faced, smooth-faced, smooth spoken, smooth tongued, plausible, mealy-mouthed, affected, collusive, collusory, artful, perfidious, spurious, untrue, falsified, covinous, falsely, a la tartufe, with a double tongue, silly, blandae mendacia lingua, falsus in uno falsus in omnibus, I give him joy that's awkward at a lie, la mentira tiene las piernas cortas, O what a goodly outside falsehood hath.

VB be false, be a liar, speak falsely, tell a lie, lie, fib, lie like a trooper, swear false, forswear, perjure oneself, bear false witness, misstate, misquote, miscite, misreport, misrepresent, belie, falsify, pervert, distort, put a false construction upon (misinterpret), prevaricate, equivocate, quibble, palter, palter to the understanding, repondre en Normand, trim, shuffle, fence, mince the truth, beat about the bush, blow hot and cold, play fast and loose, garble, gloss over, disguise, give a color to, give a gloss, put a gloss, put false coloring upon, color, varnish, cook, dress up, embroider, varnish right and puzzle wrong, exaggerate, blague, invent, fabricate, trump up, get up, force, fake, hatch, concoct, romance, cry 'wolf!', dissemble, dissimulate, feign, assume, put on, pretend, make believe, play possum, play false, play a double game, coquet, act a part, play a part, affect, simulate, pass off for, counterfeit, sham, make a show of, malinger, say the grapes are sour, cant, play the hypocrite, sham Abraham, faire pattes de velours, put on the mask, clean the outside of the platter, lie like a conjuror, hand out false colors, hold out false colors, sail under false colors, commend the poisoned chalice to the lips, ambiguas in vulgum spargere voces, deceive.