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cant

 - 28 dictionary results

cant

1  [kant]
Use cant in a Sentence
–noun
1. insincere, esp. conventional expressions of enthusiasm for high ideals, goodness, or piety.
2. the private language of the underworld.
3. the phraseology peculiar to a particular class, party, profession, etc.: the cant of the fashion industry.
4. whining or singsong speech, esp. of beggars.
–verb (used without object)
5. to talk hypocritically.
6. to speak in the whining or singsong tone of a beggar; beg.
Origin:
1495–1505; < L base cant- in cantus song, canticus singsong, etc., whence OE cantere singer, cantic song; see chant

Related forms:
cant⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. hypocrisy, sham, pretense, humbug.

cant

2  [kant]
–noun
1. a salient angle.
2. a sudden movement that tilts or overturns a thing.
3. a slanting or tilted position.
4. an oblique line or surface, as one formed by cutting off the corner of a square of cube.
5. an oblique or slanting face of anything.
6. Civil Engineering. bank 1 (def. 6).
7. a sudden pitch or toss.
8. Also called flitch. a partly trimmed log.
–adjective
9. oblique or slanting.
–verb (used with object)
10. to bevel; form an oblique surface upon.
11. to put in an oblique position; tilt; tip.
12. to throw with a sudden jerk.
–verb (used without object)
13. to take or have an inclined position; tilt; turn.
Origin:
1325–75; ME: side, border < AF cant, OF chant < a Rom base *cantu(m) with the related senses “rim, border” and “angle corner,” prob. < Celtic; cf. L cant(h)us iron tire (< Celtic), Welsh cant periphery, rim, felloe; prob. not akin to Gk kanthós corner of the eye; cf. canteen, cantle, canton

Related forms:
cantic, adjective

cant

3  [kahnt]
–adjective Scot. and North England.
hearty; merry.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME < LG kant merry, bold

can't

  [kant, kahnt]
contraction of cannot.
Usage note:
See can 1 , cannot, contraction.

Cant.

 
1. Canterbury.
2. Cantonese.

bank

1  [bangk]
–noun
1. a long pile or heap; mass: a bank of earth; a bank of clouds.
2. a slope or acclivity.
3. Physical Geography. the slope immediately bordering a stream course along which the water normally runs.
4. a broad elevation of the sea floor around which the water is relatively shallow but not a hazard to surface navigation.
5. Coal Mining. the surface around the mouth of a shaft.
6. Also called cant, superelevation. the inclination of the bed of a banked road or railroad.
7. Aeronautics. the lateral inclination of an aircraft, esp. during a turn.
8. Billiards, Pool. the cushion of the table.
–verb (used with object)
9. to border with or like a bank; embank: banking the river with sandbags at flood stage.
10. to form into a bank or heap (usually fol. by up): to bank up the snow.
11. to build (a road or railroad track) with an upward slope from the inner edge to the outer edge at a curve.
12. Aeronautics. to tip or incline (an airplane) laterally.
13. Billiards, Pool.
a. to drive (a ball) to the cushion.
b. to pocket (the object ball) by driving it against the bank.
14. to cover (a fire) with ashes or fuel to make it burn long and slowly.
–verb (used without object)
15. to build up in or form banks, as clouds or snow.
16. Aeronautics. to tip or incline an airplane laterally.
17. Horology. (of a lever or balance) to be halted at either end of its oscillation by striking a pin or the like.
18. (of a road or railroad track) to slope upward from the inner edge to the outer edge at a curve.
Origin:
1150–1200; ME banke, OE hōbanca couch; c. ON bakki elevation, hill, Sw backe, Dan bakke < Gmc *bank-ōn-; perh. akin to Skt bhañj- bend, Lith bangà wave; see bank 3 , bench

Synonyms:
1. embankment, mound, ridge, dike. 3. See shore 1 .
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To cant
cant 1   (kānt)   
n.  

  1. Angular deviation from a vertical or horizontal plane or surface; an inclination or slope.

  2. A slanted or oblique surface.

    1. A thrust or motion that tilts something.

    2. The tilt caused by such a thrust or motion.

  4. An outer corner, as of a building.

v.   cant·ed, cant·ing, cants

v.   tr.

  1. To set at an oblique angle; tilt.

  2. To give a slanting edge to; bevel.

  3. To change the direction of suddenly.

v.   intr.

  1. To lean to one side; slant.

  2. To take an oblique direction or course; swing around, as a ship.


[Middle English, side, from Old North French, from Vulgar Latin *cantus, corner, from Latin canthus, rim of wheel, tire, of Celtic origin.]
cant 2   (kānt)   
n.  

  1. Monotonous talk filled with platitudes.

  2. Hypocritically pious language.

  3. The special vocabulary peculiar to the members of an underworld group; argot.

  4. Cant See Shelta.

  5. Whining speech, such as that used by beggars.

  6. The special terminology understood among the members of a profession, discipline, or class but obscure to the general population; jargon. See Synonyms at dialect.

intr.v.   cant·ed, cant·ing, cants

  1. To speak tediously or sententiously; moralize.

  2. To speak in argot or jargon.

  3. To speak in a whining, pleading tone.


[Anglo-Norman cant, song, singing, from canter, to sing, from Latin cantāre; see kan- in Indo-European roots.]
cant'ing·ly adv., cant'ing·ness n.
Shel·ta   (shěl'tə)   
n.  A secret jargon used by traditionally itinerant people in Great Britain and Ireland, based on systematic inversion or alteration of the initial consonants of Gaelic words. Also called Cant, Gammon.

[From Shelta Sheldrū, perhaps alteration of Irish Gaelic béarla, language, English, from Old Irish bélrae, language, from bél, mouth.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Main Entry:  cant1
Part of Speech:  n
Definition:  the characteristic or secret language of a particular group
Etymology:  Latin cantus 'song, chant'
Main Entry:  cant1
Part of Speech:  v
Definition:  to bevel off; to put into an oblique position
Etymology:  Dutch, German kanten
Usage:  transitive
Main Entry:  cant2
Part of Speech:  n
Definition:  phrases that have been endlessly repeated and have lost impact and meaning; a type of phraseology, such as affected and insincere religious speech
Etymology:  Latin cantus 'song, chant'
Main Entry:  cant2
Part of Speech:  v
Definition:  to tilt, incline, or turn upside-down
Etymology:  Dutch, German kanten
Usage:  transitive
Main Entry:  cant3
Part of Speech:  n
Definition:  whiny speech
Etymology:  Latin cantus 'song, chant'
Main Entry:  cant3
Part of Speech:  v
Definition:  to speak in a jargon or secret language; to use a phraseology particular to a group
Etymology:  Latin cantus 'song, chant'
Usage:  transitive
Main Entry:  cant4
Part of Speech:  n
Definition:  vulgar slang
Etymology:  Latin cantus 'song, chant'
Main Entry:  cant4
Part of Speech:  v
Definition:  to speak whiningly or affectedly
Etymology:  Latin cantus 'song, chant'
Usage:  transitive
Main Entry:  cant5
Part of Speech:  n
Definition:  a slope in the turn of a road or track where the outside is higher; tilt
Etymology:  Celtic
Main Entry:  cant5
Part of Speech:  v
Definition:  to dispose of by auction
Etymology:  Latin accantare 'to put up to auction'
Usage:  transitive
Main Entry:  cant6
Part of Speech:  n
Definition:  a slanting or oblique line, edge, or surface
Etymology:  Celtic
Main Entry:  cant7
Part of Speech:  n
Definition:  an auction
Etymology:  Latin accantare 'to put up to auction'
Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon
Copyright © 2003-2009 Dictionary.com, LLC
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Slang Dictionary
bank

  1. n.
    money; ready cash. (From bankroll.) : I can't go out with you. No bank.
  2. n.
    a toilet. (Where one makes a deposit.) : Man, where's the bank around here?
  3. tv.
    to gang up on and beat someone. (An intransitive version is bank on (so).) : They banked the kid and left him moaning.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

bank  (1)
"financial institution," 1474, from either O.It. banca or M.Fr. banque (itself from the O.It. term), both meaning "table" (the notion is of the moneylender's exchange table), from a Gmc. source (cf. O.H.G. bank "bench"); see bank (2). The verb meaning "to put confidence in" (U.S. colloquial) is attested from 1884. Bank holiday is from 1871, though the tradition is as old as the Bank of England. Bankroll (v.) "to finance" is 1920s. To cry all the way to the bank was coined 1956 by flamboyant pianist Liberace, after a Madison Square Garden concert that was packed with patrons but panned by critics.

cant  (1)
"insincere talk," 1709, earlier, slang for "whining of beggars," (1567), from O.N.Fr. canter "to sing, chant" from L. cantare, freq. of canere "to sing" (see chant). Developed after 1680 to mean the jargon of criminals and vagabonds, then applied contemptuously by any sect or school to the phraseology of its rival.

cant  (2)
"slant," c.1375, Scottish, from O.N.Fr. cant (perhaps via M.L.G. kante or M.Du. kant), from V.L. *canthus, from L. cantus "iron tire of a wheel," possibly from a Celt. word meaning "rim of wheel, edge," from PIE base *kantho- "corner, bend" (cf. Gk. kanthos "corner of the eye").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: bank
Pronunciation: 'ba[ng]k
Function: noun
: an organization for the custody, loan, or exchange of money, for the extension of credit, and for facilitating the transmission of funds
branch bank
: a banking facility that is a separate but dependent part of a chartered bank; especially : a facility that performs some banking functions and is separate from a main office
bridge bank
: a national bank that is chartered for a limited time to operate an insolvent bank until it is sold
central bank
: a national bank that establishes monetary and fiscal policy and controls the money supply and interest rate
collecting bank
: a bank other than the payor bank that is handling for collection a negotiable instrument or a promise or order to pay money
commercial bank
: a bank organized chiefly to handle the everyday financial transactions of businesses (as through deposit accounts and commercial loans)
cooperative bank
: an association (as a credit union) owned by and offering banking services for its members; specifically : SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATION
depositary bank
: the first bank to take a negotiable instrument or promise or order to pay money unless the instrument, promise, or order is presented for immediate payment over the counter
federal land bank
: a land bank that is under federal charter and regulated by the Farm Credit Administration
Federal Re·serve bank
: one of 12 central banks set up under the Federal Reserve Act to hold reserves for and extend credit to affiliated banks in their respective districts
intermediary bank
: a bank other than the depositary or payor bank to which a negotiable instrument or promise or order to pay is transferred in the course of collection
land bank
1 : a bank that provides financing for land development and farm mortgages esp. by issuing stock —see also FEDERAL LAND BANK in this entry
2 : a trust that holds land for purposes of preservation or conservation
national bank
: a bank operating under federal charter and supervision
nonbank bank
: a financial organization (as a branch of an out-of-state bank) that either accepts demand deposits or makes commercial loans
payor bank
: a bank that is the drawee of a draft
presenting bank
: a bank other than a payor bank that presents a negotiable instrument or promise or order to pay money
sav·ings bank
: a bank organized to hold depositors' funds in interest-bearing accounts and to make long-term investments (as in home mortgage loans)
state bank
: a bank operating under state charter and law —bank·er /'ba[ng]-k&r/ noun
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: bank
Pronunciation: 'ba[ng]k
Function: noun
: a place where something is held available bank>; especially : adepot for the collection and storage of a biological product of human origin for medical use bank> bank> —see BLOOD BANK

Main Entry: cant
Pronunciation: 'kant
Function: noun
: an oblique or slanting surface
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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