20 May 2015
cant(1)
[kant]
noun
1. insincere, especially 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, especially of beggars.
verb (used without object)
5. to talk hypocritically.
6. to speak in the whining or singsong tone of a beggar; beg.
Origin of cant (1)
Old English, Latin
1495-1505; < Latin base cant- in cantus song, canticus singsong, etc., whence Old English cantere singer, cantic song; see chant
Related forms
cantingly, adverb
Can be confused
cant, can’t, Kant.
cant, jargon, slang.
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, bank1(def 6).
7. a sudden pitch or toss.
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; Middle English: side, border < Anglo-French cant, Old French chant < a Romance base *cantu (m) with the related senses “rim, border” and “angle corner,” probably < Celtic; compare Latin cant (h) us iron tire (< Celtic), Welsh cant periphery, rim, felloe; probably not akin to Greek kanthós corner of the eye; cf. canteen, cantle, canton
Related forms
cantic, adjective
cant(3)
[kahnt]
adjective, Scot. and North England
1. hearty; merry.
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English < Low German kant merry, bold
can’t
[kant, kahnt]
1. contraction of cannot.
Can be confused
cant, can’t, Kant.
Usage note
See can(1), cannot, contraction.
Cant.
1. Canterbury.
2. Cantonese.
Dictionary.com
Examples from the web for cant
– Satirists occupy a perilous position—to skewer dogma and cant, and to antagonize the establishment while needing its protection.
(Harry Shearer on The Dangerous Business of Satire Lloyd Grove January 7, 2015)
– On the periphery, tents pitched under overpasses cant against the dirty wind.
(Catastrophe in Verse Eliza Griswold April 20, 2011)
Today’s aphorism
You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.
– Malcolm X
On this day
20 May 325 – commencement of the First Council of Nicea, a cabal of 1800 bishops convened by Roman Emperor Constantine I (Constantine the Great) to gain consensus within the church for various doctrinal issues, such as the divinity of Christ, the Holy Trinity and the date for Easter which were articulated in the ‘Creed of Nicea’. The Council concluded on 25 August 325.
20 May 1896 – a 6 ton chandlier falls from the ceiling of the Palais Garnier, Paris, onto the crowd below. One person is killed and many injured. The theatre was used as the setting for Gaston Leroux’s novel, Phantom of the Opera.
20 May 1944 – birth of Joe Cocker. English rock and blues singer. His first big hit was in 1968 with his cover of the Beatles song, ‘With a Little Help from my Friends’, which he performed at Woodstock the year later. In 1972, while touring Australia, he and six band members were arrested in Adelaide for possession of cannabis. The following day he was charged with assault following a brawl in Melbourne. Australian Federal Police gave him 48 hours to leave the country and banned him from re-entry. From this he earned the nickname ‘Mad-dog’. The incident raised the profile of cannabis legalisation in Australia. He toured Australia again in 1975, after the new Labor government allowed him back into the country. He won a Grammy Award in 1983 and was awarded an OBE in 2007.
