n. A corner; an angle; a niche.n. The corner of a field.n. An external or salient angle: as, a six-canted bolt, that is, one of six cants, or of which the head has six angles.n. One of the segments forming a side piece in the head of a cask.n. A ship's timber, near the bow or stern, lying obliquely to the line of the keel.n. A piece of wood which supports the bulkheads on a vessel's deck.n. A log that has received two side cuts in a sawmill and is ready for the next cut.n. An inclination from a horizontal line; a sloping, slanting, or tilted position.n. A toss, thrust, or push with a sudden jerk: as, to give a ball a cant.n. In whale-fishing, a cut in a whale between the neck and fins.To put or set at an angle; tilt or move from a horizontal line: as, to cant or cant up a plank; to cant over a pail or cask.Nautical, to turn (something) so that it is no longer fair and square; give (a ship) an inclination to one side, as in preparing her to be careened.To set upon edge, as a stone.To throw with a sudden jerk; toss: as, to cant a ball.To cut off an angle of, as of a square piece of timber.To tilt or incline; have a slant.To speak with a whining voice or in an affected or assumed tone; assume a particular tone and manner of speaking for the purpose of exciting compassion, as in begging; hence, to beg.To make pharisaical, hypocritical, or whining pretensions to goodness; affect piety without sincerity; sham holiness.To talk in a, certain special jargon; use the words and phraseology peculiar to a particular sect, party, profession, and the like.To use as a conventional phraseology or jargon.n. A whining or singing manner of speech; specifically, the whining speech of beggars, as in asking alms.n. The language or jargon spoken by gipsies, thieves, professional beggars, or the like, and containing many words different from ordinary English; a kind of slang or argot.n. The words and phrases peculiar to or characteristic of a sect, party, or profession; the dialect of a class, sect, or set of people: used in an unfavorable sense.n. A pretentious or insincere assumption, in speech, of a religious character; an ostentatious or insincere use of solemn or religious phraseology.n. Hence Any insincerity or conventionality in speech, especially insincere assumption or conventional pretense of enthusiasm for high thoughts or aims.n. Synonyms and Cant, Slang, Colloquialism. Cant belongs to a class; slang to no one class, except where it is specified: as, college slang; parliamentary slang. Slang is generally over-vivid in metaphor and threadbare from use, and is often vulgar or ungrammatical; cant may be correct, but unintelligible to those outside of the class concerned. Cant has also the meaning of insincere or conventional use of religious or other set phrases, as above. A colloquialism is simply an expression that belongs to common conversation, but Is considered too homely for refined speech or for writing.Of the nature of cant or jargon.n. Something given in charity.n. An auction; sale by auction. Grose.To sell by auction.To enhance or increase, as by competitive bidding at an auction.Bold; strong; hearty; lusty. Now usually canty (which see).To recover or mend; grow strong.n. An oblique line which cuts off a corner of a rectangle; an oblique side of a polygon; an oblique plane which cuts off the corner of a cuboid; an oblique face of a crystal; a slanting face of a bank.n. A sudden movement, as on board ship, resulting in a tilting up.n. One of the pieces which form the ends of the buckets on a water-wheel.n. A canting person.n. A portion, share, or division; a parcel or bundle: as, a cant of hay; a cant of growing grain assigned to a reaper.n. In civil law, a method of partitioning property the title to which is vested in two or more parties in common.n. An abbreviation of Canticles.
