Background for cants

cants

/kænts/ /kɑːnts/

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noun

An argot, the jargon of a particular class or subgroup.

Examples :

"He had the look of a prince, but the cant of a fishmonger."

language group communication style society

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noun

A private or secret language used by a religious sect, gang, or other group.

Examples :

"The old book contained many phrases in the guild's cants, making it difficult for outsiders to understand their practices. "

language group communication

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noun

A language spoken by some Irish Travellers; Shelta.

Examples :

"The Traveller children learned some basic words of the cant to communicate with their family. "

language linguistics culture

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noun

Empty, hypocritical talk.

Examples :

"People claim to care about the poor of Africa, but it is largely cant."

attitude language communication character moral philosophy

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noun

Whining speech, such as that used by beggars.

Examples :

"The little boy's cants of "I'm so hungry!" and "It's not fair!" didn't convince his mother to give him dessert before dinner. "

language communication

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noun

A blazon of a coat of arms that makes a pun upon the name (or, less often, some attribute or function) of the bearer, canting arms.

Examples :

"The family's crest featured a canting arms; a hand holding a key, a pun on their family name, "Keystone." "

heraldry art style history culture

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noun

A call for bidders at a public fair; an auction.

Examples :

"The auctioneer began the market day with loud cants, hoping to attract buyers for the farm equipment. "

business commerce economy finance

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verb

To speak with the jargon of a class or subgroup.

Examples :

"The programmers often cant about algorithms and coding languages, making it difficult for the marketing team to understand their needs. "

language communication group style

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verb

To speak in set phrases.

Examples :

"The politician always cants about honesty and integrity, but nobody trusts his words. "

language communication

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verb

To preach in a singsong fashion, especially in a false or empty manner.

Examples :

"The politician cants about honesty and integrity, but his actions show he's only interested in power. "

religion language communication philosophy character attitude

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verb

Of a blazon, to make a pun that references the bearer of a coat of arms.

Examples :

"The family crest of the Shepherds cants cleverly, depicting three sheep on a green field, a visual pun on their surname. "

heraldry language

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verb

To sell by auction, or bid at an auction.

Examples :

"The auctioneer cants the antique furniture to the highest bidder every Saturday. "

business commerce economy

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noun

Side, edge, corner, niche.

Examples :

"Under the cant of a hill."

part architecture area

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noun

Slope, the angle at which something is set.

Examples :

"The cants of the solar panels were carefully calculated to maximize sunlight absorption. "

technical architecture physics

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noun

A corner (of a building).

Examples :

"The security cameras were positioned to cover the cants of the building, leaving no blind spots. "

architecture building

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noun

An outer or external angle.

Examples :

"The cant of the roof tile pointed sharply upward, away from the wall. "

architecture technical building part structure

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noun

An inclination from a horizontal or vertical line; a slope or bevel; a tilt.

Examples :

"The cants of the roof help the rain run off quickly. "

architecture technical building position

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noun

A movement or throw that overturns something.

Examples :

"The construction worker examined the unstable wall, noting the slight cants that threatened to topple it over. "

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noun

A sudden thrust, push, kick, or other impulse, producing a bias or change of direction; also, the bias or turn so given.

Examples :

"to give a ball a cant"

action direction nautical

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noun

(coopering) A segment forming a side piece in the head of a cask.

Examples :

"The cooper carefully shaped the cants before fitting them together to form the barrel head. "

part material technical

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noun

A segment of the rim of a wooden cogwheel.

Examples :

"The old millwright carefully inspected the wooden gear, noting that several cants were worn and needed replacing. "

part machine technical building

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noun

A piece of wood laid upon the deck of a vessel to support the bulkheads.

Examples :

"The ship's carpenter carefully placed the cants to reinforce the damaged bulkhead. "

nautical material structure

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verb

To set (something) at an angle.

Examples :

"to cant a cask; to cant a ship"

position technical

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verb

To give a sudden turn or new direction to.

Examples :

"to cant round a stick of timber; to cant a football"

direction action way

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verb

To bevel an edge or corner.

Examples :

"The carpenter carefully cants the edge of the wooden plank to prevent splinters. "

technical architecture building

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verb

To overturn so that the contents are emptied.

Examples :

"The clumsy toddler cants his juice cup, spilling orange liquid all over the table. "

action nautical

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noun

A parcel, a division.

Examples :

"The developer divided the large field into several cants, each designated for a different type of crop. "

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verb

To divide or parcel out.

Examples :

"The teacher cants the group project tasks among the students based on their strengths. "

property business economy