cant

 Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++朗文当代英语 5++LDOCE 5++朗文 5++

Related topics: Linguistics

cant1 /kænt/ noun [uncountable]  1. PRETENDinsincere talk about moral or religious principles by someone who is pretending to be better than they really are 〔有关道德或宗教原则的〕伪善的话2  formalSL special words used by a particular group of people, especially in order to keep things secret 行话，切口，黑话 SYN slang thieves’ cant 小偷的黑话

Examples from the Corpus

cant• If there was one thing that he hated fervently it was affectation and cant.• Along with that sound goes the overpowering stench of mendacity and cant.• His viewpoint is remarkably free of idealism or cant.• And yet their eyes, their lips, a certain shy grin or quizzical cant of an eyebrow, look strangely familiar.• Instantly, Penn establishes himself as an unsympathetic Satan, even before he starts his white-supremacist cant.• But what about the cant of usury and the mode of treating that he ought to know?• Their cant was not religious but phrenological.cant2 verb [intransitive, transitive]  HORIZONTALto lean, or make something lean （使）倾斜→ See Verb table

Examples from the Corpus

cant• This city could reconfigure parts of itself, great vitrodur panels sliding smoothly, tilting, canting.• It maddened him and he canted athwart.• Grave Digger clears all the yellow cars, canting far to one side.• She was sitting down by the gate, one hand on her neck, her head canted over at a fierce angle.• The controls are canted toward the driver.Origin cant1 (1600-1700) cant “to speak, talk like a beggar trying to get money” ((16-18 centuries)), from Latin cantare; → CHANT1

cant1 nouncant2 verbChinese  

religious or principles about Corpus moral insincere talk

cant

I

cant¹ /kænt/ noun [uncountable]1. insincere talk about moral or religious principles by someone who is pretending to be better than they really are
2. formal special words used by a particular group of people, especially in order to keep things secret
   SYN  slang:
    thieves’ cant

II

cant² verb [intransitive and transitive]
to lean, or make something lean