Part 51

Cant, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Canted; p. pr. & vb. n. Canting.] 1. To incline; to set at an angle; to tilt over; to tip upon the edge; as, to cant a cask; to cant a ship.

2. To give a sudden turn or new direction to; as, to cant round a stick of timber; to cant a football.

3. To cut off an angle from, as from a square piece of timber, or from the head of a bolt.

Cant, n. [Prob. from OF. cant, F. chant, singing, in allusion to the singing or whining tine of voice used by beggars, fr. L. cantus. See Chant.] 1. An affected, singsong mode of speaking.

2. The idioms and peculiarities of speech in any sect, class, or occupation. Goldsmith.

The cant of any profession. Dryden.

3. The use of religious phraseology without understanding or sincerity; empty, solemn speech, implying what is not felt; hypocrisy.

They shall hear no cant from me. F. W. Robertson

4. Vulgar jargon; slang; the secret language spoker by gipsies, thieves, tramps, or beggars.

Cant (?), a. Of the nature of cant; affected; vulgar.

To introduce and multiply cant words in the most ruinous corruption in any language. Swift.

Cant, v. i. 1. To speak in a whining voice, or an affected, singsong tone.

2. To make whining pretensions to goodness; to talk with an affectation of religion, philanthropy, etc.; to practice hypocrisy; as, a canting fanatic.

The rankest rogue that ever canted. Beau. & Fl.

3. To use pretentious language, barbarous jargon, or technical terms; to talk with an affectation of learning.

The doctor here, When he discourseth of dissection, Of vena cava and of vena porta, The meserŠum and the mesentericum, What does he else but cant. B. Jonson

That uncouth affected garb of speech, or canting language, if I may so call it. Bp. Sanderson.

Cant, n. [Prob. from OF. cant, equiv. to L. quantum; cf. F. encan, fr. L. in quantum, i.e. "for how much?"] A call for bidders at a public sale; an auction. "To sell their leases by cant." Swift.

Cant, v. t. to sell by auction, or bid a price at a sale by auction. [Archaic] Swift.

Can't (?). A colloquial contraction for can not.

Can"tab (?), n. [Abbreviated from Cantabrigian.] A Cantabrigian. [Colloq.] Sir W. Scott.

||Can*ta"bi*le (?), a. [It., cantare to sing.] (Mus.) In a melodious, flowing style; in a singing style, as opposed to bravura, recitativo, or parlando.

||Can*ta"bi*le, n. (Mus.) A piece or passage, whether vocal or instrumental, peculiarly adapted to singing; -- sometimes called cantilena.

Can*ta"bri*an (?), a. Of or pertaining to Cantabria on the Bay of Biscay in Spain.

Can`ta*brig"i*an (?), n. A native or resident of Cambridge; esp. a student or graduate of the university of Cambridge, England.

Can"ta*lev`er (?), n. [Cant an external angle + lever a supporter of the roof timber of a house.] [Written also cantaliver and cantilever.] 1. (Arch.) A bracket to support a balcony, a cornice, or the like.

2. (Engin.) A projecting beam, truss, or bridge unsupported at the outer end; one which overhangs.

Cantalever bridge, a bridge in which the principle of the cantalever is applied. It is usually a trussed bridge, composed of two portions reaching out from opposite banks, and supported near the middle of their own length on piers which they overhang, thus forming cantalevers which meet over the space to be spanned or sustain a third portion, to complete the connection.