Can't (?). A colloquial contraction for can not.
Cant , v. t. to sell by auction, or bid a price at a sale by auction. [Archaic]
Swift.
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. 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 meseræum 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 (?), a. Of the nature
of cant; affected; vulgar.
To introduce
and multiply cant words in the most ruinous corruption in any language.
Swift.
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 , 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. [OF., edge, angle, prof. from L. canthus the iron ring
round a carriage wheel, a wheel, Gr. &?; the corner of
the eye, the
felly of a wheel; cf. W. cant the stake or tire
of a wheel.
Cf. Canthus, Canton, Cantle.]
1. A corner; angle; niche. [Obs.]
The first and
principal person in the temple
was Irene, or Peace; she was placed aloft in a cant.
B.
Jonson.
2. An outer or external angle.
3. An inclination from a horizontal or vertical line; a slope
or bevel; a
titl. Totten.
4. A sudden thrust, push, kick, or other impulse, producing a bias or change of direction; also, the bias or turn so give;
as, to give
a ball a cant.
5. (Coopering) A segment forming a side piece
in the head
of a cask. Knight.
6. (Mech.) A segment of he
rim of a wooden cogwheel. Knight.
7. (Naut.)
A piece of wood laid
upon the deck of a vessel to support the bulkheads.
Cant frames, Cant
timbers (Naut.), timber at the two ends
of a ship, rising obliquely from the keel.
Hear it pronounced