<B>canso d'amor,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> one of the poetic forms used by the troubadours; love song. </DL>
<A NAME="canst">
<B>canst, </B>verb. second person singular present of <B>can</B> (1).<DL COMPACT><DD> (Archaic.) can (used only with <I>thou</I>). "Thou canst" means "you can." </DL>
<A NAME="cant">
<B>cant</B> (1), noun, adjective, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>talk that is not sincere; moral or religious statements that many people make, but few really believe or act upon. <BR> <I>Ex. Clear your mind of cant (Samuel Johnson).</I> (SYN) hypocrisy. <DD><B> 2. </B>the peculiar language of a special group, using many strange words; argot. <BR> <I>Ex. "Jug" is one of the words for "jail" in thieves' cant.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>the special language and idiom of a trade, craft, or profession; jargon. <BR> <I>Ex. the cant of the psychologists.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>stock phrases and expressions fashionable at a particular time or among a group or class of society. <BR> <I>Ex. the cant of cafe society.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>a whining manner of speaking, especially as adopted by beggars; whine. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>peculiar to a special language. <BR> <I>Ex. cant words of thieves.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>used for the sake of fashion; affected. <BR> <I>Ex. to borrow a cant phrase.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>marked by affected piety; insincere. <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to use cant; talk in cant. <DD><B> 2. </B>to speak in the manner of a beggar; whine; beg. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to use (expressions) merely because they are fashionable; say for fashion's sake. <BR> <I>Ex. I have heard the same cant canted about a much finer building (Macaulay).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="cant">
<B>cant</B> (2), noun, verb, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a sloping, slanting, or tilted position; lean; inclination. <BR> <I>Ex. The ship took on a dangerous cant to starboard.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a sudden pitch or toss which causes a person or thing to overturn or fall. <DD><B> 3. </B>a turning or tilting movement. <BR> <I>Ex. Fortune's wheel made suddenly a great cant (Thomas Carlyle).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>an oblique line or surface, such as cuts off the corner of a square or a cube or forms the slanting face of a bank, hill, or the like. <BR> <I>Ex. up the cant of the rock face.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Obsolete.) a corner of a building; quoin. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to give a slant or slope to; bevel. <BR> <I>Ex. He canted the edges of a board.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to put into a slanting position; tip; tilt; incline. <BR> <I>Ex. The wind canted the ship to port. The sea broke in upon us, and the canoe being half full, canted her broadside to it (Archibald Duncan).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to pitch or throw with a sudden jerk. <BR> <I>Ex. The horse canted his rider into the stream.</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to tilt, pitch on one side, or turn over. <BR> <I>Ex. The sailboat canted over in the storm. The stone platform collapsed and the building canted over (L. L. Green).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to have a slanting position or direction; slope. <DD><B> 3. </B>to swing away from a course or direction. <BR> <I>Ex. The ship canted across the narrow channel and ran aground.</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>having canted corners or edges. <DD><B> 2. </B>tilted from the perpendicular or the horizontal; sloping. </DL>
<A NAME="cant">
<B>cant</B> (3), adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (British Dialect.) lively; merry; brisk. <BR> <I>Ex. ... as cant as a kitling (Evelyn Waugh).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="cant">
<B>can't, </B>verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> cannot or can not. </DL>
<B>Cantab.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> of Cambridge (Latin, <I>Cantabrigiensis</I>). </DL>
<A NAME="cantabank">
<B>cantabank, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a strolling singer. </DL>
<A NAME="cantabile">
<B>cantabile, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Music.) <DD><I>adj. </I> in a smooth and flowing style; songlike. <BR> <I>Ex. After the interval he turned to virtuosity and romance in various smaller pieces, pouring rich, ripe cantabile tone and eloquent phrasing into Bloch's passionate "Nigun" (London Times).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>cantabile style. <BR> <I>Ex. Her clear, pure, soft cantabile was as admirable as her forceful ... fortissimo in climaxes (London Times).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a musical piece or passage in this style. </DL>
<A NAME="cantabrian">
<B>Cantabrian, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with the Cantabri, an ancient people of northern Spain, or with Cantabria, the region formerly inhabited by them. </DL>
<A NAME="cantabrigian">
<B>Cantabrigian, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of Cambridge, England, or Cambridge University. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a native or inhabitant of Cambridge, England. <DD><B> 2. </B>a student or graduate of Cambridge University. <BR> <I>Ex. As any middle-aged Cantabrigian might remember it from his student days, Britain's great Cambridge University was a mellow place with a flavor of its own (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="cantabrize">
<B>Cantabrize, </B>intransitive verb, <B>-brized,</B> <B>-brizing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to imitate or pattern after Cambridge, England, or its University. </DL>
<A NAME="cantala">
<B>cantala, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a strong fiber made from the leaves of an agave grown in the Philippines. </DL>
<B>cantaloupe</B> or <B>cantaloup, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a kind of muskmelon with a hard, rough rind and sweet juicy, orange-colored flesh. </DL>
<A NAME="cantankerous">
<B>cantankerous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> ready to make trouble and oppose anything suggested; ill-natured; quarrelsome. <BR> <I>Ex. We have a huge, black, cantankerous Persian tomcat that ruthlessly dominates the house (Harper's).</I> (SYN) crabbed, testy. adv. <B>cantankerously.</B> noun <B>cantankerousness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="cantar">
<B>cantar, </B>noun. =kantar.</DL>
<A NAME="cantata">
<B>cantata, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a musical composition consisting of a story or play which is sung by a chorus and soloists, but not acted. <DD><B> 2. </B>(originally) a narrative in verse set to recitative or alternate recitative and air, for a single voice accompanied by one or more instruments. </DL>
<A NAME="cantatadacamera">
<B>cantata da camera,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Italian.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a cantata based on a secular subject. <DD><B> 2. </B>(literally) chamber cantata. </DL>
<A NAME="cantatadachiesa">
<B>cantata da chiesa,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Italian.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a cantata based on a sacred subject. <DD><B> 2. </B>(literally) church cantata. </DL>
<B>cantatrice, </B>noun, pl. (Italian) <B>-trici,</B> (French) <B>-trices.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Italian or French.) a professional female singer. </DL>
<A NAME="cantblock">
<B>cant block,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a large block used for turning over the body of a whale in stripping off its blubber. </DL>
<A NAME="cantboard">
<B>cant board,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a sloping or canting board. <DD><B> 2. </B>a division made in the conveyor box of a flour bolter to separate different grades. <DD><B> 3. </B>a board serving to show the plan of the curved side of a carriage in carriage building. </DL>
<A NAME="cantbody">
<B>cant body,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the portion of a vessel which contains the cant frames. </DL>
<A NAME="cantchisel">
<B>cant chisel,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a large strong chisel having a rib and the ground or slanted edge on one side. </DL>
<A NAME="cantdog">
<B>cant dog,</B> =cant hook.</DL>
<A NAME="canteen">
<B>canteen, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a small container for carrying water or other drinks. <BR> <I>Ex. The thirsty hiker lifted the canteen to his lips, drinking cool sips of water.</I> (SYN) flask. <DD><B> 2. </B>a military store where food, drinks, and other articles are sold to soldiers and sailors. (SYN) commissary. <DD><B> 3. </B>a recreation hall for servicemen, especially in a town or city near an army camp or naval base. <DD><B> 4. </B>a store in a school, camp, or factory where food, drinks and other articles are sold or given out. <BR> <I>Ex. Cadets had been so disenchanted with the academy's food that the prosperous student canteen made enough money to support 10 student activities (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>a box of cooking utensils for use in camp. </DL>
<A NAME="cantehondo">
<B>cante hondo,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Spanish.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a sad type of flamenco music, originally from Andalusia. <BR> <I>Ex. Throat-searing cante hondo wails from every bivouac (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(literally) deep song. </DL>
<A NAME="cantejondo">
cante jondo, =cante hondo.</DL>
<A NAME="canter">
<B>canter</B> (1), verb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t., v.i. </I> to gallop gently. <BR> <I>Ex. He cantered his horse down the road. The horse cantered across the meadow.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> a gentle gallop. <BR> <I>Ex. The canter is to the gallop very much what the walk is to the trot (William Youatt).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="canter">
<B>canter</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person who cants or whines, especially a professional beggar or vagrant. <DD><B> 2. </B>a person who talks cant. </DL>
<A NAME="canterburian">
<B>Canterburian, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of or having to do with the city of Canterbury, England, the seat of the Anglican archbishop who is also the primate of England. <DD><B> 2. </B>of or having to do with the archiepiscopal see itself, especially with its High-Church character in the 1600's. </DL>
<A NAME="canterburianism">
<B>Canterburianism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the High-Church character of England during the 1600's as represented by the see of Canterbury. </DL>
<A NAME="canterbury">
<B>canterbury, </B>noun, pl. <B>-buries.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a stand with divisions for holding music, papers, or books. </DL>
<A NAME="canterburybell">
<B>Canterbury bell</B> or <B>bells,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a plant with tall stalks of bell-shaped flowers, usually purplish-blue, pink, or white. It is a species of campanula. </DL>
<A NAME="canterburygallop">
<B>Canterbury gallop,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a gentle or moderate gallop; canter. </DL>
<A NAME="canterer">
<B>canterer, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person or thing that canters. </DL>
