word of the day: cant

The word of the day is cant:

Etymology:  < cant n.¹; compare Dutch and German kanten in several of the same senses.

 I. trans.

1. To give a cant edge to; to bevel; esp. to bevel off a corner. 

2.a. To bring or put (a thing) into an oblique position, so that it is no longer vertical or horizontal; to slope, slant, tilt up. 

b. To turn over completely, turn upside down.c. fig. (?) To incline, adapt with a bias. Obs.3. To throw off, e.g. to empty out, the contents of a vessel by tilting it up. to cant off : to decant.

4. To pitch as by the sudden lurching of a ship; to toss, to throw with a sudden jerk.  

II. intr. 

5. To tilt, take an inclined position, pitch on one side, turn over; often to cant over . 

6. To have a slanting position, lie aslant, slope. 

7. Naut. To take, move into, or have an oblique position in reference to any defined course or direction; to swing round from a position. (OED)

"The world cants.

"Knox drops to his knees and rocks back and forth as waves of guilt wash over him."

 - William T. Vandemark, "Let slip the dogs",  15 November 2012 Nature