decant
Syllables: de·cant/dəˈkænt/
decant verb: to pour off (a liquid) gently, so as not to disturb the sediment.
Verb
decant (third-person singular simple present decants, present participle decanting, simple past and past participle decanted)
- To pour off (a liquid) gently, so as not to disturb the sediment.
- After washing, the insoluble lime soap is decomposed with hot dilute sulphuric acid. The melted fatty acids thus rise as an oil to the surface, when they are decanted.1908, Michael Faraday, The Chemical History of a Candle
- To pour from its original vessel into one intended for a different use or appearance.
- to decant wine
- To flow.
- Swincombe, formerly Swan-combe, runs to the north of the ridge, and has the sources of its river in the Fox Tor mires and near Childe's Tomb. It runs north-east, and then abruptly passes north to decant into the West Dart.1900, Sabine Baring-Gould, A Book of Dartmoor
- To remove (a clone or other artificially-gestated baby) from its chamber, vat, or artificial womb.
- “We also predestine and condition. We decant our babies as socialized human beings, as Alphas or Epsilons, as future sewage workers or future …” He was going to say “future World controllers,” but correcting himself, said “future Directors of Hatcheries,” instead.1932, Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
- To rehouse people while their buildings are being refurbished or rebuilt.
Noun
decant (plural decants)
- A portion of perfume unofficially sold in a smaller bottle.
- In addition to decants, minis, and used bottles of vintage, perfume nips are a fun way to try out vintage, and they seem to be all over the Internet.2013, Barbara Herman, Scent and Subversion: Decoding a Century of Provocative Perfume, page 261
decant meaning in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Punjabi
decant in Tamil
- இறுத்தல்
decant in Malayalam
- decant or pour out water from boiled vegetable, rice, etc
- വാർക്കുക vāṟkkuka
decant in Kannada
- ಮೆಲ್ಲ ಎರೆ, ಬಸಿ
decant in Punjabi
- to decant
- ਨਿਤਾਰਨਾ nitranā, نتارنا nitarṇā
More languagesFewer languages
- decant in Indonesian
- siring, tuang-tuang
- decant in Thai
- ริน rin, เท tee
Examples of decant in a sentence
- But not just any old soul will do: only the souls of the engifted can be decanted.
- The beer was finally poured through a sieve into a spouted jar, from which it was decanted.
- Shortly, the Colonel’s batman entered and began to decant tea from a silver tea set.
Forms of decant
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | decants |
| present participle | decanting |
| past participle | decanted |
| past | decanted |
| Noun | |
| plural | decants |
Origin of decant
From French décanter, from Medieval Latin dēcanthāre, from dē- + canthus (“beak of a cup or jug”).
Words formed from decant
Words that rhyme with decant
18 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about decant
- What does decant mean?
- Decant means to pour off (a liquid) gently, so as not to disturb the sediment.
- What is decant in Tamil?
- Decant in Tamil is இறுத்தல். See Decant meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is decant?
- Decant can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce decant?
- Decant is pronounced /dəˈkænt/.
- What is the past tense of decant?
- The past tense of decant is decanted.
Words near decant in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: decant (page history and authors); decant (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); വാർക്കുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); decant (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); نتارنا (Punjabi) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-decant.wav.
Cite this entry: “decant.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/decant. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.