Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To pour off (wine, for example) without disturbing the sediment.
- v. To pour (a liquid) from one container into another.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To pour off gently, as liquor from its sediment; pour from one vessel into another.
Wiktionary
- v. To pour off gently, as liquor, so as not to disturb the sediment; or to pour from one vessel into another; as, to decant wine.
- v. science fiction To remove a clone from its chamber, vat, or artificial womb.
- v. To rehouse people while their buildings are being refurbished or rebuilt
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To pour off gently, as liquor, so as not to disturb the sediment; or to pour from one vessel into another.
WordNet 3.0
- v. pour out
Etymologies
- Medieval Latin dēcanthāre : Latin dē-, de- + Latin canthus, rim of a wheel or vessel (of Celtic origin). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“So even when I read an old series that is done, I leave some time between the books to "decant" so to speak.”
“Every time that they cried "to arms" I used to send fifty-four knights, who were called "decant" because they each headed ten men whenever we rode out under arms.”
“This sounds wonderfully cool, however the grammar nazi in me must point out that the OP should have used "decant" and "liquor".”
“If you want to drink it now, decant it for at least an hour.”
“He also said that it was tough to taste Bordeaux that was so clearly meant for the long haul at this point in its evolution and praised the organizer, Howard Kaplan of EWS, for “taking time away from his family this morning” to double decant the wines (from bottle to a decanter, then back into the rinsed bottle).”
Tasting Bordeaux 2005 blind with Robert Parker | Dr Vino's wine blog
“I decant to enrich the wine, not to lose the bubbles.”
Charles Heidsieck wants to burst your bubble – decanting Champagne | Dr Vino's wine blog
“Because if we cant, decant, then we chant; In Vino Veritas!”
Poetry slam: wine education for kids [giveaway] | Dr Vino's wine blog
“So my first piece of advice would be to decant produce into air-tight jars when you get it home.”
“So, characters can spin copies of themselves and merge them back again, or they can decant themselves into multiple forms, including sock puppets -- but characters traits and actions remain: parental sacrifice, tantrums, jealousy, etc.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘decant’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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Words build meanings from origins( et...
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 2046 more...
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"Brave New World"
From the book "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley, which I purchased by accident.
brevity, florid, callow, sibilant, boskage, apopletic, asceptic, setentious, decant, predestine, viviparous, proliferate and 7 more...
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T'ain't going to drain no more
wordie stoppers: without refrain: stanza on its own: lotion motion: T'ain't going to drain no moor
nanopyle, nanonize, nanocosm, ombromombo, misle(ad), nanostrobos, nanomini, peerl, serein, hyetalous, pelter, sluiciest and 43 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1834 more...
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ne plus ultra
These are ones I like more so than others, for reasons I might not be able to adequately explain. I expect this list to grow quite slowly.
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GRE Reference
A list of words unfamiliar to me that I have repeatedly encountered in GRE question sets.
parochial, clique, salacious, aegis, ostracize, conceited, sacrilegious, inane, serendipity, gourmand, polemic, tenuous and 138 more...
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Words from Moby Dick
frigate, presumptuous, genteel, succor, hearthstone, gentry, factitious, bilious, insurgent, portent, enervate, genuflect and 303 more...
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ChortleGiggleSnort
Significant Words- Guiding you on your path to Snazzibility
flimsy, feeble, ranting, ramble, narky, snazzy, yoghurt, bulbous, pustule, globulous, geranium, megalomaniac and 521 more...
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ICE
quincunx, adoxography, panjundrum, breloque, surd, scripturient, rousant, favrile, embouchure, aquarelle, griffonage, sussultatory and 234 more...
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Morthalion's Words
supercilious, kvetch, kvass, splurge, erroneous, pugnacious, macabre, gauche, conglomerate, abyss, paraphernalia, kleptomania and 285 more...
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Faves
nepenthe, cupidity, anodyne, obdurate, doleful, obsolescent, quale, piquant, velleity, inchoate, disport, facile and 366 more...
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whatever1013's Words
chocolate, sesquipedalophobia, discombobulated, callipygian, retronym, squirm, cobalt blue, plethora, onomatopoeia, blowhard, strumpet, shush and 173 more...
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GRE
trope, surreptitious, tenet, insular, munificent, exegesis, limpid, acerbic, litany, cupidity, restive, protract and 77 more...
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ADW2
nudnik, temper, intercalate, cleave, scowl, chapfallen, malapropos, disport, annals, paean, paradisiacal, whet and 362 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for decant.

ry my favorite word ever Dec 9, 2012
cgjacob The Online Dictionary gives an additional meaning (chiefly Brit): to rehouse people while their homes are being renovated.
I encountered this meaning recently in New Zealand therefore my interest. Apr 5, 2009