pant
Pant is defined as to breath rapidly, to beat quickly, or to strongly want something.
(verb)- An example of pant is what a person does after sprinting a distance.
- An example of pant is what a person's heart does after running fast.
- An example of pant is a child desperately wanting an ice cream cone.
The definition of a pant is taking a fast breath, a throb, or the puff from an engine.
(noun)- An example of a pant is what a person is doing after running on a treadmill for an hour.
- An example of a pant is the heavy beat of the heart.
- An example of a pant is the steam released from a steam engine train.
See pant in Webster's New World College Dictionary
intransitive verb
- to breathe rapidly and heavily; gasp, as from running fast
- to beat rapidly, as the heart; throb; pulsate
- to feel strong desire; yearn eagerly: with for or after
- to give off steam, smoke, etc. in loud puffs, as an engine
Origin: ME panten, prob. contr. < OFr pantaisier < VL *phantasiare, to suffer from a nightmare < L phantasia, idea, notion, nightmare: see fantasy
transitive verb
noun
- any of a series of rapid, heavy breaths, as from exertion; gasp
- a throb, as of the heart
- a puff, as of an engine
noun, adjective
See pant in American Heritage Dictionary 4
verb pant·ed, pant·ing, pants verb, intransitive
- To breathe rapidly in short gasps, as after exertion.
- To beat loudly or heavily; throb or pulsate.
- To give off loud puffs, especially while moving.
- To long demonstratively; yearn: was panting for a chance to play.
- A short labored breath; a gasp.
- A throb; a pulsation.
- A short loud puff, as of steam from an engine.
Origin:
Origin: Middle English panten
Origin: , perhaps alteration of Old French pantaisier
Origin: , from Vulgar Latin *pantasiāre
Origin: , from Greek phantasioun, to form images
Origin: , from phantasiā, appearance; see fantasy
.Related Forms:
- pantˈing·ly adverb
noun
- Trousers. Often used in the plural.
- Underpants. Often used in the plural.
Origin:
Origin: Short for pantaloon
. Word History: One would not expect a word for a modern article of clothing to come ultimately from the name of a 4th-century Roman Catholic saint, but that is the case with the word pants. It can be traced back to Pantaleon, the patron saint of Venice. He became so closely associated with the inhabitants of that city that the Venetians were popularly known as Pantaloni. Consequently, among the commedia dell'arte's stock characters the representative Venetian (a stereotypically wealthy but miserly merchant) was called Pantalone, or Pantalon in French. In the mid-17th century the French came to identify him with one particular style of trousers, a style which became known as pantaloons in English. Pantaloons was later applied to another style that came into fashion in the late 18th century, tight-fitting garments that had begun to replace knee breeches. After that pantaloons was used to refer to trousers in general. The abbreviation of pantaloons to pants met with some resistance at first; it was considered vulgar and, as Oliver Wendell Holmes put it, “a word not made for gentlemen, but ‘gents.’” First found in the writings of Edgar Allan Poe in 1840, pants has replaced the “gentleman's word” in English and has lost all obvious connection to Saint Pantaleon.Learn more about pant
