decant
/dɪˈkant
/verb [with object]
1Gradually pour (wine, port, or another liquid) from one container into another, typically in order to separate out sediment: he decanted the rich red liquid into some glasses...
- Reasons for decanting The most obvious reason for decanting a wine is to separate it from any sediment that has formed in the bottle which not only looks unappetizing in the glass, but usually tastes bitter and/or astringent.
- Award-winning chef David Wilson is a wine connoisseur, and he insists on all red wines being decanted as near as possible to their storage place, and as soon as they are taken off the rack.
- Just decant the wine by pouring it into a clean jug or decanter.
Synonyms
pour out, pour off, draw off, siphon off, drain, tap, tip, discharge, transfer
1.1British Temporarily transfer (people) to another place: tour coaches decant eager customers directly into the store...
- The police car has decanted three or four cops, who are now quizzing a homeless guy who ‘lives’ opposite me.
- His commissions included compulsory land acquisition in the years immediately following the Second World War, when Swindon grew a great deal, largely due to an influx of people decanted from overcrowded areas of London.
- As a last resort, we could try bringing back 18th-century bathing machines - funny little huts on wheels, in which ladies were trundled into the surf and decanted into the sea with their modesty intact.
Origin
Mid 17th century: from medieval Latin decanthare, from Latin de- 'away from' + canthus 'edge, rim' (used to denote the angular lip of a beaker), from Greek kanthos 'corner of the eye'.
This is from medieval Latin decanthare, from the Latin prefix de- ‘away from’ and canthus ‘edge, rim’, a word used by the alchemists to denote the angular lip of a beaker. Greek kanthos ‘corner of the eye’ is the base.