chant

verb

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\ ˈchant

chanted; chanting; chants

Definition of chant

(Entry 1 of 2)

intransitive verb

1 : to make melodic sounds with the voice especially : to sing a chant

2 : to recite something in a monotonous repetitive tone protesters were chanting outside

transitive verb

1 : to utter as in chanting

2 : to celebrate or praise in song or chant

chant

noun

Definition of chant (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : song sense 1

2a : plainsong

b : a rhythmic monotonous utterance or song

c : a composition for chanting

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about chant

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Synonyms for chant

Synonyms: Verb

Examples of chant in a Sentence

Verb The crowd began chanting her name. They chanted “Sara, Sara” until she came back on stage. Protesters were chanting outside the governor's home. They were chanting in Arabic. Priests chanted the Catholic Mass in Latin. Noun Our chant was “Peace now, peace now!”. Chant is often used as a form of meditation and prayer.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb In city after city, Indians gathered to chant the preamble to the country’s Constitution. — New York Times, "India’s Leading Documentary Filmmaker Has a Warning," 1 Dec. 2020 Protesters often chant a list of demands, including Wheeler’s resignation and $50 million in cuts to Portland police. — oregonlive, "Marches, rallies for racial justice resume Wednesday in Portland," 5 Nov. 2020 The protesters who chant the words hardly seem to care, but the phrase has come to represent several different ideas. — David Bromwich, Harper's Magazine, "Is America Ungovernable?," 27 Oct. 2020 At a 2019 campaign rally in North Carolina, supporters in the crowd began to chant those words. — Ella Lee, USA TODAY, "Fact check: 12 of 28 comments deemed racist on viral list are Trump's direct speech," 28 Apr. 2017 Most protesters stood around and continued to chant to the beat of snare drums. — oregonlive, "Portland police respond to Saturday night demonstration with blockade, force, riot declaration: Key takeaways," 23 Aug. 2020 Protesters often chant a four-point list of demands at the late-night gatherings, which started in late May after the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man. — The Oregonian/oregonlive, oregonlive, "Federal, local police respond to overnight Portland protest Friday, 1st demonstration in days," 19 Sep. 2020 Protesters can chant and yell, which produce the respiratory droplets that spread the virus. — Zeynep Tufekci, The Atlantic, "I Can't Breathe: Braving Tear Gas In a Pandemic," 4 June 2020 In early June, Portland was just one more city in the United States where people turned out to chant that Black lives matter. — Sarah Jeong, The New Republic, "The Battle of Portland," 3 Sep. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun The naughty chant refers to the famous case of Lizzie Borden, who in 1892 was accused of murdering her father Andrew Borden and her step-mother Abby. — Joanna O'leary, Chron, "This famous murderer's home has just been sold," 24 Jan. 2021 Derrick Evans of West Virginia, who just two months before had been elected as a Republican state delegate, wandered the halls of the Capitol Building, filming himself and joining in the occasional chant. — New York Times, "‘Our President Wants Us Here’: The Mob That Stormed the Capitol," 10 Jan. 2021 The chant rang out on Utah streets in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. — David Noyce, The Salt Lake Tribune, "Utah in 2020: With COVID, an earthquake, winds and fires, it was a year many may like to forget — but never will," 28 Dec. 2020 And now, once again, there's mostly just hope for next year and not just for the team on the field, but a chance to get together, celebrate, lament and shake the joint with the thundering Skol chant. — Star Tribune, "Minnesota Vikings season ends as it began with a limpid loss in a cavernous stadium without fans," 20 Dec. 2020 Regrettably, that isn’t the only chant used by the team’s fans in the Israeli capital. — Benny Avni, WSJ, "Coexistence Comes to an Israeli Soccer Field," 13 Dec. 2020 Later, when some B.L.M. protesters began an anti-police chant, after the mural was painted, Frank cut them off with his megaphone. — Victor Luckerson, The New Yorker, "The Defacement and Destruction of Black Lives Matter Murals," 19 Nov. 2020 Actor and comedian Anthony Anderson delivered a pro-Black Lives Matter speech during the Emmys, including starting a chant. — Emma Colton, Washington Examiner, "Actor Anthony Anderson starts 'Black Lives Matter' chant with Jimmy Kimmel during Emmys: 'Louder'," 21 Sep. 2020 Good ol’ Rog, the guy who goes out in public now surrounded by a violent white nationalist street gang that attended the rally where that second chant happened. — Jeb Lund, The New Republic, "How to Steal an Election," 26 Oct. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'chant.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.