descants 1 of 2

present tense third-person singular of descant
1
as in lectures
to give a formal often extended talk on a subject an English professor who loves to descant on his beloved Shakespeare

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in chants
to produce musical sounds with the voice the world-famous soprano descanted above the melody line

Synonyms & Similar Words

descants

2 of 2

noun

variants also discants
plural of descant

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for descants
Verb
  • In fact, they were borne out of more practical considerations, said Elizabeth Morton, a planning and urban design consultant who lectures at George Washington University.
    Rachel Treisman, NPR, 9 July 2026
  • Today’s successful downtowns rely on a mix of ingredients, said Steven Falk, the former city manager of Lafayette, who’s served as an interim city executive in Oakland and Richmond and who lectures at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy.
    Martha Ross, Mercury News, 2 June 2026
Verb
  • The ballroom at the Westin Perimeter North is packed with people sporadically breaking out in Rick Jackson chants from time to time.
    Zachary Bynum, CBS News, 16 June 2026
  • As the crowd chants largely out of sight, heavy automatic gunfire can be heard for 15 uninterrupted seconds.
    Marin Scott, NBC news, 14 Jan. 2026
Noun
  • Some 54 million Americans were participating in choirs and community choruses before the pandemic, according to a 2019 choral impact study.
    Patrik Jonsson, Christian Science Monitor, 18 July 2026
  • Paired with bubbly disco grooves and chant-along choruses, the band became gay icons overnight.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026
Noun
  • The Leeds quartet built a reputation on sardonic observations about modern life, packaging political unease inside wiry post-punk.
    Sophie Miller, Rolling Stone, 19 July 2026
  • The team tested the JWST observations against a computer simulation, finding gas in the infalling filament scenario would indeed take a shape similar to that seen in NGC 4696.
    Robert Lea, Space.com, 19 July 2026
Verb
  • Madison Police Chief John Patterson speaks to the media after the fatal police shooting Wednesday.
    Marin Scott, NBC news, 23 July 2026
  • This year’s selection speaks to the creative boldness of its filmmakers, the richness of their artistic approaches and the exceptional quality of production throughout South-East Europe.
    Leo Barraclough, Variety, 23 July 2026
Verb
  • Emcee/ringleader duties in the shows were mostly split between frequent guest star John Stamos and Love’s son, Christian Love (who sings lead on numbers formerly sung by the late Carl Wilson).
    Chris Willman, Variety, 23 July 2026
  • In the film, Scott plays a Greek bard who sings about Odysseus’ victories in the Trojan War.
    Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 22 July 2026
Noun
  • The opera contains five arias, and Baby Doe sings three big duets all set to a uniquely American melodies.
    Libby Smith, CBS News, 14 July 2026
  • The machine’s repertoire included answers to 12 riddles, passages from books, and laughing, crying and kissing sounds, as well as arias sung in both male and female voices—all feats that Edison’s phonograph would one day be able to accomplish by recording and playing back the human voice.
    Ron Cowen, Scientific American, 3 June 2026
Noun
  • Trump spent time discussing the April attack in his remarks, thanking the law enforcement personnel who subdued the suspect.
    Todd Spangler, Variety, 25 July 2026
  • Trump began his remarks reflecting on the earlier event disrupted by gunfire.
    Fritz Farrow, ABC News, 25 July 2026
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Descants.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/descants. Accessed 27 Jul. 2026.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster