decanter
Americannoun
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decanters
plural
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a vessel, usually an ornamental glass bottle, for holding and serving wine, brandy, or the like.
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a bottle used for decanting.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of decanter
Explanation
Want an extra fancy way to serve a beverage? Put it in a decanter, an elegant glass container with a stopper. A decanter is similar to a carafe, a wide-mouthed vessel for serving liquids, except it has a narrower neck and a stopper. Particularly ornate decanters are made of cut crystal and are meant to hold wine, which some people believe should "breathe" before being poured and sipped. Decanter comes from the verb decant, "to pour," and its Medieval Latin source, decanthare, "pour from the edge of a vessel."
Vocabulary lists containing decanter
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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The Sound and the Fury
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Around the World in Eighty Days
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
From an unforgettable decanter to an adorable ottoman, these 8 items will awaken your inner interior designer.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2024
In the kitchen behind Meghan we can see elegant bowls and a glass decanter.
From BBC ● Mar. 15, 2024
Share your grandmother’s treasured soups and stews, wrap up a piece of Le Creuset cookware, find a collection of soup crocks, a fancy wine decanter or a nice wine bottle stopper.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 18, 2022
Tesla’s website offers a company-branded “handblown” decanter for $150 and a $60 umbrella with an “ergonomically designed handle.”
From New York Times ● Oct. 29, 2021
After lighting the gas lamps, Frankie walked over to the counter, where a decanter sat on a silver tray.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
They are buying everything from dinnerware and serveware to bottle openers, wine charms and decanters at her upstate New York store, Bousquet said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 23, 2025
Evans described first-class cabins that included fine china, liquor cabinets with crystal decanters, hair creams in ceramic jars from Paris, solid gold spectacles and Wild West clothing.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 1, 2022
According to the weekly publication, some of the other pilfered items are seven gold candelabras, several Russian icons, a 10-piece silver dressing table set and St. Louis gilt crystal glassware and decanters.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2022
The release has been limited to 288 decanters worldwide.
From BBC ● Feb. 9, 2022
Certainly when Slughorn, who had been busy with decanters and glasses, turned to face the room again, his eyes fell immediately upon Harry.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
