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• vat
  vat

  noun

  a large container, as a tub or tank, used for storing or holding liquids.
• VAT
  VAT

  noun

  value-added tax.
• Vat.
  Vat.

  abbreviation

  Vatican.

vat

¹ American  

[vat] / væt /

noun

1. a large container, as a tub or tank, used for storing or holding liquids.

   a wine vat.

2. Chemistry.

   1. a preparation containing an insoluble dye converted by reduction into a soluble leuco base.

   2. a vessel containing such a preparation.

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verb (used with object)

vatted, vatting

1. to put into or treat in a vat.

VAT ² American  

noun

1. value-added tax.

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Vat. ³ American  

abbreviation

1. Vatican.

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vat ¹ British  

/ væt /

noun

1. a large container for holding or storing liquids

2. chem a preparation of reduced vat dye

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verb

1. (tr) to place, store, or treat in a vat

Vat. ² British  

abbreviation

1. Vatican

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VAT ³ British  

/ væt /

abbreviation

1. value-added tax: a tax levied on the difference between the cost of materials and the selling price of a commodity or service

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Other Word Forms

• unvatted
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of vat

before 1100; Middle English (south); Old English fæt vessel; cognate with Old Norse fat vessel, German Fass keg

Explanation

A vat is a big container for holding liquids. If you're having a big party, your mom may get you to help cook a vat of spaghetti sauce to feed all your hungry relatives. Remember that vat has a short a sound; it rhymes with cat, hat, and sat. Vats are not always food-related. People who make pottery, for example, keep vats of glazes in which they dip their vases and cups in order to color them. No matter what a vat contains, it's often heavy and hard to move.

Example Sentences

Vat photopolymerization is a type of 3D printing that involves pouring a light-reactive liquid resin into a container and then solidifying specific areas with a laser or ultraviolet light to create a shape.

From Science Daily • Oct. 9, 2025

Vat pasteurizers, also known as batch pasteurizers, often are used by smaller-scale processors who handle limited volumes.

From Salon • May 20, 2024

The clips appear to be from a YouTube video posted on Jan. 30 to the account "Brain in a Vat," which publishes "thought experiments and discussions with philosophers."

From Fox News • Feb. 2, 2022

A bantering music-hall entertainment inspired by a legendary London pub-and-venue, “Christmas at the Old Bull & Bush” ran at Arena Stage’s Old Vat Room for some years, starting in 1997.

From Washington Post • Nov. 28, 2017

The scholia on the Troades and Rhesus were first published by L. Dindorf, from Vat.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 8 "Ethiopia" to "Evangelical Association" by Various