vat

plural vats

1. A large tub, such as is used for making wine or for tanning.

   a vat of fat

   5 more examples

   a vat of liquid

   a vat of acid

   a vat of wine

   a vat of olives

   a vat of glue

2. A square, hollow place on the back of a calcining furnace, where tin ore is laid to dry.
3. CatholicismA vessel for holding holy water.
4. datedA liquid measure and dry measure; especially, a liquid measure in Belgium and Holland, corresponding to the hectolitre of the metric system, which contains 22.01 imperial gallons, or 26.4 standard gallons in the United States.

present singular third person vats · participle present vatting · participle past vatted · past vatted

1. transitiveTo put into a vat.
2. transitiveTo blend (wines or spirits) in a vat; figuratively, to mix or blend elements as if with wines or spirits.

   1 more example

   He was thinking of the grape arbor in Kingston, of summer twilight and the murmur of voices darkening into silence as he approached, who meant them, her, no harm; who meant her less than harm, good God; darkening into the pale whisper of her white dress, of the delicate and urgent mammalian whisper of that curious small flesh which he had not begot and in which appeared to be vatted delicately some seething sympathy with the blossoming grape.

   1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Library of America, published 1985, page 114

1. not comparableDesignating a vat dye.

   vat red

   1 more example

   vat jade green

1. abbreviationinitialismuncountableeconomicsInitialism of value added tax.

   And neither party is up for imposing a VAT in place of the current income tax system.

   2024 December 28, Jonathan Nicholson, “Yes, There Are Ways To Cut The Budget Deficit. 'DOGE' Hasn’t Found Them So Far.”, in HuffPost

   Synonyms: GST

2. abbreviationinitialismuncountableInitialism of vigilance awareness training.