Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

vat

Pronunciation: /vat/
Translate vat | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of vat

noun

  • 1a large tank or tub used to hold liquid, especially in industry:a vat of hot tar
  • 2 (also vat dye) a water-insoluble dye, such as indigo, that is applied to a fabric in a reducing bath which converts it to a soluble form, the colour being obtained on subsequent oxidation in the fabric fibres.

verb (vats, vatting, vatted)

[with object]
  • place or treat in a vat: the grapes are vatted for between 15 and 21 days and then aged in small barrels

Derivatives

vatful

noun (plural vatfuls)

Origin:

Middle English: southern and western dialect variant of obsolete fat 'container', of Germanic origin; related to Dutch vat and German Fass

vat in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of vat in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

  |  Cite

More words in this category

Word of the day

offing

/ ˈɒfɪŋ /
noun
the more distant part of the sea in view …