vat

1 of 3

noun

1
: a large vessel (such as a cistern, tub, or barrel) especially for holding liquors in an immature state or preparations for dyeing or tanning
2
: a liquor containing a dye converted into a soluble reduced colorless or weakly colored form that on textile material steeped in the liquor and exposed to the air is converted by oxidation to the original insoluble dye and precipitated in the fiber

vat

2 of 3

verb

vatted; vatting

transitive verb

: to put into or treat in a vat

VAT

3 of 3

abbreviation

value-added tax

Examples of vat in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Although the true cause of the hawk’s situation is uncertain, the center said the bird may have been hunting rodents near an open vat of cooking oil near a restaurant — which can attract rats and mice — and ended up in the oil instead. Makiya Seminera, Miami Herald, 6 Mar. 2024 This mezcal is fermented in open-air wooden vats and utilizes wild yeasts. Erik Ofgang, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2024 Hundreds of people lined up, clutching containers hoping for some food from the vats bubbling with pasta and soup, many of them children looking gaunt and hungry. Zoe Magee, ABC News, 18 Jan. 2024 Many, if not most, cafes have a vat in their kitchens, and dinky jars of less than one ounce dot airport lounges across the country. Natasha Frost Abigail Varney, New York Times, 12 Nov. 2023 Rather than force her to dispatch everyone, Michael Lesslie and Michael Arndt’s script (faithful to the novel) brings in a vat of poisonous snakes to speed along the result. Peter Debruge, Variety, 9 Nov. 2023 Hundreds of people lined up at a soup kitchen in the southern Gaza town of Rafah on Thursday, waving cups and pots, waiting for soup to be served from huge vats hanging over wood fires. Najib Jobain, arkansasonline.com, 22 Dec. 2023 The vehicle said to be carrying a shipment of jalapeño paste had actually brought with it 349 packages of methamphetamine and cocaine, which officers removed from the vats of paste themselves after K-9 dogs screened and flagged the trailer. Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 18 Dec. 2023 Tawny Ports are wines that have been aged in either vats or barrels. Mike Desimone and Jeff Jenssen, Robb Report, 10 Dec. 2023
Verb
This was a period when distilleries and their parent companies were still very much concentrating on blends alongside a limited number of single malts, which were often vatted to create a uniform taste and strength. Mark Littler, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024 Lastly, the whiskeys were vatted together and bottled at cask strength of 113.8 proof with no chill filtration. Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 14 Jan. 2024 Black Art 11 is a 24-year-old single malt and 1994 vintage (it must have been vatted at some point over the past few years since that number indicates the youngest whisky in the bottle). Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 9 Nov. 2023 Triple-copper-pot-distilled, then aged in a combination of bourbon and Oloroso sherry barrels, the whiskeys comprising Rare Cask #3 were left to mature for 13 years, after which they were vatted together to continue developing for another 17 years in a trio of first-fill Madeira casks. Richard Carleton Hacker, Robb Report, 26 Feb. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'vat.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English vet, vat, southern variant of fat, fet, going back to Old English fæt, going back to Germanic *fata- (whence Old Saxon fat "vessel," Old High German faz); akin to Lithuanian púodas "pot"

First Known Use

Noun

12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1784, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of vat was in the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near vat

Cite this Entry

“Vat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vat. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

vat

noun
ˈvat
: a large container (as a tub) especially for holding liquids in manufacturing processes

Legal Definition

VAT

noun
ˌvē-ˌā-ˈtē

More from Merriam-Webster on vat

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