levant

A disappearing or absconding after losing a bet.

Adjective

  1. Rising, of an animal.
    • Crest, a stag regardant levant argent. - 1932, Notes & Queries for Somerset and Dorset:
    • [...] crest a raven levant sable issant out of a[…] - 1977, Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and Natural History, Proceedings:
    • [...] neck grene acornes proper wounded on his left sholder and at her feet there is a fawcon issant levant argent out of a crowne or. - 1980, Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History, Proceedings of the Suffolk...
  2. Rising or having risen from rest; said of cattle.
  3. Eastern.
    • Forth rush the levant and the ponent winds. - 1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias...

    Synonyms: oriental eastern

    Antonyms: occidental western ponent

Origin

From French levant.

Derived

couchant and levant levant and couchant

Noun

  1. A disappearing or absconding after losing a bet.

Origin

Transferral use of Levant, from French levant. Compare French faire voile en Levant (“to sail eastward”), literally: set the sail with the Levant, an easterly wind that blows in the Mediterranean Sea. Ultimately from Latin levō + -ant.

Forms

levants

Verb

  1. To abscond or run away, especially to avoid paying money or debts.
    • In a mighty little time their husbands played them false and, taking whatever they could lay hands upon, levanted and left them in the lurch. - 1885, Sir Richard Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night,...
    • He died of a Tuesday. Got the run. Levanted with the cash of a few ads. - 1922 February, James Joyce, Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

Forms

levants levanting levanted

Derived

levanter