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qanat

n. A totally cheap-ass word to use in Scrabble and piss everyone off.
"Yeah, so I was winning by, like, 200 points, and THEN he puts down 'Qanat' on a triple word score tile, and I call bullshit, but it turns out it's a real word!"
by Alecx Hunter August 3, 2005
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qanat

· As early as 3000 BC, a system of irrigation began in Persia called the qanat.
· Qanats are underground tunnels, with a canal in the floor of the tunnel, which carries water.
· At regular intervals, well-like openings extend from the surface to the tunnel floor, and it is through these openings that the tunnels were built and through which they are maintained.
· The underground nature of the canal reduces evaporation in the hot and windy desert, and allows 22,000 qanats to operate in Iran even today.
· Qanats originate in highlands, with a mother shaft as deep as 400 metres, and the tunnel floor slopes at a moderate angle toward its destination, which can be up to 160 kilometres away.
· The difference between the qanat and a surface canal is that the qanat can get water from an underground aquifer, so a surface river or stream is not needed.
· Since it travels at a slope independent of the surface features, it can go in a straight line. The water carrying canal in qanats were usually lined with stone or tile to reduce water loss.
· The control of water was a key issue to Persian agriculture, and documents demonstrated that Darius and Xerxes authorising the mass construction of qanats at Manâwir in Egypt in an effort to increase agricultural production.
· Polybius claimed that it “granted for five generations to cultivate the lands until the desert regions to those who would bring irrigation to the area… the water which flowed everywhere from the slopes of Taurus.”
· Xenophon claimed that “the canal water was supplied from the river Tigris, and from which the canal ditches were cut to extend over the country.”
by CharYu June 30, 2005
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Related Words

Qanat

A really effed up version of the word Ah
Qanat…that’s an impressive Nid!
by Moozeekfan August 19, 2021
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qanitah

Qanitah is an intelligent, patience and kind young lady. She likes to overthink sometimes but also still cares for others feelings. Most probably her other half is not from her origin so that she can learn other people’s culture.
Qanitah
by Ladylilac May 30, 2018
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Qantas'd

When your flight is cancelled so you're moved to the next available flight (often to find that this flight also gets cancelled). This occurs so frequently that it simply becomes the accepted norm. Alternatively, the flight doesn't get "cancelled", it simply gets "delayed" - in some cases by 24 hours or more.
Man, it looks like we've been Qantas'd... again.
by itshotinhere May 1, 2018
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qantas

The Airline of Australia with no registered casualties. It stands for Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services. It is mentioned in the movie rainman where dustin hoffmain complains of airlines being unsafe but not qantas.
Tom Cruise: 'We would have to fly to...Melbourne, Australia to catch a flight on qantas.
by bEATLe_PauL June 9, 2005
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qantas

The national airline of Australia. Also one of the safest. Stands for Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Service.
It's spelled Qantas, not Quantas, bitch!
by Rick James August 30, 2004
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