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Webster 1913 Edition

Canker

Can′ker

(kăṉ′kẽr)
,
Noun.
[OE.
canker
,
cancre
, AS.
cancer
(akin to D.
kanker
, OHG
chanchar
.), fr. L.
cancer
a cancer; or if a native word, cf. Gr. [GREEK] excrescence on tree, [GREEK] gangrene. Cf. also OF.
cancre
, F.
chancere
, fr. L.
cancer
. See
cancer
, and cf.
Chancre
.]
1.
A corroding or sloughing ulcer; esp. a spreading gangrenous ulcer or collection of ulcers in or about the mouth; – called also
water canker
,
canker of the mouth
, and
noma
.
2.
Anything which corrodes, corrupts, or destroy.
The
cankers
of envy and faction.
Temple.
3.
(Hort.)
A disease incident to trees, causing the bark to rot and fall off.
4.
(Far.)
An obstinate and often incurable disease of a horse’s foot, characterized by separation of the horny portion and the development of fungoid growths; – usually resulting from neglected thrush.
5.
A kind of wild, worthless rose; the dog-rose.
To put down Richard, that sweet lovely rose.
And plant this thorm, this
canker
, Bolingbroke.
Shakespeare
Black canker
.
See under
Black
.

Can′ker

(kăṉ′kẽr)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Cankered
(-kẽrd)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Cankering
.]
1.
To affect as a canker; to eat away; to corrode; to consume.
No lapse of moons can
canker
Love.
Tennyson.
2.
To infect or pollute; to corrupt.
Addison.
A tithe purloined
cankers
the whole estate.
Herbert.

Can′ker

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To waste away, grow rusty, or be oxidized, as a mineral.
[Obs.]
Silvering will sully and
canker
more than gliding.
Bacom.
2.
To be or become diseased, or as if diseased, with canker; to grow corrupt; to become venomous.
Deceit and
cankered
malice.
Dryden.
As with age his body uglier grows,
So his mind
cankers
.
Shakespeare

Webster 1828 Edition

Canker

CANKER

,
Noun.
1.
A disease incident to trees, which causes the bark to rot and fall.
2.
A popular name of certain small eroding ulcers in the mouth, particularly of children. They are generally covered with a whitish slough.
3.
A virulent, corroding ulcer; or any thing that corrodes, corrupts or destroys.
Sacrilege may prove an eating canker.
And their word will eat as doth a canker. Tim. 2.
4.
An eating, corroding, virulent humor; corrosion.
5.
A kind of rose, the dog rose.
6.
In farriery, a running thrush of the worst kind; a disease in horses feet, discharging a fetid matter from the cleft in the middle of the frog.

CANKER

,
Verb.
I.
To grow corrupt; to decay, or waste away by means of any noxious cause; to grow rusty, or to be oxydized, as a metal.

Definition 2024

canker

canker

English

Noun

canker ‎(countable and uncountable, plural cankers)

  1. (phytopathology) A plant disease marked by gradual decay.
  2. A corroding or sloughing ulcer; especially a spreading gangrenous ulcer or collection of ulcers in or about the mouth.
  3. Anything which corrodes, corrupts, or destroys.
    • Temple
      the cankers of envy and faction
  4. A kind of wild rose; the dog rose.
    • Shakespeare
      To put down Richard, that sweet lovely rose, / And plant this thorn, this canker, Bolingbroke.
  5. An obstinate and often incurable disease of a horse's foot, characterized by separation of the horny portion and the development of fungoid growths. Usually resulting from neglected thrush.
  6. An avian disease affecting doves, poultry, parrots and birds of prey, caused by Trichomonas gallinae.

Synonyms

  • (ulcer, especially of the mouth): water canker, canker of the mouth, noma
  • (bird disease): avian trichomoniasis, roup
  • (hawk disease): frounce

Related terms

Translations

Verb

canker ‎(third-person singular simple present cankers, present participle cankering, simple past and past participle cankered)

  1. (transitive) To affect as a canker; to eat away; to corrode; to consume.
    • 1849, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, In Memoriam, 26:
      Still onward winds the dreary way; / I with it; for I long to prove / No lapse of moons can canker Love, / Whatever fickle tongues may say.
  2. (transitive) To infect or pollute; to corrupt.
  3. (intransitive) To waste away, grow rusty, or be oxidized, as a mineral.
  4. To be or become diseased, or as if diseased, with canker; to grow corrupt; to become venomous.

References

  • canker in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Scots

Alternative forms

Etymology

Middle English canker, cancre, Old English cancer, akin to Dutch kanker, Old High German chanchar. From Latin cancer ‎(“a cancer”).

Pronunciation

  • (Southern Scots) IPA(key): /ˈkɔːŋɡkʌr/

Noun

canker ‎(plural cankers)

  1. Bad temper.

Verb

canker ‎(third-person singular present cankers, present participle cankerin, past cankert, past participle cankert)

  1. (archaic) To become bad-tempered, to fret, to worry.

Etymology

Middle English canker, cancre, Old English cancer, akin to Dutch kanker, Old High German chanchar. From Latin cancer ‎(“a cancer”).

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -æŋkə(ɹ)

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