English
canker
Pronunciation
  • (GA) IPA: /ˈkæŋkɚ/
  • (RP) IPA: /ˈkæŋkə/
Noun

canker

  1. (plant disease) A plant disease marked by gradual decay.
  2. A region of dead plant tissue caused by such a disease.
    • 1977, The Potato: Major Diseases and Nematodes, International Potato Center, page 46 ↗:
      Slightly sunken brown cankers of variable size and shape affect stem parts primarily below the soil line.
  3. A worm or grub that destroys plant buds or leaves; cankerworm.
    • 1609, William Shakespeare, Sonnet 35:
      loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud ...
  4. A corroding or sloughing ulcer; especially a spreading gangrenous ulcer or collection of ulcers in or about the mouth.
  5. Anything which corrodes, corrupts, or destroys.
    • the cankers of envy and faction
  6. A kind of wild rose; the dog rose.
    • ca. 1597, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part I, Act I, sc. 3:
      To put down Richard, that sweet lovely rose,
      An plant this thorn, this canker, Bolingbroke?
  7. 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.
  8. 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
  • Russian: рак
Translations
  • German: gelber Knopf
Verb

canker (cankers, present participle cankering; 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. (intransitive) To be or become diseased, or as if diseased, with canker; to grow corrupt; to become venomous.
    • 1611, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act IV, sc. 1:
      as with age his body uglier grows,
      So his mind cankers.
    • 1971, E. M. Forster, Maurice (novel), Penguin, 1972, Chapter 36, p. 156,
      […] the road, always in bad condition, was edged with dog roses that scratched the paint. Blossom after blossom crept past them, draggled by the ungenial year: some had cankered, others would never unfold:


This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.005
Offline English dictionary