'Canker' definitions:

Definition of 'canker'

From: WordNet
noun
A fungal disease of woody plants that causes localized damage to the bark
noun
An ulceration (especially of the lips or lining of the mouth) [syn: canker, canker sore]
noun
A pernicious and malign influence that is hard to get rid of; "racism is a pestilence at the heart of the nation"; "according to him, I was the canker in their midst" [syn: pestilence, canker]
verb
Become infected with a canker
verb
Infect with a canker

Definition of 'Canker'

From: GCIDE
  • Canker \Can"ker\ (k[a^][ng]"k[~e]r), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Cankered (-k[~e]rd); p. pr. & vb. n. Cankering.]
  • 1. To affect as a canker; to eat away; to corrode; to consume. [1913 Webster]
  • No lapse of moons can canker Love. --Tennyson. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. To infect or pollute; to corrupt. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
  • A tithe purloined cankers the whole estate. --Herbert. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Canker'

From: GCIDE
  • Canker \Can"ker\ (k[a^][ng]"k[~e]r), n. [OE. canker, cancre, AS. cancer (akin to D. kanker, OHG chanchar.), fr. L. cancer a cancer; or if a native word, cf. Gr. ? excrescence on tree, ? gangrene. Cf. also OF. cancre, F. chancere, fr. L. cancer. See cancer, and cf. Chancre.] [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. Anything which corrodes, corrupts, or destroy. [1913 Webster]
  • The cankers of envy and faction. --Temple. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. (Hort.) A disease incident to trees, causing the bark to rot and fall off. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. A kind of wild, worthless rose; the dog-rose. [1913 Webster]
  • To put down Richard, that sweet lovely rose. And plant this thorm, this canker, Bolingbroke. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • Black canker. See under Black. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Canker'

From: GCIDE
  • Canker \Can"ker\, v. i.
  • 1. To waste away, grow rusty, or be oxidized, as a mineral. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
  • Silvering will sully and canker more than gliding. --Bacom. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. To be or become diseased, or as if diseased, with canker; to grow corrupt; to become venomous. [1913 Webster]
  • Deceit and cankered malice. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • As with age his body uglier grows, So his mind cankers. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Canker'

From: Easton
  • Canker a gangrene or mortification which gradually spreads over the whole body (2 Tim. 2:17). In James 5:3 "cankered" means "rusted" (R.V.) or tarnished.

Synonyms of 'canker'

From: Moby Thesaurus

Words containing 'Canker'