From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [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.
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The cankers of envy and faction. --Temple.
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3. (Hort.) A disease incident to trees, causing the bark to
rot and fall off.
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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.
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5. A kind of wild, worthless rose; the dog-rose.
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To put down Richard, that sweet lovely rose.
And plant this thorm, this canker, Bolingbroke.
--Shak.
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{Black canker}. See under {Black}.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [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.
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No lapse of moons can canker Love. --Tennyson.
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2. To infect or pollute; to corrupt. --Addison.
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A tithe purloined cankers the whole estate.
--Herbert.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Canker \Can"ker\, v. i.
1. To waste away, grow rusty, or be oxidized, as a mineral.
[Obs.]
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Silvering will sully and canker more than gliding.
--Bacom.
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2. To be or become diseased, or as if diseased, with canker;
to grow corrupt; to become venomous.
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Deceit and cankered malice. --Dryden.
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As with age his body uglier grows,
So his mind cankers. --Shak.
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From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
canker
n 1: a fungal disease of woody plants that causes localized
damage to the bark
2: an ulceration (especially of the lips or lining of the mouth)
[syn: {canker}, {canker sore}]
3: 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}]
v 1: become infected with a canker
2: infect with a canker
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