Canker

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -æŋkÉ™(ɹ)

Origin

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

Full definition of canker

Noun

1. (botany) 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.
• Templethe cankers of envy and faction
4. A kind of wild rose; the dog rose.
• ShakespeareTo 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.
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.

Synonyms

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

Related terms

• chancre

Verb

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.