Definition of CANVAS

canvas

Plural: canvases, canvasses

Noun

  • a heavy, closely woven fabric (used for clothing or chairs or sails or tents)
  • an oil painting on canvas fabric
  • the setting for a narrative or fictional or dramatic account
    • "the crowded canvas of history"
    • "the movie demanded a dramatic canvas of sound"
  • a tent made of canvas fabric
  • a large piece of fabric (usually canvas fabric) by means of which wind is used to propel a sailing vessel
  • the mat that forms the floor of the ring in which boxers or professional wrestlers compete
    • "the boxer picked himself up off the canvas"
  • A type of coarse cloth, woven from hemp, useful for making sails and tents or as a surface for paintings.
  • A piece of canvas cloth stretched across a frame on which one may paint.
  • A mesh of loosely woven cotton strands or molded plastic to be decorated with needlepoint, cross-stitch, rug hooking, or other crafts.
  • A basis for creative work.
  • A region on which graphics can be rendered.
  • Sails in general.
  • A tent.
  • A rough draft or model of a song, air, or other literary or musical composition; especially one to show a poet the measure of the verses he is to make.
  • Athletic shoes.
  • Obsolete spelling of canvass.

Verb

Verb Forms: canvased, canvasing, canvases

  • To canvass; to solicit votes, opinions, or orders.
  • solicit votes from potential voters in an electoral campaign
  • get the opinions (of people) by asking specific questions
  • cover with canvas
    • "She canvassed the walls of her living room so as to conceal the ugly cracks"
  • consider in detail and subject to an analysis in order to discover essential features or meaning
  • To cover (an area or object) with canvas.
  • Obsolete spelling of canvass.

Examples

  • He had to CANVAS his letter rack repeatedly to find the perfect seven-letter word.
  • He spent the night under canvas.
  • The author takes rural midwestern life as a canvas for a series of tightly woven character studies

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English canevas, from Anglo-Norman, from Old Northern French canevas (compare Old French chanevas, chenevas) from a root derived from Latin cannabis, from Ancient Greek κάνναβις (kánnabis). Compare French canevas, resulting from a blend of the Old French and a Picard dialect word, itself from Old Northern French. Doublet of cannabis and hemp.

Synonyms

analyse, analyze, canvas tent, canvass, examine, poll, sail, sheet, study

Scrabble Score: 11

canvas: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
canvas: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
canvas: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 14

canvas: valid Words With Friends Word