canister
US/ˈkænɪstɚ/
canister noun: a cylindrical or rectangular container usually of lightweight metal, plastic, or laminated pasteboard used for holding a dry product (as tea, crackers, flour, matches).

Noun
canister (plural canisters)
- A cylindrical or rectangular container usually of lightweight metal, plastic, or laminated pasteboard used for holding a dry product (as tea, crackers, flour, matches).
- Everything a living animal could do to destroy and to desecrate bed and walls had been done. […] A canister of flour from the kitchen had been thrown at the looking-glass and lay like trampled snow over the remains of a decent blue suit with the lining ripped out which lay on top of the ruin of a...1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC
- Any of various cylindrical metal receptacles usually with a removable close-fitting top.
- A special short-range antipersonnel projectile consisting of a casing of light metal, loaded with preformed submissiles such as flechettes or steel balls. The casing is designed to open just beyond the muzzle of the weapon, dispersing the submissiles.
- A projectile component containing colored or screening smoke or riot control agent composition.
- A component of canister-type protective masks containing a mechanical filter and chemical filling to filter, neutralize and/or absorb toxic chemical, biological and radiological agents.
- Part of a windmill that connects the sails to the windshaft.
- A person's head.
- Caunt let fly left and right, but Bendy ducked his canister, and got down with more caution than gallantry.1897, R. G. Allanson-Winn, Bertram Fletcher Robinson, Boxing, page 225
Verb
canister (third-person singular simple present canisters, present participle canistering, simple past and past participle canistered)
- To pack into a canister.
canister meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
canister in Hindi
- कनस्तर
canister in Tamil
- நீள் சிமிழ், தேயிலைப் பெட்டி, குண்டுரவைப் பெட்டி, அப்பப்பெட்டி
canister in Urdu
- چائے دان, چاروں کا ڈبا
canister in Bengali
- ক্যানিস্টার
More languagesFewer languages
- canister in Telugu
- క్యానిస్టర్
- canister in Kannada
- ಕ್ಯಾನಿಸ್ಟರ್
- canister in Gujarati
- કેનિસ્ટર
- canister in Odia
- କ୍ଯ଼ାନିଷ୍ଟର, କ୍ଯ଼ାନିଷ୍ଟର୍, କ୍ଯ଼ାନିସ୍ଟର
- canister in Nepali
- क्यानिस्टर, क्यानस्टर, क्यानिस्टर गर्न
Examples of canister in a sentence
- The canister is leaking. I think the main seal needs to be replaced.
- The painters in the paint booth were wearing the kind of respirators with dual filter canisters.
- I wanted to dispose of an empty canister with a plastic top, cardboard sides and metal bottom, but I decided it was unrecyclable.
Forms of canister
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | canisters |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | canisters |
| present participle | canistering |
| past participle | canistered |
| past | canistered |
Origin of canister
From Middle English canustyr (“basket”), a borrowing from Latin canistrum. Doublet of canaster and knaster. * (metal receptacle): Through influence of unrelated can. * (projectile): Short for canister shot, so called for its casing.
Words formed from canister
Questions about canister
- What does canister mean?
- Canister means a cylindrical or rectangular container usually of lightweight metal, plastic, or laminated pasteboard used for holding a dry product (as tea, crackers, flour, matches).
- What is canister in Hindi?
- Canister in Hindi is कनस्तर. See Canister meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is canister?
- Canister can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce canister?
- Canister is pronounced /ˈkænɪstɚ/ (US).
- What is the plural of canister?
- The plural of canister is canisters.
Words near canister in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: canister (page history and authors); canister (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); canister (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); canister (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); canister (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); canister (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); canister (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); canister (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); canister (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); canister (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-canister.wav.
Cite this entry: “canister.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/canister. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
