Word.ws English Dictionary

canker

Syllables: can·ker/ˈkæŋkə/US/ˈkæŋkɚ/

canker noun: a plant disease marked by gradual decay.

Noun

canker (countable and uncountable, plural cankers)

  1. A plant disease marked by gradual decay.
    Synonyms:
    avian trichomoniasis, roup, frounce
  2. A region of dead plant tissue caused by such a disease.
    • Slightly sunken brown cankers of variable size and shape affect stem parts primarily below the soil line.1977, The Potato: Major Diseases and Nematodes, International Potato Center, page 46
  3. A worm or grub that destroys plant buds or leaves; cankerworm.
    • loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud[…]1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 35”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC
  4. A corroding or sloughing ulcer; especially a spreading gangrenous ulcer or collection of ulcers in or about the mouth.
    Synonyms:
    water canker, canker of the mouth, noma
  5. Anything which corrodes, corrupts, or destroys.
    • the canker of destitution and violence.
    • the cankers of envy and factionc. 1690, Sir William Temple, Of Heroick Virtue
  6. A kind of wild rose; the dog rose.
    • To put down Richard, that ſweet louely Roſe,
      And plant this thorne, this canker Bullingbrooke?c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the Fourth; […], quarto edition, London: […] P[eter] S[hort] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1598, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]...
  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.
  8. An avian disease affecting doves, poultry, parrots and birds of prey, caused by Trichomonas gallinae.
  9. (Cornwall, rare) A crab.
    • This Caſtoꝛ liueth by water and lande, he loueth to feede vpon Crabbes and Cankers of the Sea.1562, Williyam Bulleyn [i.e., William Bullein], “The Booke of Simples”, in Bulleins Bulwarke of Defẽce againste All Sicknes, Sornes, and Woundes, That Dooe Daily Assaulte Mankinde, […], London: […]...
    • It is this power of active motion which has obtained it a local name in the West of Cornwall, where, as crabs in general are termed "cankers," this species is distinguished by the name of "flying canker."1856, The Zoologist, volumes 14-15, page 5616

Verb

canker (third-person singular simple present cankers, present participle cankering, simple past and past participle cankered)

  1. (transitive) To affect as a canker; to eat away; to corrode; to consume.
    • 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.1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXVI”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 43
  2. (transitive) To infect or pollute; to corrupt.
  3. (intransitive) To waste away, grow rusty, or be oxidized, as a mineral.
  4. (intransitive) To be or become diseased, or as if diseased, with canker; to grow corrupt; to become venomous.
    • as with age his body uglier grows,
      So his mind cankers.1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published...
    • […] the road, always in bad condition, was edged with dog roses that scratched the paint. Blossom after blossom crept past them, draggled by the ungenial year: some had cankered, others would never unfold:1972, E. M. Forster, chapter 36, in Maurice, Penguin, page 156

canker meaning in Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam and Indonesian

canker in Tamil

கங்க்கர், சொறி, பிளவை, மறு, கெடு

canker in Bengali

ক্ষত, পচন

canker in Malayalam

പുണ്ണ്, രക്തയോട്ടമില്ലാതെ ജീർണ്ണിക്കുന്ന ഭാഗം, വ്രണം

canker in Indonesian

plant disease marked by gradual decay
pekung

Synonyms of canker

All synonyms of canker

Forms of canker

Noun
pluralcankers
Verb
third-person singular presentcankers
present participlecankering
past participlecankered
pastcankered

Origin of canker

From Middle English canker, cancre, from Old English cancer (“cancer; crab”), akin to Dutch kanker, Old High German chanchar. Ultimately from Latin cancer (“a cancer”). Doublet of cancer, a later borrowing from Latin, and chancre, which came through French.

From Middle English cankren, from the noun (see above).

Words formed from canker

Phrases with canker

Words that rhyme with canker

6 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about canker

What does canker mean?
Canker means a plant disease marked by gradual decay.
What is canker in Tamil?
Canker in Tamil is கங்க்கர், சொறி, பிளவை. See Canker meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is canker?
Canker can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce canker?
Canker is pronounced /ˈkæŋkɚ/ (US).
What is the plural of canker?
The plural of canker is cankers.

Words near canker in the dictionary

  1. canjars
  2. Canjaway
  3. Canjulao
  4. cank
  5. canked
  6. canker
  7. canker flies
  8. canker fly
  9. canker rash
  10. canker sore
  11. canker sores

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: canker (page history and authors); canker (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); canker (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); canker (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors). 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-canker.wav.

Cite this entry: “canker.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/canker. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.