canister
Americannoun
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a small box or jar, often one of a kitchen set, for holding tea, coffee, flour, and sugar.
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Also called canister shot. case shot.
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the part of a gas mask containing the neutralizing substances through which poisoned air is filtered.
noun
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a container, usually made of metal, in which dry food, such as tea or coffee, is stored
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a type of shrapnel shell for firing from a cannon
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Also called: canister shot. case shot. the shot or shrapnel packed inside this
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Etymology
Origin of canister
1670–80; < Latin canistrum wicker basket < Greek kánastron, derivative of kánna reed ( see cane), with -astron, variant of -tron suffix of instrument (probably from verbal derivatives, as stégastron covering, from stegázein to cover)
Explanation
A canister is a small container with a lid, often made of metal. You might keep a canister of sugar in your kitchen next to a canister of tea. Typically, a canister is round and has a fitted lid — while kitchen canisters are usually metal, the canisters that hold a roll of camera film are made of plastic. Another type of canister is a cylinder that's packed with shot or filled with pressurized gas and shot out of a weapon. In the 15th century, the word meant "basket," from the Latin canistrum, "wicker basket," with its Greek root kanystron, "basket made of reeds." The meaning of canister probably changed to "metal container" because of the word can.
Vocabulary lists containing canister
"Modern Automotive Technology," Vocabulary from Section 4
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Chapter 4, Sections 1–4
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Phineas L. MacGuire...Erupts!
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“John cleared a tear gas canister away from everyone,” Johnson said, pushing back on the government’s account and adding that tear gas had been deployed indiscriminately by law enforcement.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026
One indelible image of Metro Surge was of Bovino, emerging from an SUV into a wintry melee, like a general stepping onto a battlefield, and launching a canister that released green smoke at protesters.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 29, 2026
“Third warning. Gas, gas, gas,” Bovino says, then tossing the canister and pushing people away from the intersection.
From Salon • Jan. 22, 2026
Images released by Taiwan's Central News Agency show a canister on the ground at the Main Station, with officers examining potential evidence at the scene.
From Barron's • Dec. 19, 2025
The canister flew across the room and hit a cabinet, spraying rice grains all over Mama’s clean floor.
From "Root Magic" by Eden Royce
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
