canvas

[kan-vuhs]

noun

1. a closely woven, heavy cloth of cotton, hemp, or linen, used for tents, sails, etc.

2. a piece of this or similar material on which a painting is made.

3. a painting on canvas.

4. a tent, or tents collectively.

5. sailcloth.

6. sails collectively.

7. any fabric of linen, cotton, or hemp of a coarse loose weave used as a foundation for embroidery stitches, interlining, etc.

8. the floor of a boxing ring traditionally consisting of a canvas covering stretched over a mat.

Trademark, Digital Technology.

1. Canvas, the brand name for an open-source learning management system, launched in 2011.

canvas

/ ˈkænvəs /

noun

1. 1. a heavy durable cloth made of cotton, hemp, or jute, used for sails, tents, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      a canvas bag

2. 1. a piece of canvas or a similar material on which a painting is done, usually in oils

   2. a painting on this material, esp in oils

3. a tent or tents collectively

4. nautical any cloth of which sails are made

5. nautical the sails of a vessel collectively

6. any coarse loosely woven cloth on which embroidery, tapestry, etc, is done

7. the floor of a boxing or wrestling ring

8. rowing the tapering covered part at either end of a racing boat, sometimes referred to as a unit of length

   to win by a canvas

9. 1. in tents

   2. nautical with sails unfurled

Other Word Forms

• canvaslike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of canvas¹

First recorded in 1225–75; Middle English canevas, from Anglo-French, Old North French, from unattested Vulgar Latin cannabāceus (noun use of adjective), equivalent to Latin cannab(is) + -āceus; hemp, -aceous

Word History and Origins

Origin of canvas¹

C14: from Norman French canevas, ultimately from Latin cannabis hemp

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. under canvas,

   1. Nautical. with set sails.

   2. in tents; in the field.

      the troops under canvas.

Example Sentences

In one patch of blue canvas shelters, some 60 doctors, nurses and pharmacists have assembled what passes for a clinic: a makeshift pharmacy, a rudimentary laboratory and tents used as short-stay wards.

Read more on Barron's

Recently, those conversations have been happening via her volunteer canvassing effort, which launched on Oct.

Read more on Salon

The show includes the influential 94-year-old painter's works from the late 1960s, wall paintings from the last decade and the artist's most recent canvases.

Read more on BBC

Brian and his cousin scale tall ladders while wearing large canvas bags with up to 40 pounds of fruit — often in triple-digit heat.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“Not every human is born as a canvas for celestial writings.”

Read more on Literature

Related Words

• art 
• artwork 
• picture 
• piece 
• portrait 
• watercolor