canvass
Americanverb (used with object)
-
canvasses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
canvassed,
past participle, past
-
canvassing
present participle
-
to solicit votes, subscriptions, opinions, or the like from.
-
to examine carefully; investigate by inquiry; discuss; debate.
- Synonyms:
- explore, scrutinize, analyze
verb (used without object)
-
canvasses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
canvassed,
past participle, past
-
canvassing
present participle
noun
-
canvasses
plural
-
a soliciting of votes, orders, or the like.
-
a campaign for election to government office.
-
close inspection; scrutiny.
the official canvass of election results.
verb
-
to solicit votes, orders, advertising, etc, from
-
to determine the feelings and opinions of (voters before an election, etc), esp by conducting a survey
-
to investigate (something) thoroughly, esp by discussion or debate
-
to inspect (votes) officially to determine their validity
noun
-
a solicitation of opinions, votes, sales orders, etc
-
close inspection; scrutiny
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
canvassernoun
-
canvassingnoun
-
undercanvassverb
-
precanvassverb (used with object)
-
uncanvassedadjective
-
well-canvassedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
canvasssimple
-
canvassessimple
-
have canvassedperfect
-
has canvassedperfect
-
am canvassingprogressive
-
are canvassingprogressive
-
is canvassingprogressive
-
have been canvassingperfect progressive
-
has been canvassingperfect progressive
Past
-
canvassedsimple
-
had canvassedperfect
-
was canvassingprogressive
-
were canvassingprogressive
-
had been canvassingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of canvass
First recorded in 1500–10; originally a spelling variant of canvas, as a verb; the sense “discuss” apparently a development of the earlier senses “toss in a canvas sheet,” and “harshly criticize”; the sense “solicit votes” is obscurely derived
Explanation
A canvass is a poll, usually a political one. Around elections, political parties often canvass particular neighborhoods, looking for votes and trying to measure the pulse of the people. You might think of canvass as the heavy cotton cloth that is pronounced the same although spelled with only one s, that is, canvas. Canvas is used to cover things, and a canvass serves the same sort of purpose. Before elections, politicians want to cover their neighborhoods and districts with canvasses, campaign workers, flyers and the like in hopes of securing votes.
Vocabulary lists containing canvass
Commonly Confused Words, List 1
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Grade 12, List 6
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March: Book Three
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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.
See Examples For:
Last year, James flew up from his home in Georgia to New York City to canvass for Zohran Mamdani's mayoral campaign.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
He called on an official canvass of votes by electoral authorities to determine the winner.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
“When I canvass for Chuck, sometimes I ask people, ‘What do you actually think about the state of the Democratic Party?’
From Salon ● Jun. 4, 2026
Police could canvass neighborhoods, interview witnesses, check traffic cameras, maybe pull hotel records or receipts.
From Slate ● May 20, 2026
Cora made a canvass of the village: Not a soul.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, and Pablo Picasso all brushed their canvasses with it.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 29, 2024
At Girls State, Emily, a conservative Christian, hopes to be elected governor, a goal she shares with the left-leaning Cecilia Bartin, who canvasses the lunchroom by shouting from a chair.
From New York Times ● Apr. 4, 2024
Candidates for both parties spent the run-up to Election Day hosting last-minute get-out-the-vote rallies and canvasses.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 6, 2023
Instead, he gave it blank canvasses and then told dr.dk:
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2023
On each side of it are stretched huge canvasses, eighteen feet high and forty-seven feet long.
From The Idler Magazine, Volume III, March 1893 An Illustrated Monthly by Various
And there are the county boards of elections; we’ve seen general election boards stand by the canvassed results.
From Slate ● Oct. 29, 2026
While Brooks canvassed for the state’s largest progressive community action organization, she thought about one of her first interactions knocking doors this cycle.
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026
Farmers, landowners, and members of the public are being canvassed on whether storks should be reintroduced across Britain.
From BBC ● May 10, 2026
That poll, commissioned by the annuity provider Global Atlantic, canvassed just over 1,000 consumers between the ages of 55 and 75 with between $250,000 and $2 million in investible assets.
From Barron's ● Apr. 3, 2026
We knocked on doors in the Cabrini-Green housing project, went to community meetings, and canvassed programs that worked with single mothers.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
The teenage proponents spent weeks canvassing for the measure in Culver City, despite having no power to cast ballots for it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026
We shift into the formal process of canvassing the vote, certifying it, and making sure that we’ve named the winners.
From Slate ● Oct. 29, 2026
"You're going out, canvassing, getting your vote and making sure you shore up certain blocks from certain countries, and why wouldn't you?" adds Kirkham.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
Issues are what Brooks starts with when she speaks to voters canvassing across Maine.
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026
As we make our way to the next block that we’ll be canvassing, people wave, or nod and say hello.
From "Betty Before X" by Ilyasah Shabazz and Renée Watson
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
