Canaille Ca·naille" noun [ French canaille (cf. Italian canaglia ), prop. and orig. a pack of dogs, from Latin Canis dog.]

1. The lowest class of people; the rabble; the vulgar.

2. Shorts or inferior flour. [ Canadian]

Canakin Can"a·kin noun [ Dim. of can .] A little can or cup. "And let me the canakin clink." Shak.

Canal Ca·nal" noun [ French canal , from Latin canalis canal, channel; probably from a root signifying "to cut"; confer Dutch kanaal , from the French. Confer Channel , Kennel gutter.]

1. An artificial channel filled with water and designed for navigation, or for irrigating land, etc.

2. (Anat.) A tube or duct; as, the alimentary canal ; the semicircular canals of the ear.

Canal boat , a boat for use on a canal; esp. one of peculiar shape, carrying freight, and drawn by horses walking on the towpath beside the canal. -- Canal lock . See Lock .

Canal Ca·nal" noun A long and relatively narrow arm of the sea, approximately uniform in width; -- used chiefly in proper names; as, Portland Canal ; Lynn Canal . [ Alaska]

Canal coal Can"al coal` See Cannel coal .

Canaliculate, Canaliculated Can`a·lic"u·late, Can`a·lic"u·la`ted adjective [ Latin canaliculatus channeled, from canaliculus , dim. of canalis . See Canal .] Having a channel or groove, as in the leafstalks of most palms.

Canaliculus Can`a·lic"u·lus noun ; plural Canaliculi . [ Latin ] (Anat.) A minute canal.

Canalization Ca·nal`i·za"tion noun Construction of, or furnishing with, a canal or canals. [ R.]

Canapé Ca`na`pé" noun [ French, orig. a couch with mosquito curtains. See Canopy .] 1. A sofa or divan.

2. (Cookery) A slice or piece of bread fried in butter or oil, on which anchovies, mushrooms, etc., are served.

Canapé confident Ca`na`pé" con`fi`dent" A sofa having a seat at each end at right angles to the main seats.

Canard Ca·nard" noun [ French, properly, a duck.] An extravagant or absurd report or story; a fabricated sensational report or statement; esp. one set afloat in the newspapers to hoax the public.

Canarese Can`a·rese" adjective Pertaining to Canara, a district of British India.

Canary Ca·na"ry adjective [ French Canarie , Latin Canaria insula one of the Canary islands, said to be so called from its large dogs, from canis dog.] 1. Of or pertaining to the Canary Islands; as, canary wine; canary birds.

2. Of a pale yellowish color; as, Canary stone.

Canary grass , a grass of the genus Phalaris ( P. Canariensis ), producing the seed used as food for canary birds. -- Canary stone (Min.) , a yellow species of carnelian, named from its resemblance in color to the plumage of the canary bird. -- Canary wood , the beautiful wood of the trees Persea Indica and P. Canariensis , natives of Madeira and the Canary Islands. -- Canary vine . See Canary bird flower , under Canary bird .

Canary Ca·na"ry noun ; plural Canaries . 1. Wine made in the Canary Islands; sack. "A cup of canary ." Shak.

2. A canary bird.

3. A pale yellow color, like that of a canary bird.

4. A quick and lively dance. [ Obsolete]

Make you dance canary
With sprightly fire and motion.
Shak.

Canary Ca·na"ry intransitive verb To perform the canary dance; to move nimbly; to caper. [ Obsolete]

But to jig of a tune at the tongue's end, canary to it with your feet.
Shak.

Canary bird Ca·na"ry bird` (Zoology) A small singing bird of the Finch family ( Serinus Canarius ), a native of the Canary Islands. It was brought to Europe in the 16th century, and made a household pet. It generally has a yellowish body with the wings and tail greenish, but in its wild state it is more frequently of gray or brown color. It is sometimes called canary finch .

Canary bird flower (Botany) , a climbing plant ( Tropæolum peregrinum ) with canary- colored flowers of peculiar form; -- called also canary vine .

Canaster Ca·nas"ter noun [ Spanish canasta , canastro , basket, from Latin canistrum . See Canister .] A kind of tobacco for smoking, made of the dried leaves, coarsely broken; -- so called from the rush baskets in which it is packed in South America. McElrath.

Cancan Can"can noun [ French] A rollicking French dance, accompanied by indecorous or extravagant postures and gestures.

Cancel Can"cel intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Canceled or Cancelled ; present participle & verbal noun Canceling or Cancelling .] [ Latin cancellare to make like a lattice, to strike or cross out (cf. Fr. canceller , Old French canceler ) from cancelli lattice, crossbars, dim. of cancer lattice; confer Greek ... latticed gate. Confer Chancel .] 1. To inclose or surround, as with a railing, or with latticework. [ Obsolete]

A little obscure place canceled in with iron work is the pillar or stump at which . . . our Savior was scourged.
Evelyn.

2. To shut out, as with a railing or with latticework; to exclude. [ Obsolete] " Canceled from heaven." Milton.

3. To cross and deface, as the lines of a writing, or as a word or figure; to mark out by a cross line; to blot out or obliterate.

A deed may be avoided by delivering it up to be cancelled ; that is, to have lines drawn over it in the form of latticework or cancelli ; though the phrase is now used figuratively for any manner of obliterating or defacing it.
Blackstone.

4. To annul or destroy; to revoke or recall.

The indentures were canceled .
Thackeray.

He was unwilling to cancel the interest created through former secret services, by being refractory on this occasion.
Sir W. Scott.

5. (Print.) To suppress or omit; to strike out, as matter in type.

Canceled figures (Print) , figures cast with a line across the face., as for use in arithmetics.

Syn. -- To blot out; obliterate; deface; erase; efface; expunge; annul; abolish; revoke; abrogate; repeal; destroy; do away; set aside. See Abolish .

Cancel Can"cel noun [ See Cancel , intransitive verb , and confer Chancel .]

1. An inclosure; a boundary; a limit. [ Obsolete]

A prison is but a retirement, and opportunity of serious thoughts, to a person whose spirit . . . desires no enlargement beyond the cancels of the body.
Jer. Taylor.

2. (Print) (a) The suppression or striking out of matter in type, or of a printed page or pages. (b) The part thus suppressed.

Cancelier Can`cel·ier" intransitive verb [ French chanceler , Old French canseler , to waver, orig. to cross the legs so as not to fall; from the same word as English cancel .] (Falconry) To turn in flight; -- said of a hawk. [ Obsolete] Nares.

He makes his stoop; but wanting breath, is forced
To cancelier .
Massinger.

Cancelier, Canceleer Can`cel·ier", Can"cel·eer noun (Falconry) The turn of a hawk upon the wing to recover herself, when she misses her aim in the stoop. [ Obsolete]

The fierce and eager hawks, down thrilling from the skies,
Make sundry canceliers ere they the fowl can reach.
Drayton.

Cancellarean Can`cel·la"re·an adjective Cancellarean. [ R.]

Cancellate Can"cel·late adjective [ Latin cancellatus , past participle of cancellare , See Cancel , transitive verb ] 1. (Botany) Consisting of a network of veins, without intermediate parenchyma, as the leaves of certain plants; latticelike.

2. (Zoology) Having the surface coveres with raised lines, crossing at right angles.

Cancellated Can"cel·la`ted adjective 1. Crossbarred; marked with cross lines. Grew.

2. (Anat.) Open or spongy, as some porous bones.

Cancellation Can`cel·la"tion noun [ Latin cancellatio : confer French cancellation .] 1. The act, process, or result of canceling; as, the cansellation of certain words in a contract, or of the contract itself.

2. (Math.) The operation of striking out common factors, in both the dividend and divisor.

Cancelli Can·cel"li noun plural [ Latin , a lattice. See Cancel , transitive verb ] 1. An interwoven or latticed wall or inclosure; latticework, rails, or crossbars, as around the bar of a court of justice, between the chancel and the nave of a church, or in a window.

2. (Anat.) The interlacing osseous plates constituting the elastic porous tissue of certain parts of the bones, esp. in their articular extremities.

Cancellous Can"cel·lous adjective [ Confer Latin cancellosus covered with bars.] (Anat.) Having a spongy or porous structure; made up of cancelli; cancellated; as, the cancellous texture of parts of many bones.

Cancer Can"cer noun [ Latin cancer , cancri , crab, ulcer, a sign of the zodiac; akin to Greek karki`nos , Sanskrit karkata crab, and probably Sanskrit karkara hard, the crab being named from its hard shell. Confer Canner , Chancre .] 1. (Zoology) A genus of decapod Crustacea, including some of the most common shore crabs of Europe and North America, as the rock crab, Jonah crab, etc. See Crab .

2. (Astron.) (a) The fourth of the twelve signs of the zodiac. The first point is the northern limit of the sun's course in summer; hence, the sign of the summer solstice. See Tropic . (b) A northern constellation between Gemini and Leo.

3. (Medicine) Formerly, any malignant growth, esp. one attended with great pain and ulceration, with cachexia and progressive emaciation. It was so called, perhaps, from the great veins which surround it, compared by the ancients to the claws of a crab. The term is now restricted to such a growth made up of aggregations of epithelial cells, either without support or embedded in the meshes of a trabecular framework.

» Four kinds of cancers are recognized: (1) Epithelial cancer , or Epithelioma , in which there is no trabecular framework. See Epithelioma . (2) Scirrhous cancer , or Hard cancer , in which the framework predominates, and the tumor is of hard consistence and slow growth. (3) Encephaloid, Medullary, or Soft cancer , in which the cellular element predominates, and the tumor is soft, grows rapidy, and often ulcerates. (4) Colloid cancer , in which the cancerous structure becomes gelatinous. The last three varieties are also called carcinoma .

Cancer cells , cells once believed to be peculiar to cancers, but now know to be epithelial cells differing in no respect from those found elsewhere in the body, and distinguished only by peculiarity of location and grouping. -- Cancer root (Botany) , the name of several low plants, mostly parasitic on roots, as the beech drops, the squawroot, etc. -- Tropic of Cancer . See Tropic .

Cancerate Can"cer·ate intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Cancerated .] [ Late Latin canceratus eaten by a cancer. See Cancer .] To grow into a cancer; to become cancerous. Boyle.

Canceration Can`cer·a"tion noun The act or state of becoming cancerous or growing into a cancer.

Cancerite Can"cer·ite noun [ Confer French cancéreux .] Like a cancer; having the qualities or virulence of a cancer; affected with cancer. " Cancerous vices." G. Eliot.

Cancerous Can"cer·ous adjective [ Confer French cancéreux ] Like a cancer; having the qualities or virulence of a cancer; affected with cancer. " cancerous vices" G. Eliot.
[ 1913 Webster]

-- Can"cer*ous*ly , adverb -- Can"cer*ous*ness , noun

Cancriform Can"cri·form adjective [ Cancer + -form ; confer French cancriforme .] 1. Having the form of, or resembling, a crab; crab- shaped.

2. Like a cancer; cancerous.

Cancrine Can"crine adjective [ From Cancer .] Having the qualities of a crab; crablike.

Cancrinite Can"cri·nite noun [ Named after Count Cancrin , a minister of finance in Russia.] (Min.) A mineral occurring in hexagonal crystals, also massive, generally of a yellow color, containing silica, alumina, lime, soda, and carbon dioxide.

Cancroid Can"croid adjective [ Cancer + oid .] 1. (Zoology) Resembling a crab; pertaining to the Cancroidea , one of the families of crabs, including the genus Cancer .

2. Like a cancer; as, a cancroid tumor.

Cand Cand noun Fluor spar. See Kand .

Candelabrum Can`de·la"brum noun ; plural Latin Candelabra , English Candelabrums . [ Latin , from candela candle. See candle .] 1. (Antiq.) (a) A lamp stand of any sort. (b) A highly ornamented stand of marble or other ponderous material, usually having three feet, -- frequently a votive offering to a temple.

2. A large candlestick, having several branches.

Candent Can`dent adjective [ Latin candens , present participle of candëre to glitter. See Candid .] Heated to whiteness; glowing with heat. "A candent vessel." Boyle.

Canderos Can"de·ros noun An East Indian resin, of a pellucid white color, from which small ornaments and toys are sometimes made.

Candescence Can·des"cence noun See Incandescence .

Candescent Can·des"cent adjective [ Latin candescens , -entis , present participle of candescere , v. incho. from candere to shine.] Glowing; luminous; incandescent.

Candicant Can"di·cant adjective [ Latin candicans , present participle of candicare to be whitish.] Growing white. [ Obsolete]

Candid Can·did (kăn"dĭd) adjective [ French candide (cf. Italian candido ), Latin candidus white, from candēre to be of a glowing white; akin to ac cendĕre , in cendĕre , to set on fire, Sanskrit chand to shine. Confer Candle , Incense .] 1. White. [ Obsolete]

The box receives all black; but poured from thence,
The stones came candid forth, the hue of innocence.
Dryden.

2. Free from undue bias; disposed to think and judge according to truth and justice, or without partiality or prejudice; fair; just; impartial; as, a candid opinion. " Candid and dispassionate men." W. Irving.

3. Open; frank; ingenuous; outspoken.

Syn. -- Fair; open; ingenuous; impartial; just; frank; artless; unbiased; equitable. -- Candid , Fair , Open , Frank , Ingenuous . A man is fair when he puts things on a just or equitable footing; he is candid when be looks impartially on both sides of a subject, doing justice especially to the motives and conduct of an opponent; he is open and frank when he declares his sentiments without reserve; he is ingenuous when he does this from a noble regard for truth. Fair dealing; candid investigation; an open temper; a frank disposition; an ingenuous answer or declaration.

Candidacy Can"di·da·cy noun The position of a candidate; state of being a candidate; candidateship.

Candidate Can"di·date noun [ Latin Candidatus , noun (because candidates for office in Rome were clothed in a white toga.) from candidatus clothed in white, from candidus littering, white: confer French candidat .] One who offers himself, or is put forward by others, as a suitable person or an aspirant or contestant for an office, privilege, or honor; as, a candidate for the office of governor; a candidate for holy orders; a candidate for scholastic honors.

Candidateship Can"di·date·ship noun Candidacy.

Candidating Can"di·da`ting noun The taking of the position of a candidate; specifically, the preaching of a clergyman with a view to settlement. [ Cant, U. S.]

Candidature Can"di·da·ture noun Candidacy.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
You are here: Webster > Letter C > Page 14 of 212.
« Previous ¦6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 ¦ Next »