Library / English Dictionary

CANVASS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A heavy, closely woven fabric (used for clothing or chairs or sails or tents)

Synonyms:

canvas; canvass

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("canvass" is a kind of...):

cloth; fabric; material; textile (artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting or crocheting natural or synthetic fibers)

Meronyms (substance of "canvass"):

hemp (a plant fiber)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "canvass"):

tarp; tarpaulin (waterproofed canvas)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The mat that forms the floor of the ring in which boxers or professional wrestlers compete

Example:

the boxer picked himself up off the canvas

Synonyms:

canvas; canvass

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("canvass" is a kind of...):

gym mat; mat (sports equipment consisting of a piece of thick padding on the floor for gymnastic sports)

Holonyms ("canvass" is a part of...):

ring (a platform usually marked off by ropes in which contestants box or wrestle)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An oil painting on canvas fabric

Synonyms:

canvas; canvass

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("canvass" is a kind of...):

oil painting (a picture painted with oil paints)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A tent made of canvas fabric

Synonyms:

canvas; canvas tent; canvass

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("canvass" is a kind of...):

collapsible shelter; tent (a portable shelter (usually of canvas stretched over supporting poles and fastened to the ground with ropes and pegs))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "canvass"):

big top; circus tent; round top; top (a canvas tent to house the audience at a circus performance)

field tent (a canvas tent for use in the field)

Sibley tent (a light conical canvas tent erected on a tripod with ventilation at the top)

wall tent (a canvas tent with four vertical walls)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A large piece of fabric (usually canvas fabric) by means of which wind is used to propel a sailing vessel

Synonyms:

canvas; canvass; sail; sheet

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("canvass" is a kind of...):

piece of cloth; piece of material (a separate part consisting of fabric)

Meronyms (parts of "canvass"):

reef (one of several strips across a sail that can be taken in or rolled up to lessen the area of the sail that is exposed to the wind)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "canvass"):

topsail (a sail (or either of a pair of sails) immediately above the lowermost sail of a mast and supported by a topmast)

topgallant; topgallant sail (a sail set on a yard of a topgallant mast)

square sail (a four-sided sail set beneath a horizontal yard suspended at the middle from a mast)

skysail (the sail above the royal on a square-rigger)

save-all (a sail set to catch wind spilled from a larger sail)

royal (a sail set next above the topgallant on a royal mast)

press of canvas; press of sail (the greatest amount of sail that a ship can carry safely)

main-topsail (a topsail set on the mainmast)

mainsail (the lowermost sail on the mainmast)

headsail (any sail set forward of the foremast of a vessel)

foresail (the lowest sail on the foremast of a square-rigged vessel)

fore-and-aft sail (any sail not set on a yard and whose normal position is in a fore-and-aft direction)

crossjack; mizzen course (the lowermost sail on a mizzenmast)

balloon sail (any light loose sail)

Holonyms ("canvass" is a part of...):

sailing ship; sailing vessel (a vessel that is powered by the wind; often having several masts)

Sense 6

Meaning:

An inquiry into public opinion conducted by interviewing a random sample of people

Synonyms:

canvass; opinion poll; poll; public opinion poll

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("canvass" is a kind of...):

enquiry; inquiry; research (a search for knowledge)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "canvass"):

straw poll; straw vote (an unofficial vote taken to determine opinion on some issue)

exit poll (a poll of voters as they leave the voting place; usually taken by news media in order to predict the outcome of an election)

Derivation:

canvass (get the opinions (of people) by asking specific questions)

canvass (solicit votes from potential voters in an electoral campaign)

Sense 7

Meaning:

The setting for a narrative or fictional or dramatic account

Example:

the movie demanded a dramatic canvas of sound

Synonyms:

canvas; canvass

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("canvass" is a kind of...):

background; scope; setting (the state of the environment in which a situation exists)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Consider in detail and subject to an analysis in order to discover essential features or meaning

Example:

analyze your real motives

Synonyms:

analyse; analyze; canvass; examine; study

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "canvass"):

consider; look at; view (look at carefully; study mentally)

sieve; sift (check and sort carefully)

investigate; look into (investigate scientifically)

follow; trace (follow, discover, or ascertain the course of development of something)

screen (examine methodically)

audit; inspect; scrutinise; scrutinize (examine carefully for accuracy with the intent of verification)

reexamine; review (look at again; examine again)

assay (analyze (chemical substances))

check; check into; check out; check over; check up on; go over; look into; suss out (examine so as to determine accuracy, quality, or condition)

compare (examine and note the similarities or differences of)

survey (make a survey of; for statistical purposes)

appraise; survey (consider in a comprehensive way)

diagnose (subject to a medical analysis)

diagnose; name (determine or distinguish the nature of a problem or an illness through a diagnostic analysis)

anatomize (analyze down to the smallest detail)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Get the opinions (of people) by asking specific questions

Synonyms:

canvass; poll

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "canvass" is one way to...):

survey (make a survey of; for statistical purposes)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "canvass"):

circularise; circularize (canvass by distributing letters)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

canvass (an inquiry into public opinion conducted by interviewing a random sample of people)

canvasser (someone who conducts surveys of public opinion)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Solicit votes from potential voters in an electoral campaign

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "canvass" is one way to...):

beg; solicit; tap (make a solicitation or entreaty for something; request urgently or persistently)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "canvass"):

circularize (canvass by using a questionnaire)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

canvass (an inquiry into public opinion conducted by interviewing a random sample of people)

canvasser (a petitioner who solicits contributions or trade or votes)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The whole of what Elizabeth had already heard, his claims on Mr. Darcy, and all that he had suffered from him, was now openly acknowledged and publicly canvassed; and everybody was pleased to know how much they had always disliked Mr. Darcy before they had known anything of the matter.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

It had very early occurred to her that a small sum of money might, perhaps, restore peace for ever on the sore subject of the silver knife, canvassed as it now was continually, and the riches which she was in possession of herself, her uncle having given her 10 pounds at parting, made her as able as she was willing to be generous.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)