Word Study
canvas
CIDE DICTIONARY
canvas, n. [OE. canvas, canevas, F. canevas, LL. canabacius hempen cloth, canvas, L. cannabis hemp, fr. G. . See Hemp.].
- A strong cloth made of hemp, flax, or cotton; -- used for tents, sails, etc. [1913 Webster]"By glimmering lanes and walls of canvas led." [1913 Webster]
- A coarse cloth so woven as to form regular meshes for working with the needle, as in tapestry, or worsted work. [1913 Webster]"History . . . does not bring out clearly upon the canvas the details which were familiar." [1913 Webster]
- Something for which canvas is used:
(a) A sail, or a collection of sails.(b) A tent, or a collection of tents.(c) A painting, or a picture on canvas. [1913 Webster]"To suit his canvas to the roughness of the see." [1913 Webster]"Light, rich as that which glows on the canvas of Claude." [1913 Webster] - A rough draft or model of a song, air, or other literary or musical composition; esp. one to show a poet the measure of the verses he is to make. Grabb. [1913 Webster]
canvas, a.
Made of, pertaining to, or resembling, canvas or coarse cloth; as, a canvas tent. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
canvas, n. & v.
--n.
1 a a strong coarse kind of cloth made from hemp or flax or other coarse yarn and used for sails and tents etc. and as a surface for oil-painting. b a piece of this.
2 a painting on canvas, esp. in oils.
3 an open kind of canvas used as a basis for tapestry and embroidery.
4 sl. the floor of a boxing or wrestling ring.
5 a racing-boat's covered end.
--v.tr. (canvassed, canvassing; US canvased, canvasing) cover with canvas.
--n.
1 a a strong coarse kind of cloth made from hemp or flax or other coarse yarn and used for sails and tents etc. and as a surface for oil-painting. b a piece of this.
2 a painting on canvas, esp. in oils.
3 an open kind of canvas used as a basis for tapestry and embroidery.
4 sl. the floor of a boxing or wrestling ring.
5 a racing-boat's covered end.
--v.tr. (canvassed, canvassing; US canvased, canvasing) cover with canvas.
Idiom
by a canvas (in boat-racing) by a small margin (win by a canvas). canvas-back a wild duck Aythya valisineria, of N. America, with back feathers the colour of unbleached canvas. under canvas
1 in a tent or tents.
2 with sails spread.
1 in a tent or tents.
2 with sails spread.
Etymology
ME & ONF canevas, ult. f. L cannabis hemp
THESAURUS
canvas
agora, air brush, amphitheater, aquarelle, arena, art paper, athletic field, auditorium, background, bear garden, big top, boltrope, bowl, boxing ring, brush, bull ring, camera lucida, camera obscura, campus, chalk, charcoal, circus, clew, cloth, cockpit, coliseum, colosseum, course, crayon, cringle, crowd of sail, drawing paper, drawing pencil, drier, earing, easel, easel-picture, field, finger painting, fixative, floor, foot, fore-and-aft sail, forum, gouache, ground, gym, gymnasium, hall, head, hippodrome, lay figure, leech, lists, locale, luff, marketplace, mat, maulstick, medium, milieu, muslin, oil, oil painting, open forum, paint, paintbrush, painting, palaestra, palette, palette knife, parade ground, pastel, pencil, pigments, pit, place, plain sail, platform, precinct, press of sail, prize ring, public square, purlieu, rag, range, reduced sail, reef point, reefed sail, ring, round top, sail, scene, scene of action, scenery, scratchboard, setting, siccative, site, sketchbook, sketchpad, spatula, sphere, spray gun, square sail, squared circle, stadium, stage, stage set, stage setting, stump, tempera, tent, tentage, terrain, theater, tilting ground, tiltyard, top, varnish, walk, wash, wash drawing, water, whitetop, wrestling ringROGET THESAURUS
canvas
Arena
N arena, field, platform, scene of action, theater, walk, course, hustings, stare, boards, amphitheater, Coliseum, Colosseum, Flavian amphitheater, hippodrome, circus, race course, corso, turf, cockpit, bear garden, playground, gymnasium, palestra, ring, lists, tiltyard, tilting ground, Campus Martins, Champ de Allars, campus, boxing ring, canvas, theater of war, seat of war, battle-field, battle-ground, field of battle, field of slaughter, Aceldama, camp, the enemy's camp, trusting place.Navigation
N navigation, aquatics, boating, yachting, ship, oar, paddle, screw, sail, canvas, aileron, natation, swimming, fin, flipper, fish's tail, aerostation, aerostatics, aeronautics, balloonery, balloon, ballooning, aviation, airmanship, flying, flight, volitation, wing, pinion, rocketry, space travel, astronautics, orbital mechanics, orbiting, voyage, sail, cruise, passage, circumnavigation, periplus, headway, sternway, leeway, fairway, mariner, flight, trip, shuttle, run, airlift, sailing, volant, aerostatic, seafaring, nautical, maritime, naval, seagoing, coasting, afloat, navigable, aerial, aeronautic, grallatory, under way, under sail, under canvas, under steam, on the wing, in flight, in orbit, bon voyage, spread the thin oar and catch the driving gale.Painting
N painting, depicting, drawing, design, perspective, sciagraphy, skiagraphy, chiaroscuro, composition, treatment, historical painting, portrait painting, miniature painting, landscape painting, marine painting, still life, flower painting, scene painting, scenography, school, style, the grand style, high art, genre, portraiture, ornamental art, monochrome, polychrome, grisaille, pallet, palette, easel, brush, pencil, stump, black lead, charcoal, crayons, chalk, pastel, paint, watercolor, body color, oil color, oils, oil paint, varnish, priming, gouache, tempera, distemper, fresco, water glass, enamel, encaustic painting, mosaic, tapestry, photography, heliography, color photography, sun painting, graphics, computer graphics, picture, painting, piece, tableau, canvas, oil painting, fresco, cartoon, easel picture, cabinet picture, draught, draft, pencil drawing, water color drawing, etching, charcoal, pen-and-ink, sketch, outline, study, photograph, color photograph, black-and-white photograph, holograph, heliograph, daguerreotype, talbotype, calotype, heliotype, negative, positive, print, glossy print, matte print, enlargement, reduction, life-size print, instant photo, Polaroid photo, technicolor, Kodachrome, Ektachrome, Polaroid, portrait, whole length, full length, half length, kitcat, head, miniature, shade, silhouette, profile, landscape, seapiece, view, scene, prospect, panorama, diorama, still life, picture gallery, exhibit, studio, atelier, pinacotheca, painted, pictorial, graphic, picturesque, pencil, oil, in pencil, fecit, delineavit, mutum est pictura poema.For further exploring for "canvas" in Webster Dictionary Online
