MEANING
1. An ulcerating or destructive sore.
2. A persistent source of inward corruption or damage.
3. A localized area of damaged or dead tissue on a plant's bark or woody stem.
Use it for
Persistent mouth ulcers; a lesion that seems to eat into its surroundings; inward moral decayUse the sore as a focal image, with figurative corruption reserved for a deliberate parallel.
Words that belong together
- canker sore
- festering canker
- canker of corruption
On the page
A canker on the inside of his cheek made speech painful.
The old description called the ulcer a canker.
The secret became a canker at the center of the institution.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- canker
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Usage notes
Primary category: horror. The bodily sense can sound old-fashioned; botanical cankers are distinct lesions of plants. Canker sore is an established compound, not a name for every infected wound. Noun plural: cankers. Derived/related family (not inflections): cankerous (adjective).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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