CANVAS

Pronunciation (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does canvas mean? 

• CANVAS (noun)
  The noun CANVAS has 6 senses:

1. a heavy, closely woven fabric (used for clothing or chairs or sails or tents)
2. an oil painting on canvas fabric
3. the setting for a narrative or fictional or dramatic account
4. a tent made of canvas fabric
5. a large piece of fabric (usually canvas fabric) by means of which wind is used to propel a sailing vessel
6. the mat that forms the floor of the ring in which boxers or professional wrestlers compete

  Familiarity information: CANVAS used as a noun is common.

• CANVAS (verb)
  The verb CANVAS has 4 senses:

1. solicit votes from potential voters in an electoral campaign
2. get the opinions (of people) by asking specific questions
3. cover with canvas
4. consider in detail and subject to an analysis in order to discover essential features or meaning

  Familiarity information: CANVAS used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CANVAS (noun)

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

canvas; canvas fabric; canvass fabric; canvass

Hypernyms ("canvas" 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 "canvas"):

hemp (a plant fiber)

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

tarp; tarpaulin (waterproofed canvas)

Meaning:

An oil painting on canvas fabric

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

canvas; canvass

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

oil painting (a picture painted with oil paints)

Meaning:

The setting for a narrative or fictional or dramatic account

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

canvass; canvas

Context examples:

the crowded canvas of history / the movie demanded a dramatic canvas of sound

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

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

Meaning:

A tent made of canvas fabric

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

canvas tent; canvas; canvass

Hypernyms ("canvas" 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 "canvas"):

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)

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

sail; canvass; canvas; sheet

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

balloon sail (any light loose sail)

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

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

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

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

mainsail (the lowermost sail on the mainmast)

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

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

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

canvas; canvass

Context example:

the boxer picked himself up off the canvas

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

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

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

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

• CANVAS (verb)

Meaning:

Solicit votes from potential voters in an electoral campaign

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

canvas; canvass

Hypernyms (to "canvas" 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 "canvas"):

circularize (canvass by using a questionnaire)

Sentence frames:

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

Meaning:

Get the opinions (of people) by asking specific questions

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

poll; canvass; canvas

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

survey (make a survey of; for statistical purposes)

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

circularise; circularize (canvass by distributing letters)

Sentence frames:

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

Meaning:

Cover with canvas

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

She canvassed the walls of her living room so as to conceal the ugly cracks

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

cover (provide with a covering or cause to be covered)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

study; examine; analyze; analyse; canvass; canvas

Context examples:

analyze a sonnet by Shakespeare / analyze the evidence in a criminal trial / analyze your real motives

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

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

screen (examine methodically)

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

investigate; look into (investigate scientifically)

sieve; sift (check and sort carefully)

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

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