cancer

noun can·cer \ ˈkan(t)-sər \

|Updated on: 5 Jun 2018

Examples: cancer in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of cancer

1 capitalized

a : a northern zodiacal constellation between Gemini and Leo

b (1) : the fourth sign of the zodiac in astrology — see Signs of the Zodiac Table

(2) : one born under the sign of Cancer

I'm a Taurus, but my best friend is a Cancer.

[Latin, crab, cancer]

a : a malignant tumor of potentially unlimited growth that expands locally by invasion and systemically by metastasis

b : an abnormal bodily state marked by such tumors

3 : something evil or malignant that spreads destructively

the cancer of hidden resentment
—Irish Digest

4 a : an enlarged tumorlike plant growth (such as that of crown gall)

b : a plant disease marked by such growths

—

cancerous

play \ˈkan(t)s-rəs, ˈkan(t)-sə-\ adjective

—

cancerously

adverb

See cancer defined for English-language learners

See cancer defined for kids

Examples of cancer in a Sentence

He was diagnosed with cancer.
She learned that she has cancer.
Eating certain foods may help reduce the risk of cancer.
Advanced cancers are more difficult to treat.
I'm a Taurus, but my best friend is a Cancer.

Recent Examples of cancer from the Web

Kotb adopted her daughter, Haley Joy, in 2017 after treatment from breast cancer prevented her from conceiving.

— taylor seely, USA TODAY, "Sandra Bullock get emotional about adoption in interview with Today's Hoda Kotb," 1 June 2018
Perkins passes away from throat cancer at 65 in Tennessee, after suffering a series of strokes.

— billboard staff, Billboard, "98 Things That Happened in 1998," 1 June 2018
For one thing, the Golden Knights have become intimately acquainted with tragedy during their inaugural season, from the Oct. 1 mass shooting outside Mandalay Bay to amateur scout Mark Workman, who died from liver cancer this Valentine's Day.

— alex prewitt, SI.com, "Vegas Goalie Coach Dave Prior Is Lucky to Be Alive and Still Chasing His First Stanley Cup," 31 May 2018
After a suicide attempt and that aforementioned abusive relationship, Summer eventually took control of her career — leaving her record label and rebuilding her career on her own terms before her untimely death in 2012 from lung cancer.

— dave quinn, PEOPLE.com, "How Nicole Kidman Inspired Tony Nominee Ariana DeBose to Play Donna Summer on Broadway," 31 May 2018
Saliva contains plenty of hormones that can provide real-time health information or be used to diagnose diseases from oral cancer to diabetes.

— angela chen, The Verge, "How sensors are giving us another way to peek inside our bodies," 25 May 2018
About 80% of the total 154,000 deaths from lung cancer each year is due to smoking cigarettes.

— susan scutti, CNN, "Younger American women more likely to get lung cancer than men," 24 May 2018
The yellow liquid is falsely marketed as a treatment for everything from cancer to hangovers.

— elaina zachos, National Geographic, "Can People Really Mistake a Bear for a Dog, as This Family Claims?," 16 May 2018
He and Merri Williams had five children and were married for over 42 years before her death from cancer in Jan. 2017.

— bill banks, ajc, "Longtime Decatur band director retiring at year’s end," 14 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cancer.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

The Latin word cancer, meaning “crab,” was also given as a name to several diseases. One of the diseases was the abnormal, spreading mass of tissue we call a tumor. A possible explanation for this extended use of cancer is that the Romans thought some tumors looked like many-legged crabs. A French descendant of this Latin word was borrowed into English as canker. It is now applied to several plant and animal disorders. In the 14th century the Latin word cancer in the sense of “tumor” was borrowed directly into English, giving us our modern spelling and sense.

Origin and Etymology of cancer

Middle English, from Latin (genitive Cancri), literally, crab; akin to Greek karkinos crab, cancer

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

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CANCER Defined for English Language Learners

cancer

noun

Definition of cancer for English Language Learners

: a serious disease caused by cells that are not normal and that can spread to one or many parts of the body
: something bad or dangerous that causes other bad things to happen
Cancer : the fourth sign of the zodiac that comes between Gemini and Leo and has a crab as its symbol