cancer

play

noun can·cer \ ˈkan(t)-sər \

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

But even before that, in 1998, shortly after he was drafted No. 2 overall by the San Diego Chargers, Leaf donated $100,000 to WSU to endow a scholarship in the name of Mark Rypien’s son, Andrew, who had died from brain cancer the year before.

— stefanie loh, The Seattle Times, "Luke Falk the latest member of college football’s most unique fraternity: the WSU Quarterbacks Club," 30 Aug. 2017
Tang had fought a long battle with cancer and died Tuesday night at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London with his wife Lucy at his bedside, the newspaper said.

— Bloomberg.com, "Hong Kong Businessman And Socialite David Tang Dies At 63," 30 Aug. 2017
A portion of proceeds from Marlins tickets benefits South Florida childhood cancer organizations.

— jennifer jhon, South Florida Parenting, "What to do with the kids this weekend: Free zoo, bowling and crafts events," 30 Aug. 2017
The hormone, 17α-methyltestosterone (MT), is sometimes prescribed for men with testosterone deficiencies and older women with breast cancer.

— mitch leslie, Science | AAAS, "Something is changing the sex of Costa Rican crocodiles," 30 Aug. 2017
The largest increase in cancer risk was in the lung.

— james hamblin, The Atlantic, "Vitamin B6 and B12 Supplements Appear to Cause Cancer in Men," 25 Aug. 2017
The Cincinnati Reds are making dreams come true for a young boy dying of cancer.

— jennifer baker, Cincinnati.com, "Boy dying of cancer to be honorary Cincinnati Reds captain," 25 Aug. 2017
The group encompasses Alzheimer's, dementia, cancer, stroke or other adult care responsibilities and is open to family and friends.

— Post-Tribune, "Community news," 23 Aug. 2017
Part of the proceeds from the Naperville Wine Festival go toward the Naperville Area Humane Society and to Alex's Lemonade Stand, a foundation for childhood cancer.

— annie alleman, Naperville Sun, "New venue, same Naperville Wine Festival fun," 21 Aug. 2017

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

See Words from the same year

Other Medicine Terms

analgesia, angina, diabetes, hepatitis, homeopathy, logorrhea, palliate, pandemic

CANCER Defined for English Language Learners

cancer

play

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