canister

noun

can·​is·​ter ˈka-nə-stər 

variants or less commonly cannister

1

: an often cylindrical container for holding a usually specified object or substance

a film canister

2

: encased shot for close-range artillery fire

3

: a perforated metal box for gas masks with material to adsorb, filter, or detoxify airborne poisons and irritants

Synonyms of canister

• barrel
• tin
• drum
• bucket

Examples of canister in a Sentence

she put the store-bought cookies in a fancy canister to make them look homemade

Recent Examples on the Web

The entire Antarcti system, with a gas canister or two, can store away in a vehicle console or the corner of a camping cargo box. —New Atlas, 10 Nov. 2025

Corrosion-resistant canisters — each 16 feet long, 15 inches in diameter and weighing 6,000 pounds — containing nuclear waste are forced down into the horizontal sections, stacked side-by-side and stored, conceivably, for thousands of years. —Bob Woods, CNBC, 9 Nov. 2025

There are real canisters of 35-mm film that must be fed, expertly, into the reel-to-reel projector. —Laura L. Davis, Nashville Tennessean, 9 Nov. 2025

Video of the incident showed Bovino throwing a gas canister at demonstrators in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood without giving a verbal warning -- a violation of the judge's earlier temporary restraining order limiting the use of force, the judge said. —James Hill, ABC News, 7 Nov. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Latin canistrum basket, from Greek kanastron wicker basket, from kanna reed — more at cane

First Known Use

1711, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for canister

• banister

Kids Definition

canister

noun

can·​is·​ter

variants also cannister

ˈkan-ə-stər 

: a small box or can for holding a dry product (as coffee, flour, or sugar)