canvas

1 of 2

noun

can·​vas ˈkan-vəs How to pronounce canvas (audio)
variants or less commonly canvass
plural canvases also canvasses
1
: a firm closely woven cloth usually of linen, hemp, or cotton used for clothing and formerly much used for tents and sails
2
a
: a piece of cloth backed or framed as a surface for a painting
an artist's canvas
also : the painting on such a surface
b
: something likened to a painter's canvas
… just up the driveway is an extraordinary piece of garden design. [Ruth] Bancroft is the artist and her canvas is a three-acre patch of land in the midst of suburbia.Harriet Chiang
In addition to the cover-up work, [Miryam] Lumpini will turn the dimpled canvas of a young man's back into a magnificent phoenix.Allure
The birds were moving art on a canvas of sky and water and endless prairie.Shannon Tompkins
c
: the background, setting, or scope of a historical or fictional account or narrative
the crowded canvas of history
3
: a piece of canvas used for a particular purpose
a hammock made of canvas
4
: tent
also : a group of tents
5
: a set of sails : sail
sailing under full canvas
6
: a stiff material (as of coarse cloth or plastic) that has regular meshes for working with a needle (as in needlepoint)
7
: the canvas-covered floor of a boxing or wrestling ring
canvaslike adjective

canvas

2 of 2

verb

canvased or canvassed; canvasing or canvassing

transitive verb

: to cover, line, or furnish with canvas

Examples of canvas in a Sentence

Noun a tent made of canvas Use a canvas to cover the boat. The museum has several canvases by Rubens.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Art would paint houses all day, then return to the studio to paint his canvases. Jason Kersten, Rolling Stone, 23 Mar. 2024 The setup was endearingly basic: Guests wore only swimsuits and slept by the beach in US Army surplus canvas tents, sharing a single shower. Tony Perrottet, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Mar. 2024 Here, midcentury Brazilian and American furniture sit amid African statuettes and masks, Abstract Expressionist canvases, contemporary sculpture and clashing textures that give the house an unusual tactility. Hanya Yanagihara, New York Times, 18 Mar. 2024 There are rhyming forms all over the canvas: triangles, crescents, spiky starbursts and tongues, stubby fingers and egg-like heads with open mouths. Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 15 Mar. 2024 Attendees choose their bases – from canvas, wood, glass and epoxy Resin – and instructors guide the process. The Indianapolis Star, 15 Mar. 2024 Your child can fill the dropper with paint, hold it above their canvas, and release the contents slowly. Nicole Harris, Parents, 14 Mar. 2024 Wilson, wearing a canvas safari hat, a bow tie, and a sweater vest, stood before the children, who lined up in neat rows with their hands behind their backs. Emma Green, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024 At his apartment and studio in Hancock Park, stacks of canvases cram a bright, colorful room that houses a chaotic mix of playful creatures resting on walls and tables. Steven Vargas, Los Angeles Times, 8 Mar. 2024
Verb
Four officers who happened to be canvasing the area in an unmarked car saw a man chasing another man and a woman while shooting at them several times, the NYPD added. Charmaine Patterson, Peoplemag, 20 Mar. 2024 City staff will canvas neighborhoods in flood-prone areas, officials said. Ethan Baron, The Mercury News, 4 Feb. 2024 Tuesday night, a few dozen community members met at the trail to canvas the surrounding neighborhoods of the Bel Air trail with flyers showing images from the video and containing information about the case in both English and Spanish. Dillon Mullan, Baltimore Sun, 6 Sep. 2023 Alarmed, the students found Bailey, a public safety officer who was making his routine rounds canvasing the campus. Curtis Bunn, NBC News, 28 Aug. 2023 Following the April 19, 1993 fire, after authorities had finished canvasing the scene, what little that remained of Mount Carmel was bulldozed. Alyssa Fiorentino, House Beautiful, 20 Apr. 2023 Milwaukee County will also canvas the totals. Erik S. Hanley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 16 Feb. 2022 Among the groups responding to an uptick of gun violence in Chicago is BUILD, an organization that deploys intervention teams to canvas hot spots, a crisis response unit that supports survivors and families of victims, as well as therapists and case managers who support over 200 families. Dave Collins, Star Tribune, 24 June 2021 Most of the time, human searchers canvas a project, walking transects under turbines or through solar fields. Emma Foehringer Merchant, WIRED, 11 Feb. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'canvas.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

Middle English canevas, from Anglo-French canevas, chanevaz, from Vulgar Latin *cannabaceus hempen, from Latin cannabis hemp — more at cannabis

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1556, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of canvas was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near canvas

Cite this Entry

“Canvas.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/canvas. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

canvas

noun
can·​vas
ˈkan-vəs
1
a
: a strong cloth of hemp, flax, or cotton used for clothing and formerly much used for tents and sails
b
: a piece of cloth used as a surface for painting
also : a painting on such a surface
2
: something made of canvas
3
: a stiff material (as of coarse cloth or plastic) that has regular meshes for working with a needle (as in needlepoint)

More from Merriam-Webster on canvas

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