canvass

verb can·vass \ ˈkan-vəs \

variants: or less commonly canvas

|Updated on: 22 Jun 2018

Examples: canvass in a Sentence

canvassed; canvassing

transitive verb

1 obsolete : to toss in a canvas sheet in sport or punishment

2 a : to examine in detail; specifically : to examine (votes) officially for authenticity

b : discuss, debate

canvassed all the items on the agenda

3 : to go through (a district) or go to (persons) in order to solicit orders or political support or to determine opinions or sentiments

canvass voters

canvassed the neighborhood to solicit magazine subscriptions

intransitive verb

: to seek orders or votes : solicit

was canvassing for a seat in Congress

—

canvasser

or less commonly canvaser noun

See canvass defined for English-language learners

See canvass defined for kids

Examples of canvass in a Sentence

A team of volunteers is canvassing the city for the Republican Party.
We go to every house to canvass voters.
She is canvassing for one of the presidential candidates this year.
The group has been canvassing neighborhoods to ask people to vote for him.
The company canvassed several sites for a new factory.

Recent Examples of canvass from the Web

Because so much of the power to make decisions on trade is concentrated in the White House, lobbyists are working to get Mr. Trump’s attention directly rather than by canvassing congressional committees.

— alan rappeport, New York Times, "To Sway Trump on Trade, Businesses Turn to Cable TV," 14 May 2018
Door-to-door canvassing prior to the March primary doubled voter turnout in some Naperville precincts.

— suzanne baker, Naperville Sun, "League of Women Voters partners with students, doubling primary election turnout in Naperville precincts," 3 May 2018
These efforts take shape in Chicago in the form of weekly meetings, canvassing campaigns, staffing informational tables at community events and attending various marches across the country.

— shelbie lynn bostedt, RedEye Chicago, "Do good this summer with Greenpeace," 5 July 2017
McWilliams attended one of the woman’s meetings recently, for canvassing training; despite an unexpected spring sleet storm, the meeting was packed.

— rivka galchen, The New Yorker, "The Teachers’ Strike and the Democratic Revival in Oklahoma," 4 June 2017
Under the guidance of university professors, teams spent five months conducting research, working on design implementation, and canvassing the community.

— pamela miller, ajc, "UGA wins Ted Turner Drive Resilience Corridor Challenge," 3 June 2018
Homicide detectives determined the unidentified male had apparent gunshot wounds and began canvassing for witnesses, according to Foley.

— leigh hedger, Indianapolis Star, "IMPD investigating after man found with apparent gunshot wounds on the east side," 26 May 2018
Yesterday, rides were provided to the polls and canvassing and phone banks took place around Georgia.

— Essence.com, "Here's How Stacey Abrams Made History...And Mobilized An Entire Community," 24 May 2018
For a few months now, thousands of pro-choice people have walked city streets, towns, and villages to canvass their communities.

— una mullally, The Cut, "The War Over Women’s Bodies in Ireland Is Here," 24 May 2018

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

Origin and Etymology of canvass

see ¹canvas

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1508

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

See Words from the same year

canvass Synonyms

Synonyms

agitate, argue, bandy, bat (around or back and forth), debate, discuss, dispute, hash (over or out), moot, talk over;

Related Words

review, speak (about), talk (about);

broach, introduce, propound, raise, stir up;

forge, hammer out, talk out, thrash (out), wrestle (with);

chew over, consider, deliberate, weigh;

Other Government and Politics Terms

agent provocateur, agitprop, autarky, cabal, egalitarianism, federalism, hegemony, plenipotentiary, popular sovereignty, socialism

canvass

noun

variants: or less commonly canvas

: the act or an instance of canvassing; especially : a personal solicitation of votes or survey of public opinion

a house-to-house canvass to ascertain the vote before the election

Recent Examples of canvass from the Web

The Republicans will choose their candidates in a June 7 party canvass on Thursday.

— patricia sullivan, Washington Post, "Take a cheat sheet: 12 Democrats vie for six seats on Alexandria council," 4 June 2018
Provisional voters will receive a notice in the mail by the 10th day after the local canvass advising them if their provisional ballots were counted, and if they were not counted, the reason why.

— nick powell, Houston Chronicle, "David Collins named winner over incumbent Maceo in closely contested Galveston council race," 14 May 2018
The vote tallies are unofficial until next week's canvass, the newspaper reported.

— mark price, charlotteobserver, "NC town's new mayor celebrated his election win. Then he was arrested. | Charlotte Observer," 9 May 2018
Provisional voters will receive a notice in the mail by the 10th day after the local canvass advising them if their provisional ballots were counted, and if they were not counted, the reason why.

— nick powell, Houston Chronicle, "David Collins named winner over incumbent Maceo in closely contested Galveston council race," 14 May 2018
Roscoe, field division commander for the sheriff’s office, saw the search come to a head Thursday morning during a canvass of the Candler Road area, with the help of DeKalb police and the Georgia State Patrol.

— joshua sharpe, ajc, "Mom broken by death of DeKalb boy, 6, shot due to social media feud," 12 May 2018
Once there, however, the gallery owner removed the frames and found there were no authentication stamps and that the canvasses and staples looked new.

— danny mcdonald, BostonGlobe.com, "An alleged art swindle involving two Warhols, 6,800 miles, and a guy from Lynn," 10 May 2018
The company chose 500 and sent each team two pairs of shoes to serve as blank canvasses.

— bob warren, NOLA.com, "St. Tammany students designed shoes for Vans. Will it win them $75K?," 9 May 2018
But a key component will be door-to-door canvass campaigns.

— tory newmyer, Washington Post, "The Finance 202: Trump team faces long odds for trade breakthrough in Beijing," 3 May 2018

Origin and Etymology of canvass

see ¹canvas

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1611

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

CANVASS Defined for English Language Learners

canvass

verb

: to ask (the people in an area) what they think about a candidate, project, idea, etc.
: to talk to the people in an area in order to get them to support a candidate, project, idea, etc.
: to look at or consider (something) carefully