as in to poison
to lower in character, dignity, or quality
such shameless ambulance chasing cankers the legal profession
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in rot
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of canker
Tim Johnson, chicagotribune.com, 1 Aug. 2019
Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 5 Aug. 2025
Symptoms include brown-ringed leaf spots, dark stem cankers or zones of dead/dying tissue, and eventually, the collapse of plants in entire sections of a mass grouping.
—Miri Talabac, Baltimore Sun, 1 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for canker
Verb
Start by removing all blighted twigs and cankered branches 6 to 10 inches below the edge of visible infection.
—Tim Johnson, chicagotribune.com, 1 Aug. 2019
Noun
Anthracnose, blight, and cankers are common in deciduous trees, and needle cast and other diseases are found in evergreens.
—Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 5 Aug. 2025
Symptoms include brown-ringed leaf spots, dark stem cankers or zones of dead/dying tissue, and eventually, the collapse of plants in entire sections of a mass grouping.
—Miri Talabac, Baltimore Sun, 1 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for canker
Recent Examples of Synonyms for canker
Verb
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According to other accounts, some white residents believed Makandal and his allies were behind a plot to poison the water supply in all the houses in the city of Le Cap.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Jan. 2026
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In a recent study, however, researchers at Yale found that interoception helped mice avoid poisoning themselves.—
The New York Times News Service Syndicate,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
30 Dec. 2025
Noun
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Stan has plenty of comic-book bona fides thanks to his Avengers tenure, but the Batverse is also a realm of intense prosthetics, over-the-top voices, and enough moral rot to mutate almost any familiar face.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
6 Jan. 2026
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The boost of calcium helps to prevent blossom-end rot, a perennial problem in tomato gardens.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
5 Jan. 2026
Verb
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And along the way enrich himself and partner with some of the world's most dangerous and violent drug traffickers and corrupting his country.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
4 Jan. 2026
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Trump has thoroughly corrupted the Justice Department, but its selective prosecutions of his foes have been thwarted by judges and, more strikingly, by grand juries.—
Michelle Goldberg,
Mercury News,
30 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
Teeth become diseased with decay and resorptive lesions and, when removed, these cats often lead much happier and more comfortable lives.—
Dr. John De Jong,
Boston Herald,
11 Jan. 2026
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These fission reactors relied on the slow decay of uranium to generate heat and electricity.—
Matthew S Williams,
Interesting Engineering,
10 Jan. 2026
Verb
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His mother previously told the Observer that his mental health degraded in the COVID-19 pandemic.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
8 Jan. 2026
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The information ecosystem is degrading more each moment.—
Damon Beres,
The Atlantic,
5 Jan. 2026
Noun
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On Friday night, the 43-year-old singer paused her concert at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace to help a couple get engaged during her first full performance since Blackstock's passing in August at the age of 48 from skin cancer.—
Ashley Hume,
FOXNews.com,
10 Nov. 2025
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What seemed like lingering cold symptoms turned out to be Stage 4 EGFR-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) — an advanced form of lung cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, which is noncurable, but treatable.—
Meredith Wilshere,
PEOPLE,
9 Nov. 2025
Verb
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The price of gold, long understood to be the investor’s refuge against a deteriorating dollar, is sounding an alarm.—
Bruce Yandle,
Twin Cities,
9 Jan. 2026
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When those conditions are absent, performance deteriorates quickly.—
Katerin Le Folcalvez,
Fortune,
8 Jan. 2026
Noun
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While working long days in construction and nights as an Uber driver, Colmenares tried to navigate around the menace and squalor.—
Melissa Sanchez,
ProPublica,
30 Dec. 2025
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The struggles against inhuman prejudice, against squalor, ignorance, and disease, have always owed a great deal to the determination and tenacity of women.—
Andrea Wurzburger,
PEOPLE,
30 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Canker.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/canker. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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