canvas

1 of 2

noun

can·​vas ˈkan-vəs 

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

ˈkan-vəs-ˌlīk 

adjective

canvas

2 of 2

verb

canvased or canvassed; canvasing or canvassing

transitive verb

: to cover, line, or furnish with canvas

Synonyms

Noun

• oil
• oil painting
• painting

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

Dirty, creased, scuffed—each pair is a living canvas for the person wearing them. —Jonathan Limehouse, USA Today, 2 May 2025

These images are photographed, blown up and reconfigured to create compositions that are then screen-printed onto canvas. —Stephanie Rudig, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Apr. 2025

Verb

Think: an Auguste Rodin ballerina in eyeshot of Deana Lawson portraits; Marlene Dumas canvases in conversation with nearby Peter Doigs; a Richard Avedon photograph meeting one by Anne Imhof. —Mark Guiducci, Vogue, 17 Mar. 2025

But a thoughtful leader's already been canvasing the planet for the lowest cost of that product. —Megan Poinski, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2025

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

Phrases Containing canvas

• under canvas

Rhymes for canvas

• canvass

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)