a heavy durable cloth made of cotton, hemp, or jute, used for sails, tents, etc (as modifier): a canvas bag a piece of canvas or a similar material on which a painting is done, usually in oils a painting on this material, esp in oils a tent or tents collectively any cloth of which sails are made the sails of a vessel collectively any coarse loosely woven cloth on which embroidery, tapestry, etc, is done - the canvas ⇒
the floor of a boxing or wrestling ring the tapering covered part at either end of a racing boat, sometimes referred to as a unit of length: to win by a canvas - under canvas ⇒
in tents with sails unfurled
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
can•vas /ˈkænvəs/USA pronunciation
n.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Textiles[uncountable] a closely woven, heavy cloth of cotton used esp. for tents, etc.
- a piece of this or similar material on which a painting is made:[uncountable]some beautiful paintings on canvas.
- a painting on canvas:[countable]Those canvases sold for two million each.
- Sport the floor of a boxing ring, traditionally covered with canvas:[countable* usually singular: the + ~]He was knocked to the canvas in the first round.
can•vas
(kan′vəs),USA pronunciation n.
can′vas•like′, adj.
- Textilesa closely woven, heavy cloth of cotton, hemp, or linen, used for tents, sails, etc.
- a piece of this or similar material on which a painting is made.
- a painting on canvas.
- a tent, or tents collectively.
- Textiles, Nauticalsailcloth.
- Nauticalsails collectively.
- Textilesany fabric of linen, cotton, or hemp of a coarse loose weave used as a foundation for embroidery stitches, interlining, etc.
- Sportthe floor of a boxing ring traditionally consisting of a canvas covering stretched over a mat.
- Nautical under canvas:
- Naval Terms[Naut.]with set sails.
- in tents;
in the field:the troops under canvas.
- Vulgar Latin *cannabāceus (noun, nominal use of adjective, adjectival), equivalent. to Latin cannab(is) hemp + -āceus -aceous
- Anglo-French, Old North French
- Middle English canevas 1225–75
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