GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

Found 2 definitions

1.       
   Canvas , n. [OE. canvas, canevas, F. canevas, LL. canabacius hempen cloth, canvas, L. cannabis hemp, fr. G. . See Hemp.]
   A strong cloth made of hemp, flax, or cotton; -- used for tents, sails, etc.
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   By glimmering lanes and walls of canvas led.
   Tennyson.
   
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   (a) A coarse cloth so woven as to form regular meshes for working with the needle, as in tapestry, or worsted work. (b) A piece of strong cloth of which the surface has been prepared to receive painting, commonly painting in oil.
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   History . . . does not bring out clearly upon the canvas the details which were familiar.
   J. H. Newman.
   
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   Something for which canvas is used: (a) A sail, or a collection of sails. (b) A tent, or a collection of tents. (c) A painting, or a picture on canvas.
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   To suit his canvas to the roughness of the see.
   Goldsmith.
   
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   Light, rich as that which glows on the canvas of Claude.
   Macaulay.
   
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   A rough draft or model of a song, air, or other literary or musical composition; esp. one to show a poet the measure of the verses he is to make.
   Grabb.
   
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2.       
   Canvas, a. Made of, pertaining to, or resembling, canvas or coarse cloth; as, a canvas tent.
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