canvas

American  

[kan-vuhs] / ˈkæn vəs /

noun

1. a closely woven, heavy cloth of cotton, hemp, or linen, used for tents, sails, etc.

2. a piece of this or similar material on which a painting is made.

3. a painting on canvas.

4. a tent, or tents collectively.

5. sailcloth.

6. sails collectively.

7. any fabric of linen, cotton, or hemp of a coarse loose weave used as a foundation for embroidery stitches, interlining, etc.

8. the floor of a boxing ring traditionally consisting of a canvas covering stretched over a mat.

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Trademark, Digital Technology.

1. Canvas, the brand name for an open-source learning management system, launched in 2011.

idioms

1. under canvas,

   1. Nautical. with set sails.

   2. in tents; in the field.

      the troops under canvas.

canvas British  

/ ˈkænvəs /

noun

1. 1. a heavy durable cloth made of cotton, hemp, or jute, used for sails, tents, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      a canvas bag

2. 1. a piece of canvas or a similar material on which a painting is done, usually in oils

   2. a painting on this material, esp in oils

3. a tent or tents collectively

4. nautical any cloth of which sails are made

5. nautical the sails of a vessel collectively

6. any coarse loosely woven cloth on which embroidery, tapestry, etc, is done

7. the floor of a boxing or wrestling ring

8. rowing the tapering covered part at either end of a racing boat, sometimes referred to as a unit of length

   to win by a canvas

9. 1. in tents

   2. nautical with sails unfurled

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Other Word Forms

• canvaslike adjective

Etymology

Origin of canvas

First recorded in 1225–75; Middle English canevas, from Anglo-French, Old North French, from unattested Vulgar Latin cannabāceus (noun use of adjective), equivalent to Latin cannab(is) + -āceus; hemp, -aceous

Example Sentences

The fight continued and Wilder pushed Chisora over in the fifth before landing after the bell in the sixth, while both men tumbled to the canvas more than once.

From BBC • Apr. 4, 2026

“Sinners” is a meditation on how the past’s crimes and terrors bleed into the present, rendered by a Black artist using a popular genre, horror, as half of his canvas.

From Salon • Mar. 13, 2026

Caravaggio’s “Boy With a Basket of Fruit,” one of his most dazzlingly beautiful juvenilia, bears the sumptuous hallmarks of his bold style and technique, in which he eschewed drawing to paint directly on canvas.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 11, 2026

Because there’s almost nothing in Doyle’s stories about Holmes’ early or private life, the pastiche-maker has a virtually blank canvas to work upon.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 3, 2026

Juanita put her arm out the window and waved my old canvas bag at me, taunting me from inside the car, daring me to stay behind.

From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall

Related Words

• art
• artwork
• picture
• piece
• portrait
• watercolor