Adjacent Words

Canvass definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CANVASS, v.t.
1. To discuss; literally, to beat or shake out, to open by beating or shaking, like the L. Discutio. This is the common use of the word, as to canvass a subject, or the policy of a measure.
2. To examine returns of votes; to search or scrutinize; as, to canvass the votes for senators.
CANVASS, v.i.
1. To seek or go about to solicit votes or interest; to use efforts to obtain; to make interest in favor of; followed by for; as, to canvass for an office, or preferment; to canvass for a friend.
CANVASS, n.
1. Examination; close inspection to know the state of; as a canvass of votes.
2. Discussion; debate
3. A seeking, solicitation, or efforts to obtain.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the setting for a narrative or fictional or dramatic account; "the crowded canvas of history"; "the movie demanded a dramatic canvas of sound" [syn: canvas, canvass]
2: an inquiry into public opinion conducted by interviewing a random sample of people [syn: poll, opinion poll, public opinion poll, canvass]
3: a large piece of fabric (usually canvas fabric) by means of which wind is used to propel a sailing vessel [syn: sail, canvas, canvass, sheet]
4: a tent made of canvas fabric [syn: canvas tent, canvas, canvass]
5: an oil painting on canvas fabric [syn: canvas, canvass]
6: the mat that forms the floor of the ring in which boxers or professional wrestlers compete; "the boxer picked himself up off the canvas" [syn: canvas, canvass]
7: a heavy, closely woven fabric (used for clothing or chairs or sails or tents) [syn: canvas, canvass] v
1: get the opinions (of people) by asking specific questions [syn: poll, canvass, canvas]
2: solicit votes from potential voters in an electoral campaign [syn: canvass, canvas]
3: consider in detail and subject to an analysis in order to discover essential features or meaning; "analyze a sonnet by Shakespeare"; "analyze the evidence in a criminal trial"; "analyze your real motives" [syn: analyze, analyse, study, examine, canvass, canvas]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb also canvas (canvassed; canvassing) Date: 1508 transitive verb 1. obsolete to toss in a canvas sheet in sport or punishment 2. a. to examine in detail; specifically to examine (votes) officially for authenticity b. discuss, debate 3. to go through (a district) or go to (persons) in order to solicit orders or political support or to determine opinions or sentiments <canvass voters> intransitive verb to seek orders or votes ; solicit • canvasser also canvaser noun II. noun also canvas Date: circa 1611 the act or an instance of canvassing; especially a personal solicitation of votes or survey of public opinion

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. 1 a intr. solicit votes. b tr. solicit votes from (electors in a constituency). 2 tr. a ascertain opinions of. b seek custom from. c discuss thoroughly. 3 tr. Brit. propose (an idea or plan etc.). 4 intr. US check the validity of votes. --n. the process of or an instance of canvassing, esp. of electors. Derivatives: canvasser n. Etymology: orig. = toss in a sheet, agitate, f. CANVAS

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Canvass Can"vass, v. i. To search thoroughly; to engage in solicitation by traversing a district; as, to canvass for subscriptions or for votes; to canvass for a book, a publisher, or in behalf of a charity; -- commonly followed by for.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Canvass Can"vass, n. 1. Close inspection; careful review for verification; as, a canvass of votes. --Bacon. 2. Examination in the way of discussion or debate. 3. Search; exploration; solicitation; systematic effort to obtain votes, subscribers, etc. No previous canvass was made for me. --Burke.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Canvass Can"vass, v. t. [imp. & p. p. canvassed; p. pr. & vb. n. Canvassing.] [OF. Canabasser to examine curiously, to search or sift out; properly, to sift through canvas. See Canvas, n.] 1. To sift; to strain; to examine thoroughly; to scrutinize; as, to canvass the votes cast at an election; to canvass a district with reference to its probable vote. I have made careful search on all hands, and canvassed the matter with all possible diligence. --Woodward. 2. To examine by discussion; to debate. An opinion that we are likely soon to canvass. --Sir W. Hamilton. 3. To go trough, with personal solicitation or public addresses; as, to canvass a district for votes; to canvass a city for subscriptions.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(canvasses, canvassing, canvassed) 1. If you canvass for a particular person or political party, you go around an area trying to persuade people to vote for that person or party. I'm canvassing for the Conservative Party... VERB: V for n • canvasser (canvassers) ...a Conservative canvasser. N-COUNT 2. If you canvass public opinion, you find out how people feel about a particular subject. Members of Parliament are spending the weekend canvassing opinion in their constituencies. VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Debate, discuss, dispute, agitate. 2. Investigate, examine, scrutinize, sift, study, consider, follow up, inquire into. 3. Bespeak the votes of, solicit votes from. II. n. 1. Discussion, debate, dispute. 2. Examination, scrutiny, sifting. 3. Solicitation of votes.

Moby Thesaurus

Australian ballot, Hare system, address, addresses, agitate, air, all-out campaign, analyze, angle for, argue, assemblage, assembly, autopsy, aye, ballot, bid for, call-up, campaign, campaign button, campaign commitments, campaign contribution, campaign fund, canvassing, case, cast a ballot, casting vote, census, check, check out, check over, check up, check up on, collection, colligation, collocation, combination, comment upon, comparison, con, concourse, concurrence, conduct a poll, confluence, conflux, congregation, consider, consumer research, consumer-preference survey, controvert, convergence, corralling, counting heads, court, courting, cumulative voting, data-gathering, deal with, debate, deciding vote, deliberate, deliberate upon, discept, discourse about, discuss, dispute, divide, division, drum, electioneer, enfranchisement, examination, examine, exchange views, fagot vote, fish for, franchise, gathering, give an examination, go into, go over, grass-roots campaign, graveyard vote, hand vote, handle, hard-hitting campaign, hurrah campaign, ingathering, inquiry, inspect, interview, inventory, investigate, investigation, junction, juxtaposition, knock around, list system, look at, look for, look over, make a survey, media campaign, mobilization, monitor, moot, muster, nay, no, nontransferable vote, observe, opinion poll, overhaul, overlook, pass over, pass under review, peer at, peruse, plebiscite, plebiscitum, plump, plumper, plural vote, poll, polling, pop the question, pore over, postmortem, preferential voting, proportional representation, proxy, public-opinion poll, question, questionary, questionnaire, rap, reason, reason about, reason the point, record vote, referendum, representation, review, right to vote, ring doorbells, rising vote, rodeo, roundup, run over, sample, say, scan, scrutinize, secret ballot, seek, set an examination, show of hands, sift, single vote, size, size up, snap vote, solicit, solicit votes, solicitation, straw vote, study, stump, stump excursion, stump the country, stumping tour, sue, sue for, suffrage, suit, survey, take stock of, take the measure, take the stump, take up, talk, talk about, talk of, talk over, tally, thrash out, thresh out, transferable vote, treat, ventilate, vet, viva voce, voice, voice vote, vote, voting, voting right, whistle-stop, whistle-stop campaign, woo, wooing, write-in, write-in vote, yea, yeas and nays, yes