Part 46

The cankers of envy and faction. Temple.

3. (Hort.) A disease incident to trees, causing the bark to rot and fall off.

4. (Far.) An obstinate and often incurable disease of a horse's foot, characterized by separation of the horny portion and the development of fungoid growths; -- usually resulting from neglected thrush.

5. A kind of wild, worthless rose; the dog-rose.

To put down Richard, that sweet lovely rose. And plant this thorm, this canker, Bolingbroke. Shak.

Black canker. See under Black.

Can"ker (kă&nsm;"k&etilde;r), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Cankered (- k&etilde;rd); p. pr. & vb. n. Cankering.] 1. To affect as a canker; to eat away; to corrode; to consume.

No lapse of moons can canker Love. Tennyson.

2. To infect or pollute; to corrupt. Addison.

A tithe purloined cankers the whole estate. Herbert.

Can"ker, v. i. 1. To waste away, grow rusty, or be oxidized, as a mineral. [Obs.]

Silvering will sully and canker more than gliding. Bacom.

2. To be or become diseased, or as if diseased, with canker; to grow corrupt; to become venomous.

Deceit and cankered malice. Dryden.

As with age his body uglier grows, So his mind cankers. Shak.

Can"ker-bit` (?), a. Eaten out by canker, or as by canker. [Obs.]

Can"ker bloom` (?). The bloom or blossom of the wild rose or dog-rose.

Can"ker blos`som (?). That which blasts a blossom as a canker does. [Obs.]

O me! you juggler! you canker blossom! You thief of Love! Shak.

Can"kered (?), a. 1. Affected with canker; as, a cankered mouth.

2. Affected mentally or morally as with canker; sore, envenomed; malignant; fretful; ill-natured. "A cankered grandam's will." Shak.

Can"kered*ly, adv. Fretfully; spitefully.

Can"ker fly` (?). A fly that preys on fruit.

Can"ker*ous (?), a. Affecting like a canker. "Canrerous shackles." Thomson.

Misdeem it not a cankerous change. Wordsworth.

Can"ker rash` (?). (Med.) A form of scarlet fever characterized by ulcerated or putrid sore throat.

Can"ker*worm` (?), n. (Zo÷l.) The larva of two species of geometrid moths which are very injurious to fruit and shade trees by eating, and often entirely destroying, the foliage. Other similar larvŠ are also called cankerworms.

&fist; The autumnal species (Anisopteryx pometaria) becomes adult late in autumn (after frosts) and in winter. The spring species (A. vernata) remains in the ground through the winter, and matures in early spring. Both have winged males and wingless females. The larvŠ are similar in appearance and habits, and belong to the family of measuring worms or spanworms. These larvŠ hatch from the eggs when the leaves begin to expand in spring.