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cancer

noun
/ˈkænsə/UK/ˈkæːnsə//ˈkænsɚ/US

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cancer (“crab”), a calque of Ancient Greek καρκίνος (karkínos, “crab; ulcer; cancer”) (possibly cognate), applied to cancerous tumors because the enlarged veins resembled the legs of a crab. Doublet of canker and chancre.

  1. derived from 𒀯𒀠𒈜
  2. learned borrowing from cancer

Definitions

  1. A disease in which the cells of a tissue undergo uncontrolled (and often rapid)…

    A disease in which the cells of a tissue undergo uncontrolled (and often rapid) proliferation.

    • If successful, Edison and Ford—in 1914—would move society away from the[…]hazards of gasoline cars: air and water pollution, noise and noxiousness, constant coughing and the undeniable rise in cancers caused by smoke exhaust particulates.
    • Cancers are common diseases; in the aggregate, they are among the leading causes of death nationally and worldwide, and their incidence is increasing as the population ages.

  2. Something damaging that spreads throughout something else.

    • I began by telling the President that there was a cancer growing on the Presidency, and if the cancer was not removed, the President himself would be killed by it.
    • The disease of the self runs through my blood; It's a cancer fatal to my soul.

  3. Extremely unpleasant and annoying.

    • I used to love this game, but the new meta is straight up cancer.
  4. ›+ 3 more definitions

    1. A constellation of the zodiac traditionally figured in the shape of a crab.

      • And add more coals to Cancer when he burns / With entertaining great Hyperion.
      • Cancer was occupied by a scarab in Egypt, so the general shape of animal may have been suggested by Praesepe.

    2. The zodiac sign for the crab, ruled by the Moon and covering June 22–July 22 (tropical…

      The zodiac sign for the crab, ruled by the Moon and covering June 22–July 22 (tropical astrology) or July 16–August 15 (sidereal astrology).

    3. Someone with a Cancer star sign.

      • ‘All right, so what are Cancers apart from sad, then?’ Lizzie asked.

The neighborhood

Derived

cancerwort, cancer bush, cancer stick, cancer root, Cancerian, Cancri, first point of Cancer, Tropic of Cancer

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for cancer. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA