Wordfinder

Cancer definition

kănsər
Any of various malignant neoplasms characterized by the proliferation of anaplastic cells that tend to invade surrounding tissue and metastasize to new body sites.
noun
3
0
A disease characterized by any of various malignant neoplasms composed of abnormal cells that tend to proliferate rapidly and invade surrounding tissue. Without treatment such as chemotherapy or radiation, cancer cells can metastasize to other body sites and cause organ failure and death.
2
0
A malignant tumor.
2
0
The pathological condition characterized by such growths.
noun
2
1
A faint constellation in the Northern Hemisphere near Leo and Gemini. Cancer (the Crab) is the fourth sign of the zodiac.
1
0
Advertisement
The definition of cancer is a disease with tumors or other uncontrolled growths that damage the body, or anything harmful that spreads.

An example of cancer is a melanoma on the arm.

An example of cancer is a wild fire.

noun
0
0
Cancer is defined as a constellation of stars shaped like a crab, the fourth sign in the zodiac, and a person born between June 21st to July 21st.

An example of Cancer is the constellation closest to Leo and Gemini.

An example of Cancer is the zodiac sign after Gemini.

An example of Cancer is someone born on July 5th.

noun
0
0
Any of various malignant neoplasms characterized by the proliferation of anaplastic cells that tend to invade surrounding tissue and metastasize to new body sites.
noun
0
0
The pathological condition characterized by such growths.
noun
0
0
A constellation in the Northern Hemisphere near Leo and Gemini.
noun
0
0
Advertisement
The fourth sign of the zodiac in astrology.
noun
0
0
One who is born under this sign.
noun
0
0
Anything bad or harmful that spreads and destroys.
noun
0
0
A malignant new growth anywhere in the body of a person or animal; malignant tumor: cancers tend to spread locally and to distant parts of the body.
noun
0
0
Any of various diseases characterized by the uncontrolled growth of cells that disrupt body tissue, metabolism, etc.
noun
0
0
Advertisement
(medicine, oncology, pathology) A disease in which the cells of a tissue undergo uncontrolled (often rapid) proliferation.
noun
0
0
(figuratively) Something which spreads within something else, damaging the latter.

1999, Bruce Clifford Ross-Larson, Effective Writing, page 134:Sierra Leone's post-dictator problems are almost absurd in their breadth. It once exported rice; now it can't feed itself. The life span of the average citizen is 39, the shortest in Africa. Unemployment stands at 87 percent and tuberculosis is spreading out of control. Corruption, brazen and ubiquitous, is a cancer on the economy.

noun
0
0
(astronomy) A constellation of the zodiac supposedly shaped like a crab.
pronoun
0
0
(astrology) 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).
pronoun
0
0
Someone with a Cancer star sign.
noun
0
0
Advertisement
A pernicious, spreading evil.

A cancer of bigotry spread through the community.

noun
0
1
(place, proper) A N constellation between Gemini and Leo; the Crab.
noun
0
1
(place, proper) The fourth sign of the zodiac, entered by the sun about June 21
noun
0
1
A person born under this sign.
noun
0
1

Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
cancer
Plural:
cancers

Origin of cancer

  • Middle English from Latin canker

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Middle English canker

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Latin cancer (“crab”), from Ancient Greek καρκίνος (karkinos, “crab”); applied to cancerous tumors because the enlarged veins resembled the legs of a crab.

    From Wiktionary

  • From Latin cancer (“crab”), from Ancient Greek καρκίνος (karkinos, “crab”).

    From Wiktionary

Cancer Sentence Examples

  • Cancer of the Stomach is a common disease.

  • Its favourite situation is the outlet (pyloric cancer), where a hard, fibrous growth forms a contracting ring of the scirrhous variety.

  • The very high summer temperatures of the area north of the tropic of Cancer are sufficiently accounted for, when compared with those observed south of the tropic, by the increased length of the day in the higher latitude, which more than compensates for the loss of heat due to the smaller mid-day altitude of the sun.

  • The symptoms of cancer of the stomach are apt to be indefinite (for many weeks or months).

  • These are sometimes erroneously spoken of as the "roots" of cancer, and in the case of cancer of the stomach they may fix it to the pancreas, the liver, the bowels or the spine.

More sentences

Related articles

Also Mentioned In

Words near cancer in the Dictionary