Canvas (?), n. [OE. canvas, canevas, F. canevas, LL. canabacius hempen cloth, canvas, L. cannabis hemp, fr. G. &unr_;. See Hemp.] 1. A strong cloth made of hemp, flax, or cotton; -- used for tents, sails, etc.
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By glimmering lanes and walls of canvas led. Tennyson.
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2. (a) A coarse cloth so woven as to form regular meshes for working with the needle, as in tapestry, or worsted work. (b) A piece of strong cloth of which the surface has been prepared to receive painting, commonly painting in oil.
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History . . . does not bring out clearly upon the canvas the details which were familiar. J. H. Newman.
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3. Something for which canvas is used: (a) A sail, or a collection of sails. (b) A tent, or a collection of tents. (c) A painting, or a picture on canvas.
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To suit his canvas to the roughness of the see. Goldsmith.
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Light, rich as that which glows on the canvas of Claude. Macaulay.
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4. A rough draft or model of a song, air, or other literary or musical composition; esp. one to show a poet the measure of the verses he is to make. Grabb.
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