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can·cer 
Audio Help [kan-ser] Pronunciation Key
—Related forms
Audio Help [kan-ser] Pronunciation Key –noun, genitive Can·cri
Audio Help [kang-kree] Pronunciation Key for 3.
Audio Help [kang-kree] Pronunciation Key for 3. | 1. | Pathology.
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| 2. | any evil condition or thing that spreads destructively; blight. |
| 3. | (initial capital letter) Astronomy. the Crab, a zodiacal constellation between Gemini and Leo. |
| 4. | (initial capital letter) Astrology.
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| 5. | (initial capital letter) tropic of. See under tropic (def. 1a). |
[Origin: 1350–1400; ME < L: lit., crab; L s. cancr-, dissimilated from *carcr-, with *carc-r- akin to Gk karkínos, Skt karkata crab; see canker]
] —Related forms
can·cer·ous, adjective
cancered, adjective
can·cer·ous·ly, adverb
can·cer·ous·ness, noun
—Synonyms 2. sickness, evil, plague, scourge.
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
Cancer
To learn more about Cancer visit Britannica.com
| © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
| can·cer
Audio Help (kān'sər) Pronunciation Key
n.
[Middle English; see canker.] can'cer·ous (kān'sər-əs) adj. |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
| Can·cer
Audio Help (kān'sər) Pronunciation Key
n. In all senses also called Crab.
[Middle English, from Latin; see canker.] |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
cancer
O.E., from L. "a crab," later, "malignant tumor." Greek physician Galen, among others, noted similarity of crabs to some tumors with swollen veins. From Gk. karkinos, which, like the Mod.E. word, has three meanings: crab, tumor, and the zodiac constellation (1391), from PIE base *qarq- "to be hard" (like the shell of a crab); cf. Skt. karkatah "crab," karkarah "hard;" and probably cognate with PIE base *qar-tu- "hard, strong," source of Eng. hard. Meaning "person born under the zodiac sign of Cancer" is from 1894. Cancer stick "cigarette" is from 1959.
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| cancer | |
noun | |
| 1. | any malignant growth or tumor caused by abnormal and uncontrolled cell division; it may spread to other parts of the body through the lymphatic system or the blood stream |
| 2. | (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Cancer |
| 3. | a small zodiacal constellation in the northern hemisphere; between Leo and Gemini |
| 4. | the fourth sign of the zodiac; the sun is in this sign from about June 21 to July 22 |
| 5. | type genus of the family Cancridae |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
cancer1 [ˈkӕnsə] noun
a diseased growth in the body, often fatal
Example: The cancer has spread to her stomach.
cancer2 [ˈkӕnsə] nounExample: The cancer has spread to her stomach.
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the (often fatal) condition caused by such diseased growth(s)
Example: He is dying of cancer.
Example: He is dying of cancer.
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| Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary, © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd. |
cancer
Audio Help (kān'sər) Pronunciation Key
Our Living Language : The human immune system often fights off stray cancer cells just as it does bacteria and viruses. However, when cancer cells establish themselves in the body with their own blood supply and begin replicating out of control, cancer becomes a threatening neoplasm, or tumor. It takes a minimum of one billion cancer cells for a neoplasm to be detectable by conventional radiology and physical examinations. Cancer, which represents more than 100 separate diseases, destroys tissues and organs through invasive growth in a particular part of the body and by metastasizing to distant tissues and organs through the bloodstream or lymph system. Heredity, lifestyle habits (such as smoking), and a person's exposure to certain viruses, toxic chemicals, and excessive radiation can trigger genetic changes that affect cell growth. The altered genes, or oncogenes, direct cells to multiply abnormally, thereby taking on the aggressive and destructive characteristics of cancer. Treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation are effective with many cancers, but they also end up killing healthy cells. Gene therapy attempts to correct the faulty DNA that causes the uncontrolled growth of cancer cells. Researchers are investigating other treatments, such as immunotherapy (the stimulation of the body's natural defenses), vectorization (aiming chemicals specifically at cancer cells), and nanotechnology (targeting cancer cells with minute objects the size of atoms). |
| The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
| Cancer
A faint constellation in the Northern Hemisphere near Leo and Gemini. Cancer (the Crab) is the fourth sign of the zodiac. |
| The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
cancer
A disease characterized by rapid growth of cells in the body, often in the form of a tumor. Cancer is invasive — that is, it can spread to surrounding tissues. Although this disease is a leading cause of death in the United States, research has provided considerable insight into its many causes (which may include diet, viruses, or environmental factors) and options for treatment (which include radiation, chemotherapy, surgery, and possibly gene therapy).
Note: The term cancer is often used to describe a nonmedical condition that is undesirable, destructive, and invasive: “Watergate was a cancer on the presidency.”
[Chapter:] Medicine and Health
| The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
Cancer
Can"cer\, n. [L. cancer, cancri, crab, ulcer, a sign of the zodiac; akin to Gr. karki`nos, Skr. karka[.t]a crab, and prob. Skr. karkara hard, the crab being named from its hard shell. Cf. Canner, Chancre.]1. (Zo["o]l.) A genus of decapod Crustacea, including some of the most common shore crabs of Europe and North America, as the rock crab, Jonah crab, etc. See Crab. 2. (Astron.) (a) The fourth of the twelve signs of the zodiac. The first point is the northern limit of the sun's course in summer; hence, the sign of the summer solstice. See Tropic. (b) A northern constellation between Gemini and Leo. 3. (Med.) Formerly, any malignant growth, esp. one attended with great pain and ulceration, with cachexia and progressive emaciation. It was so called, perhaps, from the great veins which surround it, compared by the ancients to the claws of a crab. The term is now restricted to such a growth made up of aggregations of epithelial cells, either without support or embedded in the meshes of a trabecular framework. Note: Four kinds of cancers are recognized: (1) Epithelial cancer, or Epithelioma, in which there is no trabecular framework. See Epithelioma. (2) Scirrhous cancer, or Hard cancer, in which the framework predominates, and the tumor is of hard consistence and slow growth. (3) Encephaloid, Medullary, or Soft cancer, in which the cellular element predominates, and the tumor is soft, grows rapidy, and often ulcerates. (4) Colloid cancer, in which the cancerous structure becomes gelatinous. The last three varieties are also called carcinoma. Cancer cells, cells once believed to be peculiar to cancers, but now know to be epithelial cells differing in no respect from those found elsewhere in the body, and distinguished only by peculiarity of location and grouping. Cancer root (Bot.), the name of several low plants, mostly parasitic on roots, as the beech drops, the squawroot, etc. Tropic of Cancer. See Tropic.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
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