CANCER

Cancer, genus Cancer

(noun) type genus of the family Cancridae

Cancer, Cancer the Crab, Crab

(noun) the fourth sign of the zodiac; the sun is in this sign from about June 21 to July 22

Cancer

(noun) a small zodiacal constellation in the northern hemisphere; between Leo and Gemini

Cancer, Crab

(noun) (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Cancer

cancer, malignant neoplastic disease

(noun) 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

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Proper noun

Cancer (symbol ♋)

(zodiac constellations) A constellation of the zodiac supposedly shaped like a crab.

(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).

Antonyms

• Capricornus

Noun

Cancer (plural Cancers)

Someone with a Cancer star sign.

Synonyms

• Cancerian

Anagrams

• crance

Etymology

Noun

cancer (countable and uncountable, plural cancers)

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

(figuratively) Something damaging that spreads throughout something else.

Synonyms

• (disease): growth, malignancy, neoplasia

• (something which spreads): lichen

Hyponyms

• tumor

• leukaemia, leukemia

Anagrams

• crance

Source: Wiktionary


Can"cer, n. Etym: [L. cancer, cancri, crab, ulcer, a sign of the zodiac; akin to Gr. karka crab, and prob. Skr. karkara hard, the crab being named from its hard shell. Cf. Canner, Chancre.]

1. (Zoöl.)

Definition: 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.)

Definition: 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 it 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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

27 April 2024

GREAT

(adjective) remarkable or out of the ordinary in degree or magnitude or effect; “a great crisis”; “had a great stake in the outcome”


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