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DictionarycankerUlcerous sore
noun / verb

canker

KANG-kur/ˈkæŋkər/

An ulcerous sore that damages living tissue.

A sunken canker damages the bark of the apple twig.

Apple twig with one sunken cracked bark canker lesion and sparse adjacent wilted leaves, healthy bark nearby for contrast; plant disease sense, no human wound.
Etymology
cankerLatincrab; malignant tumor

Latin cancer meant both “crab” and “malignant tumor”: some tumors with swollen veins were thought to resemble crabs. Canker carries this medical image into the broader idea of a spreading sore or destructive disease and decay.

In context

American Head and Neck Society0:18
noticed a small bump on my tongue one morning early in January after the new year and I was like well that's very strange for like a canker sore
Cancer Survivor Interview: Oral Tongue Cancer, treated with Surgery Only

More examples

  • A painful canker has formed inside her mouth.
  • Corruption spreads like a canker through the administration.
  • Disease has cankered the tree's lower branches.

Forms

canker · cankers · cankered · cankering

Similar words

ulcer
An open sore without necessarily the plant or figurative senses.
blight
Plant damage or a destructive influence, not necessarily an ulcerous lesion.