Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Canvas \Can"vas\, n. [OE. canvas, canevas, F. canevas, LL.
   canabacius hempen cloth, canvas, L. cannabis hemp, fr. G. ?.
   See {Hemp}.]
   1. A strong cloth made of hemp, flax, or cotton; -- used for
      tents, sails, etc.

            By glimmering lanes and walls of canvas led.
                                                  --Tennyson.

   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.

                History . . . does not bring out clearly upon
                the canvas the details which were familiar. --J.
                                                  H. Newman.

   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.

                To suit his canvas to the roughness of the see.
                                                  --Goldsmith.

                Light, rich as that which glows on the canvas of
                Claude.                           --Macaulay.

   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.

Canvas \Can"vas\, a.
   Made of, pertaining to, or resembling, canvas or coarse
   cloth; as, a canvas tent.

Source : WordNet®

canvas
     n 1: heavy closely woven fabric (used for clothing or chairs or
          sails or tents) [syn: {canvass}]
     2: an oil painting on canvas [syn: {canvass}]
     3: the setting for a narrative or fictional or dramatic
        account; "the crowded canvas of history"; "the movie
        demanded a dramatic canvas of sound" [syn: {canvass}]
     4: a tent made of canvas [syn: {canvas tent}, {canvass}]
     5: a large piece of fabric (as canvas) by means of which wind
        is used to propel a sailing vessel [syn: {sail}, {canvass},
         {sheet}]
     6: the mat that forms the floor of the ring in which boxers or
        professional wrestlers compete; "the boxer picked himself
        up off the canvas" [syn: {canvass}]

canvas
     v 1: solicit votes from potential voters in an electoral campaign
          [syn: {canvass}]
     2: get the opinions (of people) by asking specific questions
        [syn: {poll}, {canvass}]
     3: cover with canvas; "She canvassed the walls of her living
        room so as to conceal the ugly cracks"
     4: consider in detail and subject to an analysis in order to
        discover essential features or meaning; "analyze a sonnet
        by Shakespeare"; "analyze the evidence in a criminal
        trial"; "analyze your real motives" [syn: {analyze}, {analyse},
         {study}, {examine}, {canvass}]