1. A fungal disease of woody plants that causes localized damage to the bark
   "The gardener pruned away branches affected by canker to save the tree"
    
2. An ulceration (especially of the lips or lining of the mouth)
   "The canker sore on her tongue made eating spicy foods painful";
   - canker sore
    
3. A pernicious and malign influence that is hard to get rid of
   "according to him, I was the canker in their midst";
   - pestilence

1. Become infected with a canker
   "The rose bushes cankered after the wet spring"
    
2. Infect with a canker
   "The disease cankered the apple trees in the orchard"

Derived forms: cankers, cankering, cankered

Type of: come down, infect, influence, plant disease, sicken, ulcer, ulceration

Encyclopedia: Canker