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Canker vs Contamination - What's the difference?

canker | contamination | Related terms |

As nouns the difference between canker and contamination

is that canker is a plant disease marked by gradual decay while contamination is the act or process of contaminating; pollution; defilement; taint; also, that which contaminates.

As a verb canker

is to affect as a canker; to eat away; to corrode; to consume.

canker

English

Noun

  • (botany) A plant disease marked by gradual decay.
  • A corroding or sloughing ulcer; especially a spreading gangrenous ulcer or collection of ulcers in or about the mouth.
  • Anything which corrodes, corrupts, or destroys.
  • * Temple
  • the cankers of envy and faction
  • A kind of wild rose; the dog rose.
  • * Shakespeare
  • To put down Richard, that sweet lovely rose, / And plant this thorn, this canker , Bolingbroke.
  • An obstinate and often incurable disease of a horse's foot, characterized by separation of the horny portion and the development of fungoid growths. Usually resulting from neglected thrush.
  • An avian disease affecting doves, poultry, parrots and birds of prey, caused by Trichomonas gallinae .
  • An obstinate and often incurable disease of a horse's foot, characterized by separation of the horny portion and the development of fungoid growths; usually resulting from neglected thrush.
  • Synonyms

    * water canker, canker of the mouth, noma * (bird disease) avian trichomoniasis, roup * (hawk disease) frounce

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To affect as a canker; to eat away; to corrode; to consume.
  • * 1849 , , In Memoriam , 26:
  • Still onward winds the dreary way; / I with it; for I long to prove / No lapse of moons can canker Love, / Whatever fickle tongues may say.
  • To infect or pollute; to corrupt.
  • To waste away, grow rusty, or be oxidized, as a mineral.
  • To be or become diseased, or as if diseased, with canker; to grow corrupt; to become venomous.
  • References

    * ----

    contamination

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act or process of contaminating; pollution; defilement; taint; also, that which contaminates.
  • (linguistics) A process whereby words with related meanings come to have similar sounds.
  • (linguistics, etymology) The influence of one form (often from a foreign language) on the historical development of another form to which it may be related in meaning.
  • The process of making a material or surface unclean or unsuited for its intended purpose, usually by the addition or attachment of undesirable foreign substances.