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cancer

Syllabification: (can·cer)
Pronunciation: /ˈkansər/
Translate cancer | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of cancer

noun

  • the disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in a part of the body:he’s got cancer smoking is the major cause of lung cancer
  • a malignant growth or tumor resulting from the division of abnormal cells:most skin cancers are curable
  • a practice or phenomenon perceived to be evil or destructive and hard to contain or eradicate:racism is a cancer sweeping across Europe

Derivatives

cancerous

Pronunciation: /ˈkansərəs/
adjective

Origin:

Old English, from Latin, 'crab or creeping ulcer', translating Greek karkinos, said to have been used to name such tumors because the swollen veins around them resembled the limbs of a crab. canker was the usual form until the 17th century Compare with Cancer

cancer in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of cancer in the British & World English dictionary