Chapter Candescence to Canker of C by Webster's Dictionary (1913 Edition)

5. A kind of wild, worthless rose; the dog-rose.

To put down Richard, that sweet lovely rose.
And plant this thorm, this canker, Bolingbroke.
Shak.

Black canker. See under Black.

Canker
(Can"ker) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Cankered (- kerd); p. pr. & vb. n. Cankering.]

1. To affect as a canker; to eat away; to corrode; to consume.

No lapse of moons can canker Love.
Tennyson.

2. To infect or pollute; to corrupt. Addison.

A tithe purloined cankers the whole estate.
Herbert.

Canker
(Can"ker), v. i.

1. To waste away, grow rusty, or be oxidized, as a mineral. [Obs.]

Silvering will sully and canker more than gliding.
Bacom.

2. To be or become diseased, or as if diseased, with canker; to grow corrupt; to become venomous.

Deceit and cankered malice.
Dryden.

As with age his body uglier grows,
So his mind cankers.
Shak.