Wordnet 3.0
NOUN (1)
1.
a line of latitude about 23 degrees to the north of the equator;
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Tropic \Trop"ic\, n. [F. tropique, L. tropicus of or belonging
to a turn, i. e., of the sun, Gr. ? of the solstice, ? (sc.
?) the tropic or solstice, fr. ? to turn. See Trope.]
1. (Astron.) One of the two small circles of the celestial
sphere, situated on each side of the equator, at a
distance of 23[deg] 28[min], and parallel to it, which the
sun just reaches at its greatest declination north or
south, and from which it turns again toward the equator,
the northern circle being called the Tropic of Cancer,
and the southern the Tropic of Capricorn, from the names
of the two signs at which they touch the ecliptic.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Geog.)
(a) One of the two parallels of terrestrial latitude
corresponding to the celestial tropics, and called by
the same names.
(b) pl. The region lying between these parallels of
latitude, or near them on either side.
[1913 Webster]
The brilliant flowers of the tropics bloom from
the windows of the greenhouse and the saloon.
--Bancroft.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Cancer \Can"cer\, n. [L. cancer, cancri, crab, ulcer, a sign of
the zodiac; akin to Gr. karki`nos, Skr. karka[.t]a crab, and
prob. Skr. karkara hard, the crab being named from its hard
shell. Cf. Canner, Chancre.]
1. (Zool.) A genus of decapod Crustacea, including some of
the most common shore crabs of Europe and North America,
as the rock crab, Jonah crab, etc. See Crab.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Astron.)
(a) The fourth of the twelve signs of the zodiac. The
first point is the northern limit of the sun's course
in summer; hence, the sign of the summer solstice. See
Tropic.
(b) A northern constellation between Gemini and Leo.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Med.) Formerly, any malignant growth, esp. one attended
with great pain and ulceration, with cachexia and
progressive emaciation. It was so called, perhaps, from
the great veins which surround it, compared by the
ancients to the claws of a crab. The term is now
restricted to such a growth made up of aggregations of
epithelial cells, either without support or embedded in
the meshes of a trabecular framework.
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Note: Four kinds of cancers are recognized: (1) Epithelial
cancer, or Epithelioma, in which there is no
trabecular framework. See Epithelioma. (2) Scirrhous
cancer, or Hard cancer, in which the framework
predominates, and the tumor is of hard consistence and
slow growth. (3) Encephaloid cancer, Medullary
cancer, or Soft cancer, in which the cellular
element predominates, and the tumor is soft, grows
rapidy, and often ulcerates. (4) Colloid cancer, in
which the cancerous structure becomes gelatinous. The
last three varieties are also called carcinoma.
[1913 Webster]
Cancer cells, cells once believed to be peculiar to
cancers, but now know to be epithelial cells differing in
no respect from those found elsewhere in the body, and
distinguished only by peculiarity of location and
grouping.
Cancer root (Bot.), the name of several low plants, mostly
parasitic on roots, as the beech drops, the squawroot,
etc.
Tropic of Cancer. See Tropic.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
Tropic of Cancer
n 1: a line of latitude about 23 degrees to the north of the
equator