The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Canvas \Can"vas\, a.
   Made of, pertaining to, or resembling, canvas or coarse
   cloth; as, a canvas tent.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Canvas \Can"vas\, n. [OE. canvas, canevas, F. canevas, LL.
   canabacius hempen cloth, canvas, L. cannabis hemp, fr. G. ?.
   See Hemp.]
   1. A strong cloth made of hemp, flax, or cotton; -- used for
      tents, sails, etc.
      [1913 Webster]

            By glimmering lanes and walls of canvas led.
                                                  --Tennyson.
      [1913 Webster]

   2.
      (a) A coarse cloth so woven as to form regular meshes for
          working with the needle, as in tapestry, or worsted
          work.
      (b) A piece of strong cloth of which the surface has been
          prepared to receive painting, commonly painting in
          oil.
          [1913 Webster]

                History . . . does not bring out clearly upon
                the canvas the details which were familiar. --J.
                                                  H. Newman.
          [1913 Webster]

   3. Something for which canvas is used:
      (a) A sail, or a collection of sails.
      (b) A tent, or a collection of tents.
      (c) A painting, or a picture on canvas.
          [1913 Webster]

                To suit his canvas to the roughness of the see.
                                                  --Goldsmith.
          [1913 Webster]

                Light, rich as that which glows on the canvas of
                Claude.                           --Macaulay.
          [1913 Webster]

   4. A rough draft or model of a song, air, or other literary
      or musical composition; esp. one to show a poet the
      measure of the verses he is to make. --Grabb.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

canvas
    n 1: a heavy, closely woven fabric (used for clothing or chairs
         or sails or tents) [syn: canvas, canvass]
    2: an oil painting on canvas fabric [syn: canvas, canvass]
    3: the setting for a narrative or fictional or dramatic account;
       "the crowded canvas of history"; "the movie demanded a
       dramatic canvas of sound" [syn: canvas, canvass]
    4: a tent made of canvas fabric [syn: canvas tent, canvas,
       canvass]
    5: a large piece of fabric (usually canvas fabric) by means of
       which wind is used to propel a sailing vessel [syn: sail,
       canvas, canvass, sheet]
    6: the mat that forms the floor of the ring in which boxers or
       professional wrestlers compete; "the boxer picked himself up
       off the canvas" [syn: canvas, canvass]
    v 1: solicit votes from potential voters in an electoral
         campaign [syn: canvass, canvas]
    2: get the opinions (of people) by asking specific questions
       [syn: poll, canvass, canvas]
    3: cover with canvas; "She canvassed the walls of her living
       room so as to conceal the ugly cracks"
    4: consider in detail and subject to an analysis in order to
       discover essential features or meaning; "analyze a sonnet by
       Shakespeare"; "analyze the evidence in a criminal trial";
       "analyze your real motives" [syn: analyze, analyse,
       study, examine, canvass, canvas]