| 例句 |
canker noun 1.•this plant is susceptible to canker:fungal disease, plant rot | blight. 2.•ear cankers:ulcer, ulceration, infection, sore, abscess, noma. 3.•racism remains a canker. See cancer (sense 2). WORD NOTE noma This medical noun signifies an especially icky ulcerous infection of the mouth or genitals. Because the condition most commonly strikes children living in abject poverty/squalor, it's a bit like scrofula. And just as the adjective scrofulous has gradually extended its sense to mean "corrupt, degenerate, gnarly," so nomal seems ripe for similar extension; it could serve as a slightly obscure or erudite synonym for "scrofulous, repulsive, pathetically gross, grossly pathetic" … you get the idea. — DFWConversational, opinionated, and idiomatic, these Word Notes are an opportunity to see a working writer's perspective on a particular word or usage. |