Canvas and Canvass

Commonly confused words

Painting on canvas
Rebecca Tabor Armstrong/Moment/Getty Images
By
Richard Nordquist
Richard Nordquist
English and Rhetoric Professor
  • Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
  • M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
  • B.A., English, State University of New York
Dr. Richard Nordquist is professor emeritus of rhetoric and English at Georgia Southern University and the author of several university-level grammar and composition textbooks.
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Updated on February 20, 2019

The words canvas and canvass are homophones: they sound alike but have different meanings.
The noun canvas refers to a closely woven cloth used for such things as tents, sails, and oil paintings.

The verb canvass means to look over carefully or to solicit votes, orders, or opinions. As a noun, canvass means the act of estimating an outcome or gathering support for a vote.

Examples

  • Ella pressed the knife as hard as she could against the thick canvas of the sail.
  • From morning to night the young candidate for mayor went from door to door to canvass the voters.
  • The campaign included six automobiles loaded with good speakers for a two-day personal canvass.

Practice

(a) The instructor must _____ the students to find a time when most can leave the campus for several hours.
(b) In the middle of the 1500s, Titian began painting on rough _____ rather than on smooth wooden panels.

Answers to Practice Exercises

(a) The instructor must canvass the students to find a time when most can leave the campus for several hours.
(b) In the middle of the 1500s, Titian began painting on rough canvas rather than on smooth wooden panels.

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Your Citation
Nordquist, Richard. "Canvas and Canvass." ThoughtCo, Aug. 26, 2020, thoughtco.com/canvas-and-canvass-1689332. Nordquist, Richard. (2020, August 26). Canvas and Canvass. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/canvas-and-canvass-1689332 Nordquist, Richard. "Canvas and Canvass." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/canvas-and-canvass-1689332 (accessed March 22, 2023).