canister

English

Etymology

From Middle English canustyr (“basket”), a borrowing from Latin canistrum.[1][2] Doublet of canaster and knaster.

  • (metal receptacle): Through influence of unrelated can.[1]
  • (projectile): Short for canister shot, so called for its casing.[1]

Pronunciation

  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈkænɪstɚ/

Noun

canister (plural canisters)

  1. A cylindrical or rectangular container usually of lightweight metal, plastic, or laminated pasteboard used for holding a dry product (as tea, crackers, flour, matches).
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
      Everything a living animal could do to destroy and to desecrate bed and walls had been done. […]   A canister of flour from the kitchen had been thrown at the looking-glass and lay like trampled snow over the remains of a decent blue suit with the lining ripped out which lay on top of the ruin of a plastic wardrobe.
  2. Any of various cylindrical metal receptacles usually with a removable close-fitting top.
  3. A special short-range antipersonnel projectile consisting of a casing of light metal, loaded with preformed submissiles such as flechettes or steel balls. The casing is designed to open just beyond the muzzle of the weapon, dispersing the submissiles.
  4. A projectile component containing colored or screening smoke or riot control agent composition.
  5. A component of canister-type protective masks containing a mechanical filter and chemical filling to filter, neutralize and/or absorb toxic chemical, biological and radiological agents.
  6. Part of a windmill that connects the sails to the windshaft.
  7. (boxing, slang, archaic) A person's head.
    • 1897, R. G. Allanson-Winn, Bertram Fletcher Robinson, Boxing, page 225:
      Caunt let fly left and right, but Bendy ducked his canister, and got down with more caution than gallantry.

Derived terms

Descendants

  • → German: Kanister
    • → Ladin: canister
    • → Polish: kanister
    • → Romanian: canistră
  • → Irish: ceanastar

Translations

Verb

canister (third-person singular simple present canisters, present participle canistering, simple past and past participle canistered)

  1. (transitive) To pack into a canister.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “canister (n.)”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  2. ^ “canister, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Anagrams

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