canvass

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verb

can·vass ˈkan-vəs

variants or less commonly canvas

canvassed; canvassing

Synonyms of canvass next

transitive verb

: to go through (a district) or go to (persons) in order to solicit orders or political support or to determine opinions or sentiments

canvass voters

canvassed the neighborhood to solicit magazine subscriptions

: to examine in detail

specifically : to examine (votes) officially for authenticity

: discuss, debate

canvassed all the items on the agenda

obsolete : to toss in a canvas sheet in sport or punishment

intransitive verb

: to seek orders or votes : solicit

was canvassing for a seat in Congress

canvasser noun

or less commonly canvaser

canvass

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noun

variants or less commonly canvas

: the act or an instance of canvassing

especially : a personal solicitation of votes or survey of public opinion

a house-to-house canvass to ascertain the vote before the election

Examples of canvass in a Sentence

Verb A team of volunteers is canvassing the city for the Republican Party. We go to every house to canvass voters. She is canvassing for one of the presidential candidates this year. The group has been canvassing neighborhoods to ask people to vote for him. The company canvassed several sites for a new factory.

Recent Examples on the Web

These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Verb

While canvassing, McMorrow says she’s seen some literature for the Trump and Rogers campaigns, as well as a few other local Republican candidates, but the first time running into a live human knocking on doors for Republicans came in the Downriver region just to the south of Detroit. —

Jake Lahut, WIRED, 30 Oct. 2024 The line is also fully canvassed, handmade and created in a neutral color palette centered around browns, creams, ivories and green. —

Jean E. Palmieri, WWD, 14 Oct. 2024

Noun

The canvass will be certified, even if a partisan election board tries to balk. —

Barton Gellman, TIME, 24 Oct. 2024 Local elections officials in the deep-red central Virginia district were wrapping up their canvass of the results of the June 18 primary, finding that McGuire and Good were neck and neck, with McGuire leading by just 373 votes. —

Laura Vozzella, Washington Post, 24 June 2024 See all Example Sentences for canvass