Canvass1. (n.) To sift; to strain; to examine thoroughly; to scrutinize; as, to canvass the votes cast at an election; to canvass a district with reference to its probable vote.
2. (n.) To examine by discussion; to debate.
3. (n.) To go trough, with personal solicitation or public addresses; as, to canvass a district for votes; to canvass a city for subscriptions.
4. (v. i.) To search thoroughly; to engage in solicitation by traversing a district; as, to canvass for subscriptions or for votes; to canvass for a book, a publisher, or in behalf of a charity; -- commonly followed by for.
5. (n.) Close inspection; careful review for verification; as, a canvass of votes.
6. (n.) Examination in the way of discussion or debate.
7. (n.) Search; exploration; solicitation; systematic effort to obtain votes, subscribers, etc.
Thesaurus Entries
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