Can″ker (kăṉ″kẽr), v. t. [imp. & p. p.Cankered (–kẽrd); p. pr. & vb. n.Cankering.] 1. To affect as a canker; to eat away; to corrode; to consume.
No lapse of moons can canker Love.
Tennyson.
2. To infect or pollute; to corrupt. Addison.
A tithe purloined cankers the whole estate.
Herbert.