Canker \Can"ker\ (k[a^][ng]"k[~e]r), v. t. [imp. & p. p.
{Cankered} (-k[~e]rd); 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.