A Canvas, Canvass

1. A type of coarse cloth, woven from hemp, useful for making sails and tents or as a surface for paintings.
2. A piece of canvas cloth stretched across a frame on which one may paint.
3. A basis for creative work.
4. (computer graphics) A region on which graphics can be rendered.
5. (nautical) Sails in general.
6. A tent.
7. A painting, or a picture on canvas.
8. A rough draft or model of a song, air, or other literary or musical composition; especially one to show a poet the measure of the verses he is to make.(Can we find and add a quotation of Grabb to this entry?)
9. Alternative spelling of canvass.

Usage notes

The plural canvases is used primarily in the US, while the plural canvasses is used in the UK and most UK-influenced areas.