canvass

Meanings

Noun

• A solicitation of voters or public opinion.
• A tally, audit and certification of votes.

Verb

• To toss in a canvas sheet; to thrash, beat.
• To solicit voters, opinions, etc. from; to go through, with personal solicitation or public addresses.
• To conduct a survey.
• To campaign.
• To sift; to strain; to examine thoroughly; to scrutinize.
• To examine by discussion; to debate, to gather opinion.

Origin

• Alternative spelling of canvas.
• Canvas evolved in meaning from “toss in a canvas sheet” as in Old French canabasser ("to examine carefully"), literally “to sift through canvas”, as a form of light punishment, and public ridicule (subject person to rigorous evaluation by the crowd), then “to shake out, scrutinize and reject invalid votes”, then finally “solicit votes” or “test support before an election” to identify voting intentions.