canister

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a usually cylindrical container with a close-fitting lid, used for storing a dry product, film, gas, or other material

   She poured the tea leaves into an airtight metal canister.

2. 2
   noun

   a metal case packed with small projectiles and fired as ammunition, or the ammunition itself

   The artillery crew loaded a canister for use at close range.

Common collocations

• canister shot Noun + noun

From Middle English canistre or canaster, borrowed from Latin canistrum ('basket'), itself from Greek kanastron. The modern metal-container sense was influenced by can; canister shot was named for the case that held its small projectiles.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images