canker

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The Word of the Day for August 29 is:

canker   \KANG-ker\   verb
     1 : to become infested with erosive or spreading sores
    *2 : to corrupt the spirit of
     3 : to become corrupted

Example sentence:
     "It was evident that their hearts were cankered with discontent." (Samuel 
Johnson, _Rasselas_)

Did you know?
     "Canker" is commonly known as the name for a type of spreading sore that 
eats into the tissue -- a use that obviously furnished the verb with both its 
medical and figurative senses. The word ultimately traces back to Latin 
"cancer," which could refer to a crab or a malignant tumor. The Greeks had a 
similar word, "karkinos," and according to the Ancient Greek physician Galen 
the tumor got its name from the way the swollen veins surrounding the affected 
part resembled a crab's limbs. "Cancer" was adopted into Old English, becoming 
"canker" in Middle English and eventually shifting in meaning to become a 
general term for ulcerations. "Cancer" itself was reintroduced to English 
later, first as a zodiacal word and then as a medical term.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.