1. (verb)canvass, canvas solicit votes from potential voters in an electoral campaign
2. (verb)poll, canvass, canvas get the opinions (of people) by askingspecific questions
3. (verb)canvas cover with canvas "She canvassed the walls of her living room so as to conceal the ugly cracks"
4. (verb)analyze, analyse, study, examine, canvass, canvas consider in detail and subject to an analysis in order to discover essential features or meaning "analyze a sonnet by Shakespeare"; "analyze the evidence in a criminal trial"; "analyze your real motives"