1. A city in England, giving its name various articles. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury (primate of all England), and contains the shrine of Thomas à Becket, to which pilgrimages were formerly made.
2. A stand with divisions in it for holding music, loose papers, etc. Canterbury ball (Bot.), a species of Campanula of several varietes, cultivated for its handsome bell-shaped flowers. — Canterbury gallop, a gentle gallop such as was used by pilgrims riding, to Canterbury; a canter. — Canterbury table, one of the tales which Chaucer puts into the mouths of certain pilgrims to Canterbury. Hence, any tale told by travelers pass away the time.
CANTHARIDAL
Can*thar"*i*dal, a.
Defn: Of or pertaining to cantharides or made of cantharides; as, cantharidal plaster.
CANTHARIDES
Can*thar"i*des, n. pl.
Defn: See cantharis.
CANTHARIDIN
Can*thar"i*din, n. (Chem.)
Defn: The active principe of the cantharis, or Spanish fly, a volatile, acrid, bitter solid, crystallizing in four-sided prisms.
CANTHARIS Can"tha*ris, n.; pl. Cantharides. Etym: [L., a kind of beetle, esp. the Spanish fly, Gr. (Zoöl.)
Defn: A beetle (Lytta, or Cantharis, vesicatoria), having an elongated cylindrical body of a brilliant green color, and a nauseous odor; the blister fly or blister beetle, of the apothecary; — also called Spanish fly. Many other species of Lytta, used for the same purpose, take the same name. See Blister beetle, under Blister. The plural form in usually applied to the dried insects used in medicine.