Talk:cancerously

RFV

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Second sense: "with regard to cancer". How would this be used? Cancerously speaking...?! Equinox ◑ 00:43, 9 September 2012 (UTC)

Now, that's a strange word... My advice: delete. — Actarus ^{(Prince d'Euphor)} 15:03, 9 September 2012 (UTC)

I do not see that this is a separate sense at all. bd2412 T 23:00, 9 September 2012 (UTC)

Agreed, delete. SpinningSpark 23:17, 9 September 2012 (UTC)

Keep. I think that this is referring to an old-fashioned use found in phrases like "cancerously diseased cells". "Cells that are diseased with regard to cancer" is not worded well, but you can see what the sense-writer was getting at. This sort of use is easy to cite from 19th-century works: one · two · three. (I would have thought it was archaic, but maybe not; when I ask b.g.c. for 21st-century cites, I do find a few like this one.) —Ruakh_TALK 00:25, 10 September 2012 (UTC)

Right. What Ruakh found was the only kind of usage that didn't fit the "in a cancer manner"/"cancer-like" substitution. All of the usage that didn't fit was medical. Perhaps it is a question of how literal the "cancer" element is to be taken. Doctors seem to be referring to the visual appearance of tissue on examination. The other usage seemed extremely figurative, in some cases to a point that I could not understand ("cancerously yellow"?).

"Affected cancerously" was a common collocation, but also "infiltrated" and various other verbs. "Affected with cancer" and "cells diseased with cancer" show that "with cancer" (or "by cancer") is an alternative expression, but "with cancer" is not a good definition. Perhaps "With or by cancer"?

Perhaps the sense division should be "(medicine, literally) In a manner resembling cancer." and "(figuratively) Sharing one or more characteristics of cancer, such as rapid growth and negative effect on the host." DCDuring TALK 01:06, 10 September 2012 (UTC)

I've passed the sense. Tweak the senses as needed. - -sche (discuss) 06:02, 24 October 2012 (UTC)