1. becoming white or grayish; having a whitish or grayish appearance or coating
Usage: formal; often used in botanical and biological contexts
2. growing old; aging or becoming gray with age
Usage: literary; archaic

Examples

• The canescent leaves of the sage plant have a distinctive silvery appearance.
• The old oak's canescent bark showed the effects of decades of weathering.
• Botanists noted the canescent coating on the underside of the fern fronds.
• His canescent hair gave him a distinguished look in his later years.
• The canescent surface of the lichen made it blend with the stone.
• The plant's canescent stems were covered in fine white hairs.