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cane

Pronunciation: /keɪn/

The English word “cane” has 18 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. The slender, flexible main stem of a plant such as bamboo, including many species in the grass family Gramineae.
  2. The plant itself, including many species in the grass family Gramineae; a reed.
  3. Sugar cane.
  4. Maize or, rarely, sorghum, when such plants are processed to make molasses (treacle) or sugar.
  5. A short rod or stick, traditionally of wood or bamboo, used for corporal punishment.
  6. Corporal punishment by beating with a cane.
  7. A lance or dart made of cane.
  8. A strong short staff used for support or decoration during walking; a walking stick.
  9. A length of colored and/or patterned glass rod, used in the specific glassblowing technique called caneworking.
  10. A long rod often collapsible and commonly white (for visibility to other persons), used by vision impaired persons for guidance in determining their course and for probing for obstacles in their path.
  11. Split rattan, as used in wickerwork and basketry.
  12. A local European measure of length; the canna.

verb

  1. To strike or beat with a cane or similar implement.
  2. To make or furnish with cane or rattan.
  3. To destroy; to comprehensively defeat.
  4. To do something well, in a competent fashion.
  5. To go very fast.
  6. To produce extreme pain.

Etymology

From Middle English cane, canne, from Old French cane (“sugar cane”), from Latin canna (“reed”), from Ancient Greek κάννα (kánna), from Akkadian 𒄀 (qanû, “reed”). Doublet of canna and kaneh. Related to channel and canal.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.