cane

[ keyn ]

noun

1. a stick or short staff used to assist one in walking; walking stick.
2. a long, hollow or pithy, jointed woody stem, as that of bamboo, rattan, sugarcane, and certain palms.
3. a plant having such a stem.
4. split rattan woven or interlaced for chair seats, wickerwork, etc.
5. any of several tall bamboolike grasses, especially of the genus Arundinaria, as A. gigantea cane reed, large cane, giant cane, or southern cane and A. tecta small cane, or switch cane, of the southern United States.
6. the stem of a raspberry or blackberry.
7. sugarcane def.
8. a rod used for flogging.
9. a slender cylinder or rod, as of sealing wax or glass.

verb (used with object)

, caned, can·ing.

1. to flog with a cane.
2. to furnish or make with cane:

   to cane chairs.

cane

¹

/ keɪn /

noun

1. dialect.
   a female weasel

cane

²

/ keɪn /

noun

1. 1. the long jointed pithy or hollow flexible stem of the bamboo, rattan, or any similar plant
   2. any plant having such a stem
2. 1. strips of such stems, woven or interlaced to make wickerwork, the seats and backs of chairs, etc
   2. ( as modifier )

      a cane chair

3. the woody stem of a reed, young grapevine, blackberry, raspberry, or loganberry
4. any of several grasses with long stiff stems, esp Arundinaria gigantea of the southeastern US
5. a flexible rod with which to administer a beating as a punishment, as to schoolboys
6. a slender rod, usually wooden and often ornamental, used for support when walking; walking stick
7. See sugar cane
8. a slender rod or cylinder, as of glass

verb

1. to whip or beat with or as if with a cane
2. to make or repair with cane
3. informal.
   to defeat

   we got well caned in the match

4. cane it slang.
   to do something with great power, force, or speed or consume something such as alcohol in large quantities

   you can do it in ten minutes if you really cane it

Derived Forms

• ˈcaner, noun

Other Words From

• canelike adjective
• cany adjective
• re·cane verb (used with object) recaned recaning
• un·caned adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of cane¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin canna, from Greek kánna, from Semitic; compare Akkadian qanū, Hebrew qāneh “reed”

Word History and Origins

Origin of cane¹

C18: of unknown origin

Origin of cane²

C14: from Old French, from Latin canna, from Greek kanna, of Semitic origin; related to Arabic qanāh reed

Example Sentences

She told MPs that this included a “foetal skeleton posed under a glass dome, a human thigh bone turned into a cane, a human jawbone necklace and the varnished skull of a six-year-old”.

From BBC

It listed victims being beaten hundreds of times with canes until they bled.

From BBC

Magistrate Judge A. Joel Richlin, he had one hand cuffed in front of him while the other gripped a cane.

From Los Angeles Times

He singled out boys attending the camps and in sessions at leading public schools, including Winchester College, before taking them to his home and beating them with a garden cane in his shed.

From BBC

It found Smyth identified pupils from leading public schools like Winchester College and took them to his home near Winchester in Hampshire, where he carried out lashings with a garden cane in his shed.

From BBC

Related Words

• pole
• rod
• walking stick