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cane

Syllabification: (cane)
Pronunciation: /kān/
Translate cane | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of cane

noun

  • 1the hollow, jointed stem of a tall grass, especially bamboo or sugar cane, or the stem of a slender palm such as rattan.
  • any plant that produces canes.
  • stems of bamboo, rattan, or wicker used as a material for making furniture or baskets: [as modifier]:a cane coffee table
  • short for sugar cane.
  • a flexible, woody stem of the raspberry plant or any of its relatives.
  • 2a length of cane or a slender stick, especially one used as a support for plants, as a walking stick, or as an instrument of punishment.
  • (the cane) chiefly British a form of corporal punishment used in certain schools, involving beating with a cane:wrong answers were rewarded by the cane

verb

[with object]
  • 1beat with a cane as a punishment.
  • 2 (usually as adjective caned) make or repair (furniture) with cane:armchairs with caned seats

Derivatives

caner

noun

Origin:

late Middle English: from Old French, via Latin from Greek kanna, kannē, of Semitic origin

cane in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of cane in the British & World English dictionary

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