cane

plural canes

1. A plant with simple stems, like bamboo or sugar cane, or the stem thereof:
   1. uncountableThe slender, flexible main stem of a plant such as bamboo, including many species in the grass family Gramineae.

      Synonyms: stem, stalk, trunk

   2. uncountableThe plant itself, including many species in the grass family Gramineae; a reed.

      Synonyms: reed

   3. uncountableSugar cane.

      Still, a dozen men with rifles, and cartridges to match, stayed behind when they filed through a white aldea lying silent amid the cane, and the Sin Verguenza swung into slightly quicker stride.

      1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 7, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC

      Synonyms: molasses cane

   4. SouthernUScountableuncountableMaize or, rarely, sorghum, when such plants are processed to make molasses (treacle) or sugar.
2. The stem of such a plant adapted for use as a tool:
   1. countableA short rod or stick, traditionally of wood or bamboo, used for corporal punishment.

      He stalked behind her simple narrative, a kill-joy parent, hasty, intolerant, keeping a special cane to enforce the authority of his sadistic God[.]

      1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, →OCLC, page 123

      Synonyms: rod, switch

   2. countableuncountablewith definite articleCorporal punishment by beating with a cane.

      The teacher gave his student the cane for throwing paper.

      Synonyms: a caning, six of the best, whipping, cuts

   3. countableuncountableA lance or dart made of cane.

      Judgelike thou sitt'st, to praise or to arraign / The flying skirmish of the darted cane.

      1670, John Dryden, The Conquest of Granada

3. A rod-shaped tool or device, resembling the stem of the plant:
   1. countableA strong short staff used for support or decoration during walking; a walking stick.

      After breaking his leg, he needed a cane to walk.

      3 more examples

      The cane was undoubtedly of foreign make, for it had a solid silver ferrule at one end, which was not English hall–marked.

      1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Ayrsham Mystery”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020

      Men that I knew around Wapatomac didn't wear high, shiny plug hats, nor yeller spring overcoats, nor carry canes with ivory heads as big as a catboat's anchor, as you might say.

      1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter X, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

      She was given mobility training as well — she uses a white cane to make her way independently to the hospital and asks for help to navigate traffic-ridden roads if she needs it. The effort is worth it.

      2024 September 8, Kamala Thiagarajan, “Women who are blind play a critical role in identifying possible breast cancers”, in NPR

      Synonyms: staff, walking stick

   2. countableartsA length of colored and/or patterned glass rod, used in the specific glassblowing technique called caneworking.
   3. countableA 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.

      Synonyms: blind man's cane, white cane

4. uncountableSplit rattan, as used in wickerwork and basketry.

   The bed was the most extravagant piece. Its graceful cane halftester rose high towards the cornice and was so festooned in carved white wood that the effect was positively insecure, as if the great couch were trimmed with icing sugar.

   1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC

5. countableuncountableA local European measure of length; the canna.

present singular third person canes · participle present caning · participle past caned · past caned

1. To strike or beat with a cane or similar implement.
2. transitiveTo make or furnish with cane or rattan.

   to cane chairs

   1 more example

   In colonial days, threesquare was used to cane chair seats.

   2018 March 14, Bryan MacKay, Paddle Maryland: A Guide to Rivers, Creeks, and Water Trails, JHU Press, →ISBN, page 38

3. New ZealandUKslangTo destroy; to comprehensively defeat.

   Mudchester Rovers were caned 10-0.

4. New ZealandUKslangTo do something well, in a competent fashion.
5. UKslangTo go very fast.

   Synonyms: cane it

6. AustraliaUKintransitiveslangTo produce extreme pain.

   Mate, my legs cane!

   1 more example

   Don’t hit me with that. It really canes!

1. abbreviationhuman sciencesAbbreviation of Canadian English.

   Finally, section (2.5) reviews diachronic language studies on CanE, which is the area of focus in the present study.

   2008, Stefan Dollinger, New-Dialect Formation in Canada, →ISBN

   2 more examples

   The present study focusses on the 'other' North American variety of English, Canadian English (CanE) from a diachronic perspective.

   2008, Susan M. Fitzmaurice, Donka Minkova, Studies in the History of the English Language IV, →ISBN

   Laurel J. Brinton University of British Columbia, Canada The dearth of real-time studies of the histories of transatlantic English varieties can be attributed to the lack of readily accessible, electronic corpora. However, for Canadian English (CanE) we now have the Bank of Canadian English (BCE), which consists of c. 2.5 million words from written and spoken sources extending from 1505 to the present.

   2015, Marina Dossena, Transatlantic Perspectives on Late Modern English, →ISBN, page 13

   Synonyms: CE, en-CE

plural Canes

1. A surname.