bane

[beyn] /beɪn/
noun
1.
a person or thing that ruins or spoils:
Gambling was the bane of his existence.
2.
a deadly poison (often used in combination, as in the names of poisonous plants):
wolfsbane; henbane.
3.
death; destruction; ruin.
4.
Obsolete. that which causes death or destroys life:
entrapped and drowned beneath the watery bane.
Origin
before 1000; Middle English; Old English bana slayer; cognate with Old Norse bani death, murderer, Old Frisian bona murder, Old Saxon bano murderer, Old High German bano slayer, bana death; akin to Old English benn, Gothic banja wound
Examples from the web for bane
  • Blisters are the bane of house painters, both pros and amateurs.
  • Spam is the bane of computer users everywhere, accounting for more than 90% of e-mail.
  • Endless replays can be the bane of any telecast.
  • Traffic jams are the bane of any commuter.
  • Repetition is the bane of my existence.
  • Democratic reforms are the bane of dictators.
  • Little things that we loved to do together have now become a bane for him.
  • The bane of all science is coincidence.
  • The delay has proved both a bane and a blessing.
  • Incorrectly entered data are the bane of a bookseller's existence.
British Dictionary definitions for bane

bane1

/beɪn/
noun
1.
a person or thing that causes misery or distress (esp in the phrase bane of one's life)
2.
something that causes death or destruction
3.
  1. a fatal poison
  2. (in combination): ratsbane
4.
(archaic) ruin or distress
Word Origin
Old English bana; related to Old Norse bani death, Old High German bano destruction, death

bane2

/ben; beɪn/
noun
1.
a Scot word for bone
Word Origin and History for bane
n.

Old English bana "killer, slayer, murderer; the devil," from Proto-Germanic *banon, cognate with *banja- "wound" (cf. Old Frisian bona "murderer," Old Norse bani, Old High German bana "murder," Old English benn "wound," Gothic banja "stroke, wound"), from PIE root *gwhen- "to strike, kill, wound" (cf. Avestan banta "ill"). Modern sense of "that which causes ruin or woe" is from 1570s.