cane

[keyn] /keɪn/
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, sugar cane, 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 U.S.
6.
the stem of a raspberry or blackberry.
7.
sugar cane.
8.
a rod used for flogging.
9.
a slender cylinder or rod, as of sealing wax or glass.
verb (used with object), caned, caning.
10.
to flog with a cane.
11.
to furnish or make with cane:
to cane chairs.
Origin
1350-1400; Middle English < Middle French < Latin canna < Greek kánna < Semitic; compare Akkadian qanū, Hebrew qāneh reed
Related forms
canelike, adjective
cany, adjective
recane, verb (used with object), recaned, recaning.
uncaned, adjective
Examples from the web for cane
  • Pressing the right stick waves the cane to either side to check for obstacles.
  • And there before him was the chair, its oil-cloth cover now removed, its cane bottom exposed.
  • cane again to the presupposed and ready eucalyptus tree, count out sherry and ripe plates and little corners of a kind of ham.
  • He hurries after the wrongdoer with lifted cane, in order to chastise him.
  • Eventually there will be lots of fruit, too, everything from citrus and stone fruit trees plus rows and rows of cane berries.
  • In the long run, cellulosic will never compete with cane ethanol.
  • The article simply ignores the biofuel from sugar cane.
  • It is well established that alcohol from sugar cane is almost as cheap as oil.
  • However, tens of thousands of acres world wide are used for tobacco which could be used for say sugar beets or sugar cane.
  • In a parasite survey of cane toads, they came across pentastomes with two kinds of hooks.
British Dictionary definitions for cane

cane1

/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 (transitive)
9.
to whip or beat with or as if with a cane
10.
to make or repair with cane
11.
(informal) to defeat: we got well caned in the match
12.
(slang) cane it, 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
caner, noun
Word Origin
C14: from Old French, from Latin canna, from Greek kanna, of Semitic origin; related to Arabic qanāh reed

cane2

/keɪn/
noun
1.
(dialect) a female weasel
Word Origin
C18: of unknown origin
Word Origin and History for cane
n.

late 14c., from Old French cane "reed, cane, spear" (13c., Modern French canne), from Latin canna "reed, cane," from Greek kanna, perhaps from Assyrian qanu "tube, reed" (cf. Hebrew qaneh, Arabic qanah "reed"), from Sumerian gin "reed." But Tucker finds this borrowing "needless" and proposes a native Indo-European formation from a root meaning "to bind, bend." Sense of "walking stick" in English is 1580s.

v.

"to beat with a walking stick," 1660s, from cane (n.). Related: Caned; caning.

cane in the Bible

a tall sedgy plant with a hollow stem, growing in moist places. In Isa. 43:24; Jer. 6:20, the Hebrew word _kaneh_ is thus rendered, giving its name to the plant. It is rendered "reed" in 1 Kings 14:15; Job 40:21; Isa. 19:6; 35:7. In Ps. 68:30 the expression "company of spearmen" is in the margin and the Revised Version "beasts of the reeds," referring probably to the crocodile or the hippopotamus as a symbol of Egypt. In 2 Kings 18:21; Isa. 36:6; Ezek. 29:6, 7, the reference is to the weak, fragile nature of the reed. (See CALAMUS.)