cane
noun/keɪn/
/keɪn/
- [countable] the hard hollow stem of some plants, for example bamboo or sugar see also candy cane, sugar caneTopics Plants and treesc1
Definitions on the go
Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
- [uncountable] these stems used as a material for making furniture, etc.
- a cane chair
- [countable] a piece of cane or a thin stick, used as a support for plants
- bean plants supported by long canes
- [countable] a piece of cane or a thin stick, used to help somebody to walk
- He clutched a top hat and a silver-topped cane.
- [countable] a piece of cane or a thin stick, used in the past in some schools for beating children as a punishment
- to get the cane (= be punished with a cane)
Word Originlate Middle English: from Old French, via Latin from Greek kanna, kannē, of Semitic origin.
Check pronunciation:
cane