canen.1
/keɪn/, U.S. /keɪn/ 1.
a. The hollow jointed ligneous stem of various giant reeds or grasses, as Bamboo and Sugar cane, and the solid stem of some of the more slender palms, esp. the genus Calamus (the Rattan); also the stem of the Raspberry and its congeners.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > reedy or aquatic grasses > [noun] > cane
cane1398
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > non-British grasses > [noun] > tropical > bamboo and allies
cane1398
Indian cane1578
bamboo1598
mambu1598
cane-brake1770
cane grass1827
switch cane1845
metake1896
bamboo-grass1909
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > reedy or aquatic grasses > [noun] > cane > stem of
cane1398
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > reedy or aquatic grasses > [noun] > reed or the reed plant > reed or stalk
reedOE
calamusa1398
cane1398
roselc1450
whistle-stalka1657
spear1844
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) xii. ix. 419 A noyse as it were wyth a canne other a grete reyd.
c1425 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 645 Hec canna, cane.
1481 W. Caxton tr. Myrrour of Worlde ii. x. 89 Ther growe in many places [of ynde] canes..ful of sugre.
?a1500 Nominale (Yale Beinecke 594) in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 763 Hic calamus, a cane.
1620 T. Venner Via Recta vi. 101 The Sugar is nothing else but the iuyce of certaine Canes or Reedes.
1727 A. Hamilton New Acct. E. Indies II. xlvi. 152 The best Canes in the World grow hereabout.
1785 W. Cowper Task i. 39 Now came the cane from India, smooth and bright With Nature's varnish.
1855 ‘E. S. Delamer’ Kitchen Garden 163 As soon as the last dish of fruit [raspberries] has been gathered, cut down..every cane on which it has grown.
1880 W. D. Howells Undiscovered Country xiii. 189 The canes of the blackberries and raspberries in the garden were tufted with dark green.
b. contextually = Sugar cane.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > plants yielding sugar or syrup > [noun] > sugar-cane
reeda1398
canamell?a1425
sugar cane1568
sugar1593
sugar-reed1718
plant cane1721
sorgho1760
cane1781
ribbon cane1803
riband cane1811
imphee1857
sweet sorghum1859
sweet sorgho1861
sugar-grass1862
plant1866
broom corn1886
1781 W. Cowper Charity 190 Has God then given its sweetness to the cane..in vain?
1837 H. Martineau Society in Amer. II. 52 Some of the southern newspapers have recommended the substitution of beet for canes.
c. As name of a substance, without plural: usually the stem of the rattan or other palm.
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1888 N.E.D. at Cane Mod. A piece of cane. Ribs of whalebone or split cane.
d. U.S. (a) Canes collectively; (b) a field of cane; (c) = cane-brake n. (a) at Compounds 2.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > reedy or aquatic grasses > [noun] > cane > collectively
cane1784
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > reedy or aquatic grasses > [noun] > cane > assemblage of
cane-brake1770
cane-piece1774
cane1784
1784 J. Filson Discov. Kentucke 18 This great tract is..covered with cane, wild rye, and clover.
1796 B. Hawkins Let. in Georgia Hist. Soc. Coll. (1916) IX. 14 There is plenty of young cane and provisions.
1836 J. Hall Statistics of West ii. 27 The inhabitants drive their cattle to the cane in the autumn.
1847 in D. Drake Life Kentucky (1870) i. 14 Their practice was..to..lodge separately among the cane, which flourished in great luxuriance.
1854 J. R. Bartlett Personal Narr. Explor. & Incidents II. xxix. 187 The mules ate with avidity the cane which grew on the river's banks.
1925 Z. A. Tilghman Dugout 91 George secured men to..put in a crop of kafir and cane.
2. Hence, with various defining words, bamboo cane, dragon cane, rattan cane, reed cane, sugar cane; see bamboo n., etc. Malacca cane n. a species ( Calamus Scipionum) much thicker than the rattan, used for walking-sticks. Tobago cane n. a slender West Indian palm, used for the same purpose. Also in the names of plants which are not canes: as dumb cane n. an araceous plant, Dieffenbachia seguina. Indian cane n. Canna indica (family Marantaceæ). sweet cane n. the Sweet Flag, Acorus Calamus.
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society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood of specific trees > [noun] > palm > stems of
rattan?1734
rotan1771
Tobago cane1866
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > palm trees > [noun] > rattan palm
rattan1681
jambee1704
rotan1771
calamus1836
Malacca cane1874
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular timber trees or shrubs > non-British timber trees > [noun] > Asian
mahua1610
jambee1704
hinoki1727
sugi1727
meranti1783
merbau1783
sal1789
sundri1799
calamander1804
sissoo1810
toon1810
looking-glass tree1822
East India mahogany1829
pyinkado1832
dhamnoo1834
haldu1836
jelutong1836
zelkova1836
cryptomeria1838
kempas1839
shisham1849
jarul1850
Japan cedar1852
mast tree1862
keyaki1863
petwood1866
alstonia1867
Malacca cane1874
Japanese cedar1880
mowra1883
seraya1893
o-matsu1916
dhaman1923
sepetir1927
kapur1935
mengkulang1940
ramin1953
1611 Bible (King James) Isa. xliii. 24 Thou hast bought mee no sweete cane with money. View more context for this quotation
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Acore, Calamus aromaticus, the sweet Cane.
1842 Penny Cycl. XXIII. 227/2 The canes which grow immediately from the planted slips are called plant-canes..the canes which sprout up from the old roots, or stoles, being called rattoons.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. I. 116/1 Its [Bactris minor] stems..are said to be sometimes imported into this country under the name of Tobago canes.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. I. 406 Dieffenbachia, It has acquired the name of Dumb Cane in the West Indies, in consequence of its fleshy cane-like stems rendering speechless any person who may happen to bite them, the juice of the plant being so excessively acrid as to..prevent articulation for several days.
1874 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. I. 443/2 Malacca canes have frequently to be colored in parts.
a. A dart or lance made of a reed or cane; also figurative. Obsolete. [cf. Latin uses of calamus, harundo.]
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > sharp weapon > spear or lance > [noun] > spear made of reed or cane
cane1581
reed spear1819
1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius 77 You shall see how quickly he will take up your glove, and..crush your Sophisticall canes in peeces.
1672 J. Dryden Conquest Granada i. i. 1 The flying skirmish of the darted cane.
1677 C. Sedley Antony & Cleopatra v. i. 52 Slain..by some flying Parthians darted Cane.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > fighting sports > spear-play > [noun]
play of (the) cane(s1556
spear-running1575
hastilude1586
spear-playa1641
jerid1853
1556 in J. G. Nichols Chron. Grey Friars (1852) 92 The play of the Spanyardes that was callyd the cane.
1574 E. Hellowes tr. A. de Guevara Familiar Epist. 335 All the knights of the band shuld..practise the play at the canes.
1627 R. Ashley tr. ‘A. Abencufian’ Almansor 5 The Prince went downe, with all the Alcaydes..to play at the Canes.
4. A suitable length of a cane stem, especially of one of the slender palms, prepared and used for a walking-stick, or as a rod for beating. Hence, by extension, a slender walking-stick of any sort.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > stick or cane > [noun]
walking stick1580
cane1590
whangee1776
knobstick1854
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > club or stick > [noun] > cane or switch
sallow twigc1440
ferule-rod1528
ferule1559
ferula1579
cane1590
ferular1594
saplinga1712
jemmy1753
bamboo rattan1796
sallow switch1802
lathi1850
society > authority > punishment > corporal punishment > instrument or place of corporal punishment > [noun] > cane
reedOE
cane1590
schoolrod1633
rattan1657
rattan cane1681
rattan stick1812
swish-whip1845
swish1860
swish-cane1891
starter1905
the world > space > relative position > support > [noun] > that which supports > something to lean on > staff to lean on > cane
wand1548
cane1590
rattan1657
Japan1678
whangee1776
rattan stick1812
Malacca cane1844
crutch-cane1846
dragon cane1851
Malacca1871
1590 E. Webbe Rare & Wonderfull Things (new ed.) sig. A5 In Turkey they are beaten for debt vpon the soles of the feete with a Cane.
1662 S. Pepys Diary 18 Apr. (1970) III. 66 Sending the boy down into the cellar..I fallowed him with a cane, and did there beat him.
1686 London Gaz. No. 2186/4 A Silver Sword, and a Cane of gilded Silver.
1722 D. Defoe Relig. Courtship i. iii. 110 There are more ways of Correction than the Rod and the Cane.
1799 R. Southey Amatory Poems iv That portly Gentleman With gold-laced hat and golden-headed cane.
1853 Arabian Nts. (Rtldg.) 100 One of the slaves..gave me so many blows with a small pliant cane.
a. A pipe or tube; in later use, esp. a slender glass tube, the tubular neck of a retort, or the like. [So Latin canna, Italian canna, French canne.] Obsolete.
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the world > matter > chemistry > equipment or apparatus > [noun] > general vessels > retorts or stills > parts of
cane1430
nose1559
steal1585
helm1594
helmet1599
tin-worm1800
tubulure1800
tubulature1830
tubulusc1900
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > glass and glass-like materials > [noun] > glass > long slender piece
cane1430
stick1665
range1726
1430 J. Lydgate tr. Hist. Troy i. vi They take a quil..or a large can And in the ende this stone they set than.
1547 A. Borde Breuiary of Helthe i. f. xxviii The canes of the lunges [cf. L. canna gutturis].
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. vi. 209 Least our eyes should bee As theirs; that Heau'n through hollow Canes do see.
1684 R. Waller tr. Ess. Nat. Exper. Acad. del Cimento 28 Take a Glass Cane AB..seal it at A, and..fill it with Mercury.
1693 E. Halley in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 17 652 I took a smaller Bolt-head with a proportional Cane or Neck.
1722 E. Halley in Philos. Trans. 1720–21 (Royal Soc.) 31 118 Let there be provided two small Glass Canes.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > [noun]
cane of fire1550
shota1578
fire1590
fire piece1592
fireweapon?1592
powder instrument1613
firearm1643
firegun1677
bulldog1700
nail driver1823
peacemaker1840
thunder stick1918
1550 King Edward VI Jrnl. in J. G. Nichols Literary Remains Edward VI (1858) 279 With..canes of fire and bombardes assaulted the castel.
1591 J. Harington tr. L. Ariosto Orlando Furioso ix. lxvii. 70 Bringing with him his iron cane and fire, Wherewith he doth beate downe, batter & burne, All those whom he to mischeefe doth desire.
1670 S. Wilson Lassels's Voy. Italy (new ed.) Pref. sig. ēv They bring home nothing but firecanes, parots, and Monkies.]
6. Applied to a slender cylindrical stick or rod of various substances:† c. of tobacco.
a. of sealing-wax or sulphur.
ΚΠ
a1660 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1645 (1955) II. 342 Sulphure made..casting it into Canes.
1746 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 44 27 Concerning the effects of a cane of black sealing wax, and a cane of brimstone, in electrical experiments.
b. of glass (solid).
ΚΠ
1849 A. Pellatt Curiosities of Glass Making 108 ‘Cane’ invariably means a solid stick of glass; and ‘tube’ hollow.
1884 Public Opinion 11 July 47/1 Glass blowers, with globes, cylinders, and canes.
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the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > tobacco > [noun] > tobacco in a roll, cake, or stick
cane-tobacco1600
pudding tobacco1601
roll1602
tobacco roll1602
canea1612
pudding-packa1618
prick1666
pigtail1681
nova1688
prick tobacco1688
plug1729
plug tobacco1788
twist1791
carrot1808
cavendish1839
nail-rod1848
hard1865
twist tobacco1894
a1612 J. Harington Epigrams (1615) sig. C Then of Tobacco he a pipe doth lacke, Of Trinidade in cane, in leafe or ball.
a1618 J. Sylvester Tobacco Battered in tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Diuine Weekes & Wks. (1621) 1145 Impose so deep a Taxe On All these Ball, Leafe, Cane, and Pudding Packs.
7. Put for French canne, Italian canna, as a measure of length. Cf. canna n.1; also Latin calamus, and reed n.1At Naples = 7 ft. 31/ 2 in., at Toulouse 5 ft. 82/ 3 in.; in Provence 6 ft. 51/ 2 in.
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the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement of length > [noun] > units of length or distance > French units
aune1481
toise1604
cane1653
1653 T. Urquhart tr. F. Rabelais 1st Bk. Wks. xxxvii. 166 A combe, (which was nine hundred foot long of the Jewish Canne-measure).
1750 W. Beawes Lex Mercatoria (1752) 891.
1769 N. Hamilton Let. 17 Oct. in Philos. Trans. 1770 (Royal Soc.) (1771) 60 9 A Neapolitan cane is two yards and half a quarter, English measure.
8. = cannel n.2
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the world > life > the body > structural parts > bone or bones > collarbone > [noun]
cannel-bonea1325
collara1475
shears1503
furcule?1541
channel-bone1587
clavicle1615
collarbone1615
patel1615
cane1621
jugulum1706
cannon bone1730
key-bone1791
1621 H. Ainsworth Annot. Five Bks. Moses, Bk. Psalmes & Song of Songs (1639) (Lev. i. 6) 6 The Cane (or channell bone) of the shoulder.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a. Attributive.
cane-arrow n.
ΚΠ
1869 C. Boutell tr. J. P. Lacombe Arms & Armour iii. 52 Long cane arrows..tipped..with sharp pieces of stone.
cane-bill n.
ΚΠ
1831 J. Holland Treat. Manuf. Metal I. 142 The cane bill.
cane-chair n.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > seat > chair > [noun] > cane or wicker chair
basket chaira1631
wand-chair1680
cane-chair1696
wicker1740
Madeira chair1885
1696 London Gaz. No. 3213/4 Cane-Chairs..Tables, Stands.
1710 London Gaz. No. 4646/4 Richard Lewis, born in Shropshire, a Cane-chair-maker.
1846 M. Fuller in N.-Y. Daily Tribune 15 Apr. 4/1 I heard the lovely maidens laughing, and found my way to..where they were seated in their light cane chairs.
cane-cut n.
ΚΠ
1887 Pall Mall Gaz. 5 Aug. 3/1 Three cane-cuts over the palm of the hand.
cane-field n.
ΚΠ
1841 J. W. Orderson Creoleana xvii. 202 A cane field bordering the road.
cane-grass n.
ΚΠ
1882 P. Robinson Under Sun iii. v. 198 The tiger..crouches among the cane-grass.
cane-piece n.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > reedy or aquatic grasses > [noun] > cane > assemblage of
cane-brake1770
cane-piece1774
cane1784
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > reedy or aquatic grasses > [noun] > cane > piece of
cane-piece1875
1774 J. Schaw Let. 12 Dec. in Jrnl. Lady of Quality (1921) ii. 84 We walked thro' many cane pieces, as they term the fields of Sugar-canes.
1861 A. Trollope Tales of All Countries 134 He took Mr. Leslie through his mills and over his cane-pieces.
1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) III. 937 The cane-pieces were strewed..in the path of the wheel, and the juice expressed flowed away through a channel or gutter.
cane-seat n.
ΚΠ
1851 C. Cist Sketches & Statistics Cincinnati 205 Cane-seat and rocking chairs are made.
cane-slip n.
ΚΠ
1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) III. 936 The proper season for planting the cane-slips.
cane sort n.
ΚΠ
1887 Daily News 20 May 6/8 Sugar..Cane sorts continue inactive.
cane-sugar n.
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the world > food and drink > food > additive > sweetener > [noun] > sugar > cane sugar
short sweetening1850
cane-sugar1855
turbinado1909
1855 J. F. W. Johnston Chem. Common Life I. 255 The cane sugars are popularly distinguished from the grape sugars by greater sweetness.
cane-wine n.
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1855 J. F. W. Johnston Chem. Common Life I. 329 To this cane-wine the negroes give the name of Guarapo.
b. Objective.
(a)
cane-scraper n.
cane-seller n.
cane-splitter n.
cane-stripper n.
(b)
cane-carrying n.
ΚΠ
1852 G. C. Mundy Our Antipodes I. iv. 137 They laughed at the cane-carrying soldiers.
1924 Glasgow Herald 16 Apr. 10 I had not imagined..that cane-carrying was peculiar to some nations and not others.
c. With past participle.
cane-bottomed adj.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > seat > chair > [adjective] > types of chair
caned1696
rush-bottomed1696
rush-bottom1729
roundabout chair1741
leather-bottomed1783
stick-back1783
poker-backed1830
flag-bottomed1840
claw-footed1858
seatless1871
cane-bottomed1877
cane-seated1881
sag-seated1890
sit-up1891
slat-back1891
sag-bottomed1893
spindle-back1896
shield-back1897
Carver1902
basket-bodied1903
panel-back1904
Cromwellian1905
hooped-back1906
saddle-backed1910
hard-arsed1933
sling-back1948
X-frame1955
hard-arse1964
1877 A. B. Edwards Thousand Miles up Nile ii. 40 A row of cane-bottomed chairs.
cane-seated adj.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > seat > chair > [adjective] > types of chair
caned1696
rush-bottomed1696
rush-bottom1729
roundabout chair1741
leather-bottomed1783
stick-back1783
poker-backed1830
flag-bottomed1840
claw-footed1858
seatless1871
cane-bottomed1877
cane-seated1881
sag-seated1890
sit-up1891
slat-back1891
sag-bottomed1893
spindle-back1896
shield-back1897
Carver1902
basket-bodied1903
panel-back1904
Cromwellian1905
hooped-back1906
saddle-backed1910
hard-arsed1933
sling-back1948
X-frame1955
hard-arse1964
1881 Mechanic §40. 19 Beechen frames for cane-seated chairs.
d.
cane-like adj.
ΚΠ
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. I. 406/1 The stem has a cane-like appearance.
cane-wise adv.
ΚΠ
c1654 R. Flecknoe Ten Years Trav. 71 The body [of the Pinto tree] growing cane-wise.
C2. Special combinations. † cane-tobacco n. Obsolete tobacco in the form of cane (see sense 6).
cane-apple n. the Strawberry-tree, Arbutus Unedo (Chambers Cycl. Supp. 1753).
cane bottom n. low ground abounding in canes.
ΚΠ
1819 E. Dana Geogr. Sketches 188 The river cane bottom land.
1833 in Life Benjamin Lundy (1847) 37 The land here [on the Brazos River] is cane-bottom.
cane-bottoming n.
cane-brake n. (a) a brake or thicket of canes; (also) a tract of land thickly overgrown with canes (Arundinaria macrosperma); (b) a genus of grasses, Arundinaria, allied to the bamboo.
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the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > non-British grasses > [noun] > tropical > bamboo and allies
cane1398
Indian cane1578
bamboo1598
mambu1598
cane-brake1770
cane grass1827
switch cane1845
metake1896
bamboo-grass1909
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > reedy or aquatic grasses > [noun] > cane > assemblage of
cane-brake1770
cane-piece1774
cane1784
1770 S. Carolina Gaz. 18 Oct. There is a large Neck, or Island, of Swamp or Cane-Brake Land.
1784 J. Filson Adventures D. Boon in Discov. Kentucke App. 52 We lay in a thick cane-brake by a large fire.
1817 S. R. Brown Western Gazetteer 125 The wild lands are finely timbered with pine,..willow, and occasionally impervious cane brakes.
1834 G. Bancroft Hist. U.S. I. ii. 63 The impassable cane-brakes, and the dense woods.
1840 W. Irving Chron. Wolfert's Roost (1855) 266 They were generally pitched..close by a canebrake, to screen us from the wind.
1869 Overland Monthly 3 129 When you see a man..get a cold boiled sweet potato..and a piece of canebrake cheese..you may be certain he is a North Carolinian.
1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl. Cane-brake region. Cane-brake soil.
a1930 D. H. Lawrence Last Poems (1932) 14 So in the cane-brake he clasped his hands in delight.
cane-brimstone n. sulphur in rolls or sticks.
cane-carrier n. U.S. (see quot.)
ΚΠ
1833 B. Silliman Man. Sugar Cane 31 The canes are brought up to the mill by means of a machine called the Cane carrier.
cane colour n. the colour of cane as applied to pottery ware; pottery of this colour; also as adj.
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society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > clay compositions > baked clay > pottery or ceramics > [noun] > pottery of specific colour
white ware1577
yellow ware1764
pearl white1779
cream-ware1780
Egyptian black1784
greyware1793
agateware1817
pearl pottery1825
brown ware1836
pearlware1842
black pot1851
cane colour1866
tortoiseshell ware1879
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > clay compositions > baked clay > pottery or ceramics > [adjective] > having specific decoration > relating to
cane colour1866
fingertip1914
1866 E. Meteyard Life J. Wedgwood II. p. xxiv Cane-colour Inkstand.
1875 E. Meteyard Wedgwood Handbk. Gloss. 393 Cane-colour, ware the colour of cane... Cane-colour was applied both to ornamental and to useful purposes.
cane-coloured adj. (also transferred).
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society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > clay compositions > baked clay > pottery or ceramics > [adjective] > having specific decoration
cane-coloured1787
blue-printed1797
crackled1876
rice grain1876
soufflé1878
fingertip1914
rusticated1916
Nuzi1941
1787 J. Wedgwood Catal. (ed. 6) 2 Bamboo, or cane-coloured bisqué porcelain.
1865 L. Jewitt Wedgwoods 311 The ‘bamboo, or cane-coloured’ ware.
1910 W. de la Mare Three Mulla-mulgars xiv. 196 Short, fleecy, and cane-coloured whiskers.
cane-fly n. a West Indian insect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > [noun] > member of > unspecified
breezea1300
drumblec1350
gagrill14..
bug1594
bud-cutter1693
butter-cutter1704
cane-fly1750
whistle-insect1760
bush-worm1796
gogga1909
nunu1913
minibeast1973
1750 G. Hughes Nat. Hist. Barbados iii. 87 The Cane-fly..is a small whitish Fly...It is chiefly to be seen among thick-planted ripe Canes.
Thesaurus »
cane-fruit n. a commercial name for such fruit as raspberries and blackberries which grow on canes ( Cent. Dict. Suppl. 1909).
cane grass n. (a) U.S. the plant Arundinaria macrosperma forming the cane-brakes of the southern United States; (b) Australian Glyceria ramigera.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > non-British grasses > [noun] > Australian grasses
silver grass1600
buffalo grass1784
cane grass1827
porcupine grass1842
tussock-grass1842
spinifex1846
spear-grass1847
rice grass1848
sugar-grass1862
blue star grass1876
wiregrass1883
windmill-grass1889
danthonia1918
Wimmera rye-grass1920
niggerhead1923
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > non-British grasses > [noun] > tropical > bamboo and allies
cane1398
Indian cane1578
bamboo1598
mambu1598
cane-brake1770
cane grass1827
switch cane1845
metake1896
bamboo-grass1909
1827 Western Monthly Rev. (Cincinnati) I. 209 The cane grass of the vast swamps and savannahs on the Gulf of Mexico.
1845 W. G. Simms Wigwam & Cabin 1st Ser. 15 Thickets of low stunted shrubbery, cane grass, and dwarf willows.
1898 E. E. Morris Austral Eng. 78/2 Cane-grass.
1953 A. Upfield Murder must Wait xxii. 195 A clump of low cane-grass.
cane-gun n. a gun constructed in the form of a cane or walking-stick.
cane-harvester n. a machine for cutting standing (sugar) canes.
Categories »
cane-hole n. in Sugar-planting the hole or trench in which the slips of sugar cane are planted.
cane-juice n. the juice of the sugar cane.
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the world > food and drink > food > additive > sweetener > syrup > [noun] > in sugar manufacture > juice of sugar cane
juice1697
cane-juice1750
cane-liquor1875
1750 W. Beawes Lex Mercatoria (1752) 751 I might add Sugar..if these People had the Art to cultivate and boil the Canes Juice.
1764 J. Grainger Sugar-cane i. 4 (note) A nation who made use of the Cane-juice as a drink.
cane-killer n. a plant ( Alectra brasiliensis).
cane knife n. U.S. a large knife used in cutting cane.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > cutting tool > knife > [noun] > large knife
panade1340
whittle1404
colknyfea1500
butcher's knife1557
gully1582
gully-knife1725
whittle-knife1736
cane knife1798
wood-knife1880
panga1929
1798 A. Ellicott in Life & Lett. (1908) 159 [The country] could only be explored by using the cane knife and hatchet.
1887 Harper's Mag. July 272/1 The children..squabbling for the possession of one cane-knife to split kindlers.
cane land n. U.S. land on which sugar cane flourishes.
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1831 M. Holley Texas Lett. (1833) 51 Hence when a colonist wishes to describe his land as first rate, he says it is all peach and cane land.
cane-liquor n. = cane-juice n.
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the world > food and drink > food > additive > sweetener > syrup > [noun] > in sugar manufacture > juice of sugar cane
juice1697
cane-juice1750
cane-liquor1875
1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) III. 941 Recent cane-liquor contains no appreciable portion of acid to be saturated.
cane meadow n. U.S. = * Cane-brake.
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1791 W. Bartram Trav. N. & S. Carolina (1792) 231 The most extensive Cane-break [note Cane meadows, so called by the inhabitants of Carolina, &c.].
cane-mill n. a mill for crushing (sugar) canes.
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1833 B. Silliman Man. Sugar Cane 30 The cane mill consists of three cast iron cylinders.
cane-press n. a machine for pressing sugar canes.
cane-rat n. any of several large African rodents, as Thryonomys swinderianus and Aulacodus s.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > order Rodentia or rodent > superfamily Hystricomorpha (porcupine or guinea-pig) > [noun] > family Thryonomyidae (cane rat)
cane-rat1876
cutting grass1934
grass cutter1946
1876 H. Brooks Natal 116 The cane-rat or ground-rat, that feeds upon the sugar-canes, is properly more of a porcupine than a rat.
1934 Nature 7 Apr. 524/2 Another addition to the Zoo worthy of note is three young cane-rats (Aulacodus swinderianus) from West Africa.
1954 G. Durrell Bafut Beagles ii. 39 I could see we had caught a very large Cane Rat... It measured about two and a half feet in length, and was covered with a coarse brownish fur. It had a chubby, rather beaver-like face, small ears set close to the head, a thick naked tail and large naked feet.
cane-stab n. a puncture made by a cane-stem.
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1849 J. Pritts Mirror Border Life 434 I got a cane stab in my foot which occasioned my leg to swell.
cane-stripper n. a knife for stripping and topping the stalks of the sugar cane.
cane swamp n. U.S. a swamp overgrown with canes.
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1737 J. Wesley Jrnl. 2 Dec. They are here of three sorts—cypress, river, and cane swamps.
1817 S. R. Brown Western Gazetteer 11 The Alabama is margined with cane swamps.
cane-telescope n. a small telescope attached to a walking-stick.
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1884 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Suppl. Cane Telescope, an instrument with seats for the eye and object glasses upon a walking stick.
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the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > tobacco > [noun] > tobacco in a roll, cake, or stick
cane-tobacco1600
pudding tobacco1601
roll1602
tobacco roll1602
canea1612
pudding-packa1618
prick1666
pigtail1681
nova1688
prick tobacco1688
plug1729
plug tobacco1788
twist1791
carrot1808
cavendish1839
nail-rod1848
hard1865
twist tobacco1894
1600 S. Rowlands Letting of Humors Blood vi. 77 Out upon Cane and leafe Tobacco smell.
1605 G. Chapman Al Fooles in I. Reed Dodsley's Sel. Coll. Old Plays (1780) IV. 187 My boy once lighted A pipe of cane tobacco with a piece Of a vile ballad.
1608 Merry Dev. Edmont. in W. C. Hazlitt Dodsley's Sel. Coll. Old Eng. Plays (1875) X. 215 Stuff'd With smoke, more chargeable than cane-tobacco.
cane-top n. U.S. (see quot. 1833).
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1826 J. Bradford Hist. Notes Kentucky (1932) 11 Cane tops.
1833 B. Silliman Man. Sugar Cane 12 But a part of the planting is done with cane tops, or that portion of the Cane which is rejected in cutting it for the mill.
cane trash n. (a) the refuse of sugar canes after the expression of the juice; (b) (see quot.).
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the world > food and drink > food > additive > sweetener > syrup > [noun] > in sugar manufacture > juice of sugar cane > dregs or refuse of
trash1707
dunder1774
cane trash1790
sugar-wash1812
bagasse1833
megass1833
dabs1858
pummy1877
1790 Castles in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 80 349 Burning the cane trash (or straw of the cane).
1842 Penny Cycl. XXIII. 228/2 The canes..are reduced to the form of dry splinters, which are called cane-trash, and are used as fuel in heating the vessels for evaporating the juice.
cane-work n. strips of cane interwoven and used to form the backs of chairs and other articles of furniture; also attributive.
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society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > plants, grasses, or reeds > [noun] > strips of cane
weft1845
cane-work1858
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > plants, grasses, or reeds > [adjective] > made of strips of cane
cane-work1858
1858 T. G. Vielé Following Drum 53 Divans of cane-work.
1887 A. Forbes Insulinde 25 The backs of the open canework chairs.
1934 Burlington Mag. Nov. 201/2 A back formed of a single panel of cane-work is something new.
cane-worker n. one who makes articles of cane.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > manufacture of fabric from specific materials > manufacture of articles made from twigs, etc. > one who makes other articles from twigs, etc.
cane-worker1858
wickerworker?1881
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Cane-worker, a maker of articles in rattans, Spanish and other canes; a basket-maker.
1901 Daily Chron. 24 Aug. 5/6 W.Y...cane-worker, pleaded guilty.
1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §472 Caner, cane worker,..fills in framework of baskets, wicker furniture, and other basket ware by interweaving cane.
Draft additions September 2013
Criminals' slang. A jemmy or crowbar. Cf. stick n.1 11i.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > lever or crowbar > [noun]
lever1297
speke1366
crowa1400
gavelock1497
prisea1500
handspoke1513
porter1538
sway1545
handspike1559
heaver1598
coleweigh1600
handspeek1644
forcer1649
ringer1650
ripping-chisel1659
pinch1685
crow-spike1692
Betty1700
wringer1703
crowbar1748
spike1771
pry1803
jemmy1811
crow-iron1817
dog1825
pinchbar1837
jimmy1848
stick1848
pry bar1872
peiser1873
nail bar1929
cane1930
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > burglary > [noun] > instruments used by burglars
tricker1591
mill1607
iron1681
Betty1700
centre-bit1746
rook1788
jemmy1811
roundabout1811
James1819
jimmy1848
stick1848
Jack-in-the-box1850
Jack1862
alderman1872
cane1930
1930 G. Smithson Raffles in Real Life xi. 172 In the steward's room, where I found safes and roll-top desks, I forced open the latter with my ‘cane’ careless of what happened.
1962 John o' London's 25 Jan. 82/1 The case-opener type of tool often called a jemmy..is known today as a cane.
1981 Now! 10 Apr. 60 The burglars and the police often use the same language to describe their activities, tools and methods... Cane, a crowbar or jemmy.
Draft additions September 2013
cane farm n.
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1837 H. H. Spry Mod. India II. 256 They should establish a nursery, or cane-farm.
1957 Bulletin (Sydney) 26 June 19/1 The old lady had managed canefarms and canecutters for decades.
2007 T. Irwin Steve & Me xii. 150 Steve sprinted several miles in the tropical heat to reach a cane farm, where he hoped to get help.
Draft additions September 2013
cane farmer n.
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1848 Rep. Comm. W. India Planters & Merchants 31 If the cane farmer had not the controul of the mill he would be dependent upon the miller, and liable to ruinous disappointment or imposition.
1961 Rotarian Aug. 48/2 Rotarians were approached by cane farmers offering land.
2005 Queensland Country Life 8 Sept. 12/2 (headline) Cane farmer opts for crop with bite.
cane cutter n. (a) a person who reaps or cuts up sugar cane; (b) a machine or blade used for reaping or cutting up sugar cane.
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1830 J. Stephen Slavery Brit. W. India Colonies Delineated II. ii. v. 180 The bustle of our reapers in the corn harvest..is not so great, as that of the cane cutters.
1843 J. P. Bryan U.S. Patent 3158 I..have invented a new and useful Machine for Cutting Sugar-Cane with Horse-Power, called ‘Bryan's Patent Cane-Cutter’.
1905 Riots in Georgetown 20 On Friday morning, he said, the cane cutters..went aback to work.
1976 Maclean's 6 Sept. 51/2 Zulu mobs rampaged through Soweto armed with pangas (cane cutters), axes, spears, and knives.
2005 Independent 23 Nov. 29/5 Dhaneswaree Soowambhur..feeds her family of four from her $100 monthly wage as a cane cutter.
Draft additions September 2013
cane head n. the (usually ornamental) top or handle of a walking cane.
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1680 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. x. 186 Some Turners that work light Work, such as Cane-Heads..use a Common Bow, such as Archers use.
1791 J. Ireland Hogarth Illustr. II. 538 There were three things which distinguished the physician: his gravity, his cane head, and his periwig.
1825 London Lit. Gaz. 1 Oct. 638/1 This cane head enclosed a little figure of David playing on his harp.
1940 Pacific Hist. Rev. 9 336 The general..was distinguished by a long cane with a silver cane-head.
2006 K. Hawkins Her Master & Commander 160 He came to her side and leaned a hip against the desk, resting the cane head against his thigh.
Draft additions September 2013
cane spirit n. an alcoholic spirit distilled from a sugar cane product.
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1755 Daily Advertiser 1 Feb. (advt.) A large Quantity of the..true Barbados Cane Spirit.
1831 R. L. Vowell Campaigns & Cruises II. ix. 104 Their small sloops..returning freighted with cane spirits.
1925 W. Plomer Turbott Wolfe i. 16 They were both very far gone in a raw cane-spirit, kindly supplied by the lady.
2006 Sunday Herald (Glasgow) 5 Nov. (Seven Days section) 2/3 A liqueur made of cane spirit and morello cherries.
Draft additions September 2013
cane ware n. (a) a buff-coloured Wedgwood stoneware; cf. bamboo n. b; (b) furniture or other items made from cane; cf. rattan ware n.
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1831 Liverpool Mercury 12 Aug. 253/3 (advt.) To be sold..that commodious Pottery or Earthenware Manufactory of Yellow or Cane Ware.
1856 Godey's Lady's Bk. Apr. 380/2 (heading) Rattan or Cane Ware... It is much used in warm climates, and in furnishing summer residences.
1991 Martha Stewart Living Sept. 58/2 Caneware , another Wedgwood specialty, is a buff-colored pottery that was frequently used in wares shaped in or impressed with bamboo or other plant motifs.
2009 J. Cayzer Elem. Nature xii. 194 Gone are the cavernous armchairs, replaced by elegant cane ware.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
canen.2
local.
A weasel.
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1768 G. White Let. 30 Mar. in Nat. Hist. Selborne (1789) 42 A little reddish beast..which they call a cane.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online March 2018).
canev.1
/keɪn/, U.S. /keɪn/ 1. transitive. To beat with a cane as a punishment.
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society > authority > punishment > corporal punishment > administer corporal punishment [verb (transitive)] > with cane, birch, or switch
yerda1225
baleys1377
whisk1530
jerk1550
wanda1585
switch?1611
canea1667
bamboo1816
birch1830
a1667 Bp. J. Taylor Serm. iii. 147 That it be esteemed..more shame to fornicate than to be caned.
1711 R. Steele in Spectator No. 88. 2/1 I know you have too much Respect for your self to cane me in this honourable Habit.
1715 D. Defoe Family Instructor I. i. iv. 86 I'll Cane the Rascal if he don't.
1812 I. D'Israeli Calam. Auth. II. 83 To execute martial law, by caning the Critic.
1825 T. B. Macaulay Ess. (1851) I. 25 Dressed up in uniforms, caned into skill.
2. To drive (a lesson) into (a person) with the cane.
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society > authority > punishment > corporal punishment > administer corporal punishment [verb (transitive)] > with cane, birch, or switch > to drive (a lesson) into
cane1866
1866 Newspaper I had a little Greek caned into me.
3. To fit or set (a chair, etc.) with cane.
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society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > making of other specific articles or materials > make other specific articles or materials [verb (transitive)] > processes in making furniture
upholster1873
cane1885
rush1885
seat1886
1885 Leisure Hour Jan. 47/1 Women and children..caning or rushing the ‘bottoms’.
Draft additions October 2009
transitive. Chiefly British.
a. To punish severely, to subject to rough treatment; to use excessively or carelessly.
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society > authority > punishment > [verb (transitive)] > severely
visita1382
to-punisha1400
overpunisha1639
to give (a person) hell1836
to give a person what for1852
slate1854
to give it in the neck1881
to come down1888
bean1910
scrub1911
cane1925
to gie (or give) (someone) laldy1935
1925 E. Fraser & J. Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 46 ‘Smith got properly caned at the Orderly Room this morning’, i.e. got a stiff sentence of C.B. [= confinement to barracks].
1932 R. G. Curtis Edgar Wallace xii. 206 Ruthlessly caning a decrepit car all the way from London.
1968 R. Mann Headliner xxxiv. 222 They really caned him. £250,000. I'd no idea they awarded that kind of money.
1998 R. Newman Manners 137 Next day I discovered there'd been two youths in the kitchen holding his health visitor hostage, while a third was out caning her Mastercard.
2007 Independent 17 Mar. (Save & Spend section) 14/2 We've all been caned by the stock markets lately.
b. Chiefly Sport. To defeat heavily; to beat easily.
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society > leisure > sport > winning, losing, or scoring > win, lose, or score [verb (transitive)] > defeat heavily
rout1835
cane1961
cream1962
1961 E. Partridge Dict. Slang (ed. 5) II. 1027/2 Cane, to defeat.
1962 Times 12 Sept. 3/5 To think, on this showing, that Rovers so caned Tottenham last Saturday.
1976 S. Wales Echo 25 Nov. 31/9 Mumbles, runners-up last year,..were caned 42-3.
1988 Soccer Special '88 Aug. 10/3 New Year's Day saw the Sky Blues caned 4-0 at Liverpool.
2001 Observer 18 Mar. (Brit. Uncovered Suppl.) 21/2 Your project canes the rest of Year 10s'.
c. slang. To take or consume (recreational drugs or alcohol), esp. rapidly or to excess. Also to cane it (frequently implying long-term or habitual behaviour of this type).
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1991 K. Waterhouse Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell II. 35 Oh, and talking of the law, Norman, I appear to have caned the best part of a bottle of vodka.
1992 R. Graef Living Dangerously iv. 97 My friend's uncle was a Charlie dealer so my friend used to get ounces on tic. He had an ounce and we all went up his house and we washed out a gram of it and had a bit, and then that progressed into washing out the whole lot and just caning (taking) it all.
1995 Mixmag May 74/2 Browse and Klimek have been caning it for three days solid.
1999 Muzik June 14/2 Drugs are caned, guest lists blagged, eyes widen, paranoia takes control, inhibitions are lost.
2008 C. Newkey-Burden in J. Burchill & C. Newkey-Burden Not in my Name App. 181 He took drugs for England, he knocked the drugs on the head... Most importantly, he has never hypocritically dissed anyone else who still canes it.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
† canev.2
Obsolete exc. dialect.
To form a scum or ‘head’, as liquor in a state of fermentation, ale turning sour or becoming ‘mothery’.
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the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > [verb (intransitive)] > ferment > form scum
cane1847
1847–78 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words Caned, mothery. Yorksh.
1876 C. C. Robinson Gloss. Words Dial. Mid-Yorks. Kêan, to scum, or throw off as recrement. Kêan, a particle of this nature. Kêaned, scummed in this wise.
Derivatives
caned adj.
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the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > [adjective] > fermenting > having scum
caned1483
1483 Cath. Angl. 53 Caned, acidus.
caning n.
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the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > [noun] > fermentation > forming scum
caning1483
1483 Cath. Angl. 53 Canynge of ale, acor.
1500 Ortus Voc. in Cath. Angl. 53 Acor, canynge of ale.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1888; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.11398
n.21768
v.1a1667v.21483- at sea
- at sea-wages
- at seasons
- at seawages
- at second hand
- at service
- at set steven
- at sharp(s
- at short
- at short date or sight
- at short hand
- at short intervals
- at short notice
- at short order
- at short range
- at short words
- at shoulder arms
- at sight
- at sign
- at single hand
- at sixes and sevens
- at slow bell
- at so many days' etc sight
- at so many days' sight
- at sometimes