bane

[ beyn ]
See synonyms for bane on Thesaurus.com
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.

  1. death; destruction; ruin.

  2. Obsolete. that which causes death or destroys life: entrapped and drowned beneath the watery bane.

Origin of bane

1
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

Words Nearby bane

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bane in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for bane (1 of 2)

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

    • a fatal poison

    • (in combination): ratsbane

  1. archaic ruin or distress

Origin of bane

1
Old English bana; related to Old Norse bani death, Old High German bano destruction, death

British Dictionary definitions for bane (2 of 2)

bane2

/ (ben, beɪn) /


noun
  1. a Scot word for bone

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