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bane

[ beyn ]
/ beɪn /
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noun
a person or thing that ruins or spoils: Gambling was the bane of his existence.
a deadly poison (often used in combination, as in the names of poisonous plants): wolfsbane; henbane.
death; destruction; ruin.
Obsolete. that which causes death or destroys life: entrapped and drowned beneath the watery bane.
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Origin of bane

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
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
a person or thing that causes misery or distress (esp in the phrase bane of one's life)
something that causes death or destruction
  1. a fatal poison
  2. (in combination)ratsbane
archaic ruin or distress

Word Origin for bane

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
a Scot word for bone
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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