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chicane

[shi-keyn, chi-]
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noun
  1. deception; chicanery.
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verb (used with object), chi·caned, chi·can·ing.
  1. to trick by chicanery.
  2. to quibble over; cavil at.
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Origin of chicane

1665–75; < French chicane (noun), chicaner (v.), perhaps < Middle Low German schikken to arrange
Related formschi·can·er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

chicaneryscamdeceitstuntdishonestyrazzle-dazzlestratagemguilemachinationduplicityfrauddeceptiontrickeryhypocrisytreacherylieillusionrusehoaxtrick

Examples from the Web for chicane

Historical Examples

  • Then, he says, the 'Demon of Chicane appeared to me in all his hideousness.

    The English Utilitarians, Volume I.

    Leslie Stephen

  • He had vowed war in his youth against the 'demon of chicane.'

  • Under these conditions, can either side score "except for honors or chicane?"

    Auction of To-day

    Milton C. Work

  • Roebuck was the keystone of the arch that sustained the structure of chicane.

    The Deluge

    David Graham Phillips

  • There had never been any chicane like the chicane she was presently going to commit.

British Dictionary definitions for chicane

chicane

noun
  1. a bridge or whist hand without trumps
  2. motor racing a short section of sharp narrow bends formed by barriers placed on a motor-racing circuit to provide an additional test of driving skill
  3. a less common word for chicanery
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verb
  1. (tr) to deceive or trick by chicanery
  2. (tr) to quibble about; cavil over
  3. (intr) to use tricks or chicanery
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Derived Formschicaner, noun

Word Origin

C17: from French chicaner to quibble, of obscure origin
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

Word Origin and History for chicane

n.

in English in various senses, including "act of chicanery" (1670s), "obstacles on a roadway" (1955), also a term in bridge (1880s), apparently all ultimately from an archaic verb chicane "to trick" (1670s), from French chicane (16c.), from chicaner "to pettifog, quibble" (15c., see chicanery).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper