mane
Americannoun
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manes
plural
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the long hair growing on the back of or around the neck and neighboring parts of some animals, as the horse or lion.
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Informal. (on a human being) a head of distinctively long and thick or rough hair.
noun
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the long coarse hair that grows from the crest of the neck in such mammals as the lion and horse
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long thick human hair
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of mane
before 900; Middle English; Old English manu; cognate with German Mähne, Dutch manen, Old Norse mǫn
Explanation
Use the noun mane when you talk about an animal's ruff of neck hair. A male lion's mane can be very fluffy and dramatic. A mane is a patch or growth of long hair, whether it's found on a lion or down the neck of a pony, or even on a human's head. You might stroke a horse's mane while sitting on its back, or you could compliment your friend on her beautiful mane of long blonde hair. The Old English root is manu, which comes from a Proto-Indo-European root, mon, which means "neck" or "nape of the neck."
Vocabulary lists containing mane
Horsin' Around
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"A Contest of Riddles"
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When I Was the Greatest
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The 21-year-old conservationist, who records footage for social media to raise awareness about the "threats our seas are facing", said it was the first lion's mane he had seen in Wales.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
Among the brand’s options is a zero-proof Negroni containing lion’s mane, a mushroom said to promote brain and nerve health.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
With her distinctive husky voice, tousled mane of blonde hair and black eyeliner, Tyler was instantly recognisable as the queen of the 1980s power ballad.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
Those observations highlighted its distinctive appearance, including a "mane" made up of hazy structures resembling comet tails.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026
My leg started cramping, so I rode close to the mane to cut into the pain and hold my seat.
From "Worth" by A. LaFaye
Lucas said lion's manes "occasionally" reach the Welsh coast later in the summer or autumn, according to jellyfish sightings recorded by the public, but their main habitat in the UK was Scotland.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
I certainly haven’t noticed that modern television is overflowing with strapping, brawny men, some sporting magnificent beards or manly manes on their heads, atop bodies as smooth as Barbie dolls.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
From their heads sprout Sprite bottle locks, manes made from electrical wire, telephone cord curls and espresso pod Bantu knots.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 6, 2024
“Their long, shaggy manes bristled and they went for their quarry like a flash,” wrote The Post.
From Washington Post ● May 4, 2022
They did not come nearer but stood at the edge of the trees, tossing their manes and sending up high whinnies to the air.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
