mane
Americannoun
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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:
His balding head’s scraggly hair—in contrast to the wigs worn by just about every Frenchman at the time, no matter the social class—is both ennobling and a bit enfeebling, like an aging but distinguished mane.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
The bout was hair vs. hair; whichever billionaire lost would be stripped of their mane in the ring.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
With his gray-and-white mane sleekly accentuating his black and lavender ensemble, he struts with an eminence that had me picturing Eartha Kitt in a Bob Fosse spectacular.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
On Fox News, Essayli, sporting a blue FBI windbreaker, hyped the arrest of Orellana, a quiet, wiry man with a long mane of coal-black hair.
From Salon ● Apr. 15, 2026
Spikes run down its back like a mane, and I grab hold of one.
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
The colorful horse toys with brushable manes and tails were first created in the '80s and had a revival in 2003.
From Salon ● Nov. 13, 2024
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
Horse’s manes and reptilian scales are among other details that helped inform her overall design.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 12, 2021
But recently she has been inspired by the girls she sees walking around the city with vivid neon manes.
From New York Times ● Sep. 7, 2021
When a scouting party spotted a herd, Ne-kah-e-se-y and the other hunters raced on their horses across the plains, the hooves pounding the earth like drums, the manes whipping the riders’ sweating, gleaming faces.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
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.
