Skip to main content
to cane

to cane

8 8.6
To beat someone with a long thin stick as punishment
  • verb
  • /keɪn/
  • NSFW
: azotar
  • Now be gone from my sight before I cane you.
  • get caned
  • cane a child's bottom
  • cane a boy

Examples

  • In his rages, he caned me and whipped me, yet still I pitied him.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • "When I was a boy, kids were caned by their fathers."

    Fiction book (1991)
  • And you will want to cane them too when your turn comes.

  • - In my opinion, we should cane him!

  • - I was often caned when I went to school in England.

  • "My father never caned me, and I would never lay a hand on you either."

    Fiction book (1991)
  • You should've got your rear end caned for what you did.

  • Don't cane me, sir.

  • They caned me and caned me till I was bloody.

  • In the past, children who misbehaved were often caned by their teachers in school.

Synonyms

to whip
vsto cane
133 4.4

To hit something with a long thin object or move it quickly and forcefully

labels punishment by a thin stick rather than lashes or sharp blows
to flog
vsto cane
  • NSFW
18 8.3

Hit someone with a whip or stick as punishment

refers to punishment by a thin stick rather than lashes or heavier implements
to paddle
vsto cane
  • Offensive
4 7.4

To hit someone with a flat board as punishment

uses a thin straight stick for punishment rather than a flat board
to trounce
vsto cane
  • Offensive
1 8.4

To beat someone with a whip or stick as punishment

focuses on punishment by a thin stick rather than general severe beating
to cudgel
vsto cane
1 9.4

To hit someone with a short thick stick

means punishment by a thin stick rather than short heavy striking tools
to lambast
vsto cane
  • NSFW
8.8

To hit someone many times with a stick

uses a thin straight stick for punishment rather than other instruments
to rod
vsto cane
  • Offensive
9.9

To hit someone with a stick as punishment

means punishment by a thin flexible stick rather than long stiff ones

Antonyms

328 1.3

To give something to someone to thank them for doing something good

211 3.0

To forgive someone for a small mistake or rude act

Compounds

22 1.0

A hard sweet stick with red and white stripes that tastes like mint and is used at Christmas

12 2.0

A tall tropical plant with thick sweet stalks used to make sugar

1 1.3

Sweetener made from the tall plant sugarcane used to sweeten food and drinks

1 9.4

A walking stick that hides a small sword inside

1 5.2

A long thin flexible stem from a climbing palm used to make furniture or baskets

cane blight
  • Specialized
7.7

A disease that kills the stems of berry bushes and reduces the harvest

7.5

Tall grass that grows in thick groups near rivers in the southern United States

cane toad invasion
  • Australian
7.6

A quick spread of cane toads into new areas that harms native animals and plants

8.6

A common houseplant with large green leaves that can make your mouth and throat swell if eaten

lawyer cane
  • Australian
9.9

A tall palm with sharp spines that grows in northeastern Queensland

malacca cane
  • Archaic
9.9

A walking stick made from the strong stem of a rattan palm

9.9

A tall tropical plant with long red flower spikes and purple leaves whose seeds are eaten as cereal

7.3

A tall grass that grows in thick groups in the southern United States

A sugar cane plant with large juicy stalks and a lot of sugar

switch cane
  • Specialized
9.9

A tall grass that grows in wet places in the southern United States

A ski pole made from strong Tonkin cane bamboo that is flexible and lasts a long time

5.8

A grass like reeds that grows in wet places like marshes, often in the southern United States

How Violent

to thrash
24 5.8
to flog
  • NSFW
18 8.3
to cane
  • NSFW
8 8.6
to beat
  • NSFW
∞ 1.2
to hit
∞ 1.0
to smack
164 3.5
to tap
174 1.0

Surface Forms

cane infinitive
cane past
cane past participle
canning present participle
canes third person singular

Etymology

Cane as a verb comes from the noun cane, which comes from Latin canna 'reed'. People used thin plant stems to strike, so to cane someone is to beat them with such a stick.