as in baton
a heavy rigid stick used as a weapon or for punishment
in those days corporal punishment was common, and the cane was regarded as another one of the schoolmaster's educational tools
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as in to leather
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cane
Maria Cramer, New York Times, 16 Feb. 2025
Wheelchairs, walkers, canes, different-sized and shaped bodies, sensitivity to noise, balance, vision, and hearing need to be considered.
—Dp Opinion, The Denver Post, 15 Feb. 2025
Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 July 2024
Her mother was gifted at making crafts, sewing, weaving baskets and chair caning.
—Lyndi McNulty, Baltimore Sun, 2 Mar. 2024
See All Example Sentences for cane
Noun
Determined to learn the scope of the thefts, Mr. Hirsch, who uses a cane and struggles to walk long distances, returned last month to tally all the missing markers, recording them in a small notebook with a ballpoint pen.
—Maria Cramer, New York Times, 16 Feb. 2025
Wheelchairs, walkers, canes, different-sized and shaped bodies, sensitivity to noise, balance, vision, and hearing need to be considered.
—Dp Opinion, The Denver Post, 15 Feb. 2025
Verb
In the nearly 250 years since its founding, the United States has witnessed its fair share of political violence, from four presidential assassinations to an 1856 caning on the Senate floor to a 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol that left at least five dead.
—Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 17 July 2024
Her mother was gifted at making crafts, sewing, weaving baskets and chair caning.
—Lyndi McNulty, Baltimore Sun, 2 Mar. 2024
See All Example Sentences for cane
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cane
Noun
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Eventually, Shaquille O’Neal and Bryant took the baton with the Lakers and passed it off to LeBron James.—
Evan Webeck,
The Mercury News,
14 Feb. 2025
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Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs have willingly taken the baton from Brady and the Patriots as the NFL's latest dynasty.—
Jim Reineking,
USA TODAY,
31 Jan. 2025
Verb
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News round-up Real Madrid set up El Clasico in Spain’s Supercopa by leathering Mallorca 3-0 last night.—
Phil Hay,
The Athletic,
10 Jan. 2025
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Almost from the start, Dharavi was defined by its industries: from the traditional potters of Gujarat who began arriving in the late 1800s, to leather tanners from Tamil Nadu and embroidery workers from Uttar Pradesh.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN,
29 June 2024
Verb
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Kimberly, who was injured during the initial attack, managed to save Maranda by strapping her in the backseat of the couple's truck.—
Fernando Cervantes Jr.,
USA TODAY,
14 Feb. 2025
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There, in a section of old-growth forest that’s not open to tourists, she emotionally strong-arms two ecological researchers into strapping her into a harness and taking her up into the canopy with them.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
13 Feb. 2025
Verb
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The Speccie’s star columnist is the rudest man in Christendom, the Godzilla of contumely, an all-time non-sufferer of fools who horsewhips his targets the way Hunter S. Thompson and Christopher Hitchens once did.—
Kyle Smith,
National Review,
23 Apr. 2020
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In reality, Watson wasn’t a bar fighter or famous for horsewhipping cowboys.—
Eliza McGraw,
Smithsonian,
12 Mar. 2018
Verb
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Hitler exploited his 37% to gridlock legislative processes, to cudgel or crush the political opposition, and ultimately to undermine the country’s democratic structures.—
Timothy Ryback,
TIME,
26 Apr. 2024
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Before long, fairs had such attractions as cudgelling bouts, bearbaiting, and something called gouging.—
Zach Helfand,
The New Yorker,
14 Aug. 2023
Verb
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Stephens would do well to stop flagellating himself and the Never Trumpers and instead join democracy advocates in defending the rule of law in a dangerous new world.—
DP Opinion,
The Denver Post,
15 Jan. 2025
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Pop stars being badasses, as ever, but expressing doubt, and doing it without the flagellating self-destruction that might have come with an early iteration.—
Susannah Felts,
Longreads,
27 Apr. 2023
Verb
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Sylvia scourges herself with an intensity that would make hairshirted flagellants seem soft.—
Jim Higgins,
Journal Sentinel,
25 Mar. 2024
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Social instability and post-pandemic economic pressures fueled surges in migration across the world. 2023 will probably be the hottest year on record, with heat waves scourging every continent, accompanied by other extreme climactic events.—
Ishaan Tharoor,
Washington Post,
22 Dec. 2023
Verb
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The new charges came after investigators interviewed the couple's children, who alleged that they were spanked to the point of bleeding, doused in cold water, and locked in their bedrooms, according to the Orlando Sentinel.—
KC Baker,
People.com,
15 Jan. 2025
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Escalon insistently guided her into the act of spanking the doll.—
Lawrence Wright,
The New Yorker,
10 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cane.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cane. Accessed 4 Mar. 2025.
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