Noun (1)
regarding the new laborsaving machinery as a bane, the 19th-century Luddites went about destroying it in protest
a plant that is believed to be the bane of the wolf
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Travel troubles Higher temperatures are the bane of vacation travel: Cars overheat, air conditioning conks out, nighttime can offer little relief, and air and rail travel get delayed.—Peter Green, Quartz, 1 June 2024 The bane of my end of my day is washing my face, taking soap and water or some sort of cleanser, having to wet my face and then do some sort of routine.—Breanne L. Heldman, Peoplemag, 1 June 2024 Toiletries can be the bane of every traveler's packing experience.—Stacey Leasca, Travel + Leisure, 31 May 2024 Maybe that show becomes the bane of Jacob's existence.—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 23 May 2024 Speaking of 3:10 to Yuma, long before pesky eagles and bloodthirsty ballerina vampires, rusty forks were the bane of your existence.—Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 May 2024 That is historically the bane of coach Kyle Shanahan’s datebook (13-19 record, trumped only by an 0-2 mark in February).—Cam Inman, The Mercury News, 16 May 2024 Although a bane for consumers, the fees generate about $9 billion a year for card issuers, according to the agency.—Kate Gibson, CBS News, 10 May 2024 However, an obstacle that is the bane of freedom-loving Americans is standing in McElhenney’s and Reynolds’s way.—Byryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 3 May 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bane.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Noun (1)
Middle English, "killer, agent of death, death," going back to Old English bana "killer, agent of death," going back to Germanic *banan- (whence also Old Frisian bana, bona "killer," Old High German bano "killer, murderer," Old Norse bani "murderer, violent death"), of uncertain origin
Note:
Another Germanic derivative from the same base is represented by Old English benn (feminine strong noun) "wound, sore," Old Saxon beniwunda, Old Norse ben "wound," Gothic banja "blow, wound." Attempts have been made to derive the etymon from Indo-European *gwhen- "strike, kill" (see defend), but the general view is that initial *gwh could not yield b in Germanic. See further discussion in Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Band 1, pp. 460-61.
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