1
as in curse
a source of harm or misfortune
regarding the new laborsaving machinery as a bane, the 19th-century Luddites went about destroying it in protest
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2
as in poison
a substance that by chemical action can kill or injure a living thing
a plant that is believed to be the bane of the wolf
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Recent Examples of bane
Finicky, unresponsive, uncomfortable, or unreliable bindings are the bane of any rider’s existence—a thorn in your side that, at best, leads to under-your-breath expletives while strapping in.
—
Drew Zieff, Outside Online, 11 Oct. 2024
This thing has become the bane of my existence ...
GREWAL takes it and places it on her mobile desktop.
—Ayad Akhtar, The Atlantic, 4 Dec. 2024
The work has become the bane of residents' existence.
—Steph Solis, Axios, 31 Oct. 2024
Group chats are both the bane of my existence and the light of my life.
—Shamira Ibrahim, Vulture, 13 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for bane
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bane
Noun
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The Chinese Communist Party is a curse upon the earth.—
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Finishing fifth — or even fourth, as Liverpool managed last season — has historically been a bit of a curse, with teams struggling to build on their successes.—
Noun
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Some were stoppers, the design concealing small vials of a particularly deadly poison.—
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Daughter-in-Law of Baker Whose Christmas Cake Killed 3 Arrested on Murder Charges: Reports Police chief Cléber dos Santos Lima told reporters that Dos Anjos researched and purchased the deadly poison four separate times, per the BBC.—
Noun
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Black-robed Trump nemeses emerged as a menacing force during the first Trump administration.—
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Last month, Sam Altman, the C.E.O. of OpenAI and perhaps Musk’s primary nemesis, launched a five-hundred-billion-dollar data-center initiative called Stargate with the coöperation of Trump.—
Noun
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Leukemia, a disease of the blood and bone marrow, disrupts the body's ability to produce normal blood cells.—
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How long that takes depends on the course of the disease and farmer operations.—
Noun
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What these arguments fail to understand is that DEI protections were put in place for certain groups because of historically discriminatory hiring practices and to course-correct toxic, racist, ableist, homophobic, transphobic, and sexist workplaces.—
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This strategy has amplified his visibility but has also drawn criticism for aligning with internet personalities accused of toxic and, for some, abusive behaviors.—
Cite this Entry
“Bane.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bane. Accessed 27 Feb. 2025.
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