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
In the first episode, my friend Anthony, who’s also a cameraman on the show, talks about vertical video being the bane of society.
—
Andrew Marantz, New Yorker, 24 Aug. 2025
The bane of garbage cans and general irritation in cities nationwide.
—Chad Murphy, The Enquirer, 19 Aug. 2025
By learning from early examples, listening to expert warnings and proactively addressing AI's challenges, humanity can strive to ensure that this revolution becomes more boon than bane for both society and our planet.
—Vaibhav Dani, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2025
Bowl eligibility is probably a reasonable place to start, although nuance — the bane of Hot Seat speculation everywhere — could enter the calculation.
—Jon Wilner, Mercury News, 18 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bane
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bane
Noun
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The last of the old curses and the purest championship drought in the sport.—
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After its patriarch’s mysterious death, the pharma family falls prey to an ancient curse.—
Noun
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Seven people receive mysterious poison pen letters summoning them to a posh townhouse.—
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Ultimately, every person has to make their own decision to stop drinking so much social media poison and start taking more relational vitamins.—
Noun
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The Reds have won five out of five across all competitions so far this season and host nemesis Everton, having once again come up with the goods in dramatic fashion against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.—
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End Game sees Warwick once again up against nemesis Miles Faulkner and his crooked lawyer Booth Watson.—
Noun
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Health experts have underscored that the best protection against the disease is the vaccine, either given alone or as part of a measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) shot or a measles-mumps-rubella-varicella (MMRV) vaccine.—
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The immunizations in question are for school-aged children, protecting against infections and diseases like tetanus, polio, measles and whooping cough.—
Noun
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In 2023, 20 steel mills and coke plants nationwide emitted nearly 2.4 million pounds of air toxics, 289,722 tons of criteria air pollutants and 43.3 million metric tons of greenhouse gases, according to the study.—
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Is there any hope of finding a way to take the toxic and turn it into a net positive?—
Cite this Entry
“Bane.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bane. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.
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