Meaning & use
a vane
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A flat blade or plate that turns when wind or liquid pushes against it, showing direction or driving a machine.
Grammar: Countable: one vane, two vanes. Often used after 'weather' or 'wind'.
Patterns
- a weather vane
- the vanes of a turbine
The weather vane on the barn turned to point east as the storm approached.
Engineers checked each vane inside the pump for wear.
nouncountabletechnical
The flat, feather-like part of a feather or an arrow that helps steady flight.
Grammar: Countable; usually plural when talking about feathers or arrows.
Patterns
- the vanes of a feather
You can tell the bird's age by the pattern on its wing vanes.
The arrow's vanes were slightly bent, so it flew off course.
Word forms
| plural | vanes |
|---|
Common combinations
- weather vane
- A copper weather vane sat on top of the roof.
- wind vane
- The wind vane spun wildly in the gale.
- turbine vane
- Hot gas passes between the turbine vanes.
- arrow vane
- He replaced the arrow vane with a new plastic one.
Synonyms and how they differ
- weathercock
- A weathercock is specifically a weather vane shaped like a rooster, so it is narrower in meaning.
- blade
- A blade is a broad flat part of a tool or machine; a vane is a blade that catches wind or fluid, often thinner.
Word family
- vaned adjective
- Having vanes, as in a vaned rotor.
Commonly confused: a vane or vein? a vane or vain?
a vane vs vein
A vein is a blood vessel or a streak in rock; a vane is a flat turning blade. They sound the same but are unrelated.
a vane vs vain
Vain means too proud of your appearance or useless; a vane is a physical object. Same pronunciation, different meaning.
Practice
The farmer repaired the ______ on the roof so it would show which way the wind blew.
Choose one answer.
'Vane' is the flat object that turns in the wind. 'Vein' is a blood vessel, 'vain' means proud or useless, and 'vane's' would need a following noun.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “a vane”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.