Meaning & use
caning
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountable
Punishment in which someone is beaten with a thin, flexible stick called a cane.
Grammar: Uncountable for the practice, countable for one punishment: the caning of prisoners / sentenced to a caning.
Patterns
- receive a caning
- sentenced to a caning
- the use of caning
In the story, the thief is sentenced to a caning and a fine.
Many countries have banned caning in schools.
noununcountable
The craft of weaving thin strips of cane to make or repair the seats and backs of chairs.
Grammar: Uncountable; often appears in the phrase chair caning.
Patterns
- chair caning
- learn caning
- the caning of a chair seat
She learned caning so she could restore the chairs she bought at auction.
The caning on the old rocker had split and needed replacing.
nouncountableinformalBritish
A severe defeat, especially in a sports match or an election.
Grammar: Countable and usually singular, in phrases like give someone a caning.
Patterns
- give someone a caning
- take a caning in the final
Our side took a caning in yesterday's cup final.
The mayor's party got a caning in the local elections.
Common combinations
- receive a caning
- In the novel, the boy receives a caning for stealing bread.
- school caning
- School caning was abolished decades ago.
- chair caning
- She sells woven baskets and does chair caning.
- give someone a caning
- The home team gave its rivals a caning on Saturday.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
Commonly confused: caning or canning?
caning vs canning
Canning, with one n, is preserving food in cans; caning, with one n after the a, is punishment or chair weaving.
Practice
My grandfather taught me ___ so I could repair the woven seat of our old rocking chair.
Choose one answer.
Weaving cane strips for chair seats is caning. Canning means preserving food in jars or tins, and the other spellings are simple misspellings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “caning”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.