Meaning & use
vane
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Meanings
nouncountable
A device on top of a roof or pole that swings around to show which way the wind is blowing.
Grammar: Often part of weather vane or weathervane.
Patterns
- a vane on something
A copper rooster served as the weather vane on the barn.
The vane swung toward the north as the storm cleared.
A boat's masthead vane shows the sailors the wind direction.
nouncountabletechnical
A flat or curved blade that is turned by, or turns, air or water, as in a windmill or turbine.
Grammar: Usually plural in context: the vanes of a turbine.
Patterns
- the vanes of something
The vanes of the old windmill creaked as they turned.
Engineers adjusted the vanes inside the pump to improve the flow.
Each vane on the fan was cleaned by hand.
nouncountablebiologyspecialist
The soft, flat part of a bird's feather on each side of the central shaft.
Grammar: A specialist term in bird study.
Patterns
- the vane of a feather
The vane of the owl's feather is soft, which helps it fly silently.
She noticed a tear in the vane of the feather.
Word forms
| plural | vanes |
|---|
Common combinations
- weather vane
- The weather vane on the church spun in the gusts.
- wind vane
- A wind vane is a cheap way to measure direction.
- vane on the roof
- The vane on the roof pointed due east.
- turbine vanes
- Turbine vanes must withstand very high temperatures.
- rotor vane
- A bent rotor vane caused the vibration.
Synonyms and how they differ
- weathercock
- A weathercock is a vane shaped like a rooster, so it is a specific kind rather than a general word.
- blade
- Blade is a general word for any flat cutting or turning part, while vane suggests a part that is moved by or moves a flow of air or water.
- fin
- A fin is a fixed flat surface that steers or stabilizes, while a vane often turns.
Word family
- weathervane noun
- a vane that shows the wind direction
- vaned adjective
- having vanes
- vaneless adjective
- without vanes
Commonly confused: vane or vain? vane or vein?
vane vs vain
Vain means too proud of your looks or achievements, or without success; it sounds the same as vane.
vane vs vein
A vein is a tube that carries blood in the body or a thin line in a leaf or rock; it also sounds the same as vane.
Practice
The old farmhouse had a copper ____ on the roof that pointed toward the wind.
Choose one answer.
A vane shows wind direction. Vain and vein sound identical but mean proud and blood vessel, so they do not fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “vane”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.