Indulge Your Inner Word Nerd
chicane was our Word of the Day on 08/06/2014. Hear the podcast!
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Examples of chicane in a Sentence
a lawyer who is so notorious for chicaning that the guilty invariably seek his services
Did You Know?
There's no mystery about the origins of chicane. It's from the Middle French verb chicaner, meaning "to quibble" or "to prevent justice," and print evidence of its use as a verb in English dates to around 1672. The noun form of chicane was first used in print in 1686. In addition to referring to "trickery," the noun chicane is used to refer to an obstacle or a series of tight turns in opposite directions on a racecourse. In card games, chicane refers to the absence of trumps in a hand of cards. One curiosity of this word set is that the word that would appear to be a derivative of chicane-chicanery (a synonym of chicane in its "trickery" sense)-actually appeared in English over 60 years before chicane.
Origin and Etymology of chicane
French chicaner, from Medieval French, to quibble, prevent justice
First Known Use: circa 1672
chicane
Definition of chicane
1 : chicanery
2a : an obstacle on a racecourseb : a series of tight turns in opposite directions in an otherwise straight stretch of a road-racing course
3 : the absence of trumps in a hand of cards
Examples of chicane in a Sentence
most get-rich-quick schemes involve more than a smidgen of chicane
1686
First Known Use of chicane
1686
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