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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.
Examples of chicane in a Sentence
Ben Church, CNN Money, 21 Apr. 2025
Drop in a couple of chicanes and Homestead’s road course was ready to go.
—David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 15 Apr. 2025
Your best chance is at the Casio triangle, the chicane between 130R and the final corner that leads onto the start-finish straight.
—ArsTechnica, 7 Apr. 2025
Improvements were made to the stretch of road along Kootenai Street where Wyatt was hit, including adding chicanes to slow down cars, a new sidewalk and wider bike lanes.
—Nick Rosenberger, Idaho Statesman, 1 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for chicane
Cite this Entry
“Chicane.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chicane. Accessed 29 May. 2025.
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