VANE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does vane mean? 

• VANE (noun)
  The noun VANE has 4 senses:

1. mechanical device attached to an elevated structure; rotates freely to show the direction of the wind

2. a fin attached to the tail of an arrow, bomb or missile in order to stabilize or guide it

3. flat surface that rotates and pushes against air or water

4. the flattened weblike part of a feather consisting of a series of barbs on either side of the shaft

  Familiarity information: VANE used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• VANE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Mechanical device attached to an elevated structure; rotates freely to show the direction of the wind

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

vane; weather vane; weathervane; wind vane

Hypernyms ("vane" is a kind of...):

mechanical device (mechanism consisting of a device that works on mechanical principles)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "vane"):

weathercock (weathervane with a vane in the form of a rooster)

wind tee (weather vane shaped like a T and located at an airfield)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A fin attached to the tail of an arrow, bomb or missile in order to stabilize or guide it

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("vane" is a kind of...):

fin (a stabilizer on a ship that resembles the fin of a fish)

Holonyms ("vane" is a part of...):

arrow (a projectile with a straight thin shaft and an arrowhead on one end and stabilizing vanes on the other; intended to be shot from a bow)

missile (a rocket carrying a warhead of conventional or nuclear explosives; may be ballistic or directed by remote control)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Flat surface that rotates and pushes against air or water

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

blade; vane

Hypernyms ("vane" is a kind of...):

rotating mechanism (a mechanism that rotates)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "vane"):

fan blade (blade of a rotating fan)

impeller (the blade of a rotor (as in the compressor of a jet engine))

paddle (a blade of a paddle wheel or water wheel)

rudder blade (the vertical blade on a rudder)

Holonyms ("vane" is a part of...):

chopper; eggbeater; helicopter; whirlybird (an aircraft without wings that obtains its lift from the rotation of overhead blades)

oar (an implement used to propel or steer a boat)

propeller; propellor (a mechanical device that rotates to push against air or water)

turbine (rotary engine in which the kinetic energy of a moving fluid is converted into mechanical energy by causing a bladed rotor to rotate)

aerogenerator; wind generator; windmill (generator that extracts usable energy from winds)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The flattened weblike part of a feather consisting of a series of barbs on either side of the shaft

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

vane; web

Hypernyms ("vane" is a kind of...):

blade (a broad flat body part (as of the shoulder or tongue))

Meronyms (parts of "vane"):

barb (one of the parallel filaments projecting from the main shaft of a feather)

Holonyms ("vane" is a part of...):

feather; plumage; plume (the light horny waterproof structure forming the external covering of birds)