Words / C2

BAYN/beɪn/

A bane is a cause of lasting harm or annoyance (the bane of): the bane of her life, the bane of the project. Nuisance is everyday and weaker; blight (this batch) is the spoiling itself, or a plant disease. Ruin (already in the dictionary) is the end-state. Do not park an empty n as a footnote and keep the ranking.

Meaning

A cause of great distress or harm (the bane of).

Examples

• “An empty n is the bane of the ranking, not a skippable footnote.”
• “Nuisance is everyday. Blight is the spoiling force (this batch). Ruin is destruction (already in B2). A small recurring fault can still be the bane. A blank cell used to protect a league table is the fault that counts. Fill the n; the ranking can wait.”

Good to know

A persistent cause of harm. Everyday: nuisance / curse. Close: blight (this batch). Contrast: ruin (the end-state — already in this dictionary). A ranking is not a sample size.

Near in meaning

curse, scourge, affliction, plague

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