lane

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lane / lān/ • n. 1. a narrow road, esp. in a rural area: she drove along the winding lane. ∎ Astron. a dark streak or band that shows up against a bright background, esp. in a spiral galaxy or emission nebula. 2. a division of a road marked off with painted lines and intended to separate single lines of traffic according to speed or direction: the car accelerated and moved into the outside lane. ∎  each of a number of parallel strips of track or water for runners, rowers, or swimmers in a race. ∎  a path or course prescribed for or regularly followed by ships or aircraft: the shipping lanes of the South Atlantic. ∎  (in basketball) a 12-foot-wide area extending from the free-throw line to below the basket. ∎  (in bowling) a long narrow strip of floor down which the ball is bowled. ∎ Biochem. each of a number of notional parallel strips in the gel of an electrophoresis plate, occupied by a single sample.

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English
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lane •abstain, appertain, arcane, arraign, ascertain, attain, Bahrain, bane, blain, brain, Braine, Cain, Caine, campaign, cane, chain, champagne, champaign, Champlain, Charmaine, chicane, chow mein, cocaine, Coleraine, Coltrane, complain, constrain, contain, crane, Dane, deign, demesne, demi-mondaine, detain, disdain, domain, domaine, drain, Duane, Dwane, Elaine, entertain, entrain, explain, fain, fane, feign, gain, Germaine, germane, grain, humane, Hussein, inane, Jain, Jane, Jermaine, Kane, La Fontaine, lain, lane, legerdemain, Lorraine, main, Maine, maintain, mane, mise en scène, Montaigne, moraine, mundane, obtain, ordain, pain, Paine, pane, pertain, plain, plane, Port-of-Spain, profane, rain, Raine, refrain, reign, rein, retain, romaine, sane, Seine, Shane, Sinn Fein, skein, slain, Spain, Spillane, sprain, stain, strain, sustain, swain, terrain, thane, train, twain, Ujjain, Ukraine, underlain, urbane, vain, vane, vein, Verlaine, vicereine, wain, wane, Wayne •watch chain • mondaine • Haldane •ultramundane • Cellophane •novocaine • sugar cane • marocain

Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes
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lane OE. lane = MDu. lāne (Du. lāan), of unkn. orig.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD