vane

/veɪn/
noun
  1. A flat or curved piece attached to a rotating axis, used to catch wind or water and cause motion, as in a windmill or turbine.
    • The windmill's wooden vane creaked as it turned in the breeze.
    • Engineers designed a new vane for the turbine to capture more energy.
    • A broken vane caused the waterwheel to stop spinning.
  2. A weather vane; a device on a rooftop that spins to show the direction of the wind.
    • The rooster-shaped vane on the barn pointed north today.
    • Our old vane was replaced with a modern one that lights up at night.
    • She climbed up to fix the rusty vane so it would move freely again.
  3. A flat, movable part of a feather, also called the web, consisting of barbs on either side of the shaft.
    • He examined the vane of the feather under a microscope.
    • The bird's feather had a damaged vane on one side.
    • The vane of the quill was perfectly symmetrical.
  4. A blade or fin-like part of a propeller, fan, or similar device.
    • Each vane of the propeller was carefully balanced.
    • The fan's plastic vane broke off after hitting the wall.
    • The engine's cooling fan has six curved vanes.
What does "vane" mean? | whatsthatwordmean | whatsthatwordmean