chicane
/ʃɪˈkeɪn
/noun
1A sharp double bend created to form an obstacle on a motor-racing track or a road: the Austrian’s car flew out of control and spun across the chicane...
- He also welcomed plans to stagger parking bays along the one-way road to create chicanes to slow vehicles.
- The straights aren't so long that they place an absolute premium on outright power, while the chicanes and bumpy track surface demand good handling characteristics.
- It's the same car, but it seems better suited to tracks where you have chicanes and heavy braking, like Imola.
2 dated (In card games) a hand without cards of one particular suit; a void.With an average hand containing a chicane, an ace, and some low trumps, lead the ace followed by a low card of the same suit.
3 [mass noun] archaic The use of deception; chicanery.
verb [no object] archaic
1Employ chicanery: he spends more time chicaning on texts than invoking principles
1.1 [with object] Deceive (someone): she could not chicane me into admitting the promise of marriage
Origin
Late 17th century (in the senses 'chicanery' and 'use chicanery'): from French chicane (noun), chicaner (verb) 'quibble', of unknown origin.
A chicane describes a sharp double bend forming an obstacle on a motor racing track; it is also an old word for chicanery (late 16th century) ‘trickery’. The origin is the French noun chicane, and verb chicaner ‘quibble’, but earlier details are unknown.