Editing Caning (section)

{{Short description|Punishment method}}
{{about|the physical punishment|the technique used for weaving furniture|Caning (furniture)|the film|Caning (film){{!}}''Caning'' (film)}}
{{distinguish|Canning|Candy cane}}

{{more citations needed|date=December 2014}}
{{corporal punishment}}
'''Caning''' is a form of [[corporal punishment]] consisting of a number of hits (known as "strokes" or "cuts") with a single [[Stick-fighting|cane]] usually made of [[rattan]], generally applied to the offender's bare or clothed [[buttocks]] (see [[spanking]]) or [[hand]]s (on the palm). Caning on the [[knuckle]]s or [[shoulder]]s is much less common. Caning can also be applied to the soles of the feet ([[foot whipping]] or [[Foot whipping|bastinado]]). The size and flexibility of the cane and the mode of application, as well as the number of the strokes, may vary.

[[Flagellation]] as punishment was so common in England that caning, along with [[spanking]] and [[Flagellation|whipping]], were called "le vice anglais" or "the English vice".<ref name="MurrayMurrell1989">{{cite book|author1=Thomas Edward Murray|author2=Thomas R. Murrell|title=The Language of Sadomasochism: A Glossary and Linguistic Analysis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tL81ZduPn_UC&pg=PA23|year=1989|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-26481-8|pages=23–}}</ref> Caning can also be done consensually as part of [[BDSM]].

The thin cane generally used for corporal punishment is not to be confused with the [[walking stick]], which is sometimes also called ''cane'' (especially in American English), but is thicker and much more rigid, and usually made of stronger wood.