den
pronunciation
How to pronounce den in British English:
UK [den]
How to pronounce den in American English:
US [den]
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- Noun:
- the habitation of wild animals
- a hiding place; usually a remote place used by outlaws
- a unit of 8 to 10 cub scouts
- a room that is comfortable and secluded
Word Origin
- den
- den: [OE] Related forms such as German tenne ‘threshing floor’ and possibly Greek thenar ‘palm of the hand’ suggest that the underlying meaning of den may be ‘flat area’. Old English denn denoted ‘wild animal’s lair’, perhaps with reference to animals’ flattening an area of vegetation to form a sleeping place. Dean [OE], a word for ‘valley’ now surviving only in placenames, comes from the same source.
- den (n.)
- Old English denn "wild animal's lair," from Proto-Germanic *danjan (cognates: Middle Low German denne "lowland, wooded vale, den," Old English denu "valley," Old Frisian dene "down," Old High German tenni, German tenne "threshing floor," from PIE *dan- "low ground"). Sense of "small room" is 1771, originally colloquial.
Example
- 1. The bear emerged from her den and started to charge him and his assistant .
- 2. This mated pair was found in a deep-sea den off the coast of maine .
- 3. According to popular legend , if the groundhog leaves his den and sees his shadow , it 's both a sunny day and a sign that we 're in for six more weeks of winter .
- 4. The continual cat-and-mouse game ended this week when google , now a corporate giant , entered the dragon 's den .
- 5. In recent decades running a business or household with a conservative balance-sheet has been a bit like being the only person in an opium den not to inhale .