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• glen
  glen

  noun

  a small, narrow, secluded valley.
• Glen
  Glen

  noun

  a male or female given name.

glen

¹ American  

[glen] / glɛn /

noun

• glens
  plural

1. a small, narrow, secluded valley.

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Glen ² American  

[glen] / glɛn /

noun

1. a male or female given name.

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glen British  

/ ɡlɛn /

noun

1. a narrow and deep mountain valley, esp in Scotland or Ireland

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• glenlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• glens
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of glen

1480–90; < Irish, Scots Gaelic gleann; cognate with Welsh glynn

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Explanation

A glen is a narrow valley deep in the mountains. Glens often form streams. The top of a mountain is the peak, and the lower parts are valleys. A glen is a valley that's narrow and secluded—it’s deep in the mountains. A glen could form a stream, or it could be lush and green. If you are on top of a mountain looking down, you may see several glens.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

glen Glen glens

But over time that began to slow down and in 1958 the site was bought by the Isle of Man Forestry Board and "became a nationally-owned glen".

From BBC ● Apr. 7, 2026

But instead of disappearing beneath the Atlantic waves – the Titanic is depicted sinking in a desert, a glen, and other non-maritime landscapes.

From BBC ● Dec. 27, 2025

Each non-Pee-wee appearance required the audience to recalibrate our expectations and remove Reubens from the glen plaid suits and pomade-slicked hairdo for which we came to know him.

From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2023

In a leafy glen in a very small, beautiful moment, the trees watched too.

From Salon ● Oct. 8, 2022

When the boys began to gather in the glen of a Summer night, And the Kerry piper’s tuning made us long with wild delight.

From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt

As they fall further, Hoover and Glen Canyon dams could lose their capacity to provide water and power downstream and even become vulnerable to physical damage.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026

Alfa Romeo's Bruno Giacomelli leads the final US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen in 1980 as Williams' Alan Jones goes off line and throws up dust behind him.

From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026

The house near Glen Park became a gathering spot for members of the growing EA community.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026

To work with Collins, Navatek hired a lobbyist, Glen Mandigo, who also lobbied for the University of Maine and was tight with her office.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026

They sat together three meals a day, but earlier in the year they had attended a production of The Pirates of Penzance, and sometimes they took the Shady Glen van to Target together.

From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman

There will likely be no vistas of forest canopy, no shaded glens with water cascading through a tapestry of conifers, pine sap spicing the morning air.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 28, 2025

Some people tried to escape in a snow blizzard to nearby glens, including Gleann Leac-na-muidhe, where the coin hoard was found.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2023

Although most of the park fills up daily with birthday parties, off-leash dogs, and brass bands, it’s also home to a network of shady glens, murmuring creeks, and still ponds.

From Slate ● Aug. 31, 2023

The remote area of Scotland's west coast is only accessible by boat or a two-day hike across glens and mountains.

From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2022

That other world was suburban and endless, organized around pot roasts, blueberry pies, fireworks, ice cream sundaes, immaculate bathrooms, and small toy trucks that were loosed in wooded backyards with streams and glens.

From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates

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