midden
Americannoun
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archaic a dunghill or pile of refuse
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dialect a dustbin
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dialect an earth closet
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See kitchen midden
Etymology
Origin of midden
1300–50; Middle English midding < Old Danish mykdyngja, equivalent to myk manure + dyngja pile ( Danish mødding )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Wearing my lovely new walking boots, I suddenly realise I have stumbled on a "midden" - a pungent pile of rhinoceros poo.
From BBC • Nov. 4, 2022
“There is shell midden over here,” he said, referring to the mix of broken bone and shell left from cooking fires hundreds and thousands of years ago.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 2, 2022
One theory archaeologists are knocking about is the trove or artifacts might have been a midden or pit where detritus was tossed.
From Washington Times • Apr. 27, 2019
“A shell heap or shell midden — it’s basically their trash.”
From New York Times • Jan. 16, 2017
Psychically, it was a rabbit hole, a midden, hot with the frictions of tightly packed life, reeking with emotion.
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
