haven
Americannoun
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a harbor or port.
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any place of shelter and safety; refuge; asylum.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a port, harbour, or other sheltered place for shipping
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a place of safety or sanctuary; shelter
verb
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012Usage
What is a haven? A haven is any safe place, as in The woods can be a haven from a busy world.A safe place is the most common meaning of haven and can be used in many ways. For example, something can be a haven for a person (like your bedroom might be), for a particular behavior (as in a haven for corruption), or for a belief or religion. A haven can be a place safe from something negative or dangerous or a place safe for something negative or dangerous.A haven is also a harbor or port. In other words, it’s a place for a ship or other seagoing vehicle to dock safely or take refuge in during a storm.Haven appears in the phrase safe haven. A safe haven is a safe place for someone or something who is threatened.Haven also appears in the phrase tax haven. This is a location that has very low taxation rates for outside investors. The idea is that a tax haven provides a shelter from taxation.Example: My bedroom is a haven of peace in the midst of the chaos of Christmas decoration prep.
Related Words
See harbor.
Other Word Forms
- havenless adjective
- havenward adverb
Etymology
Origin of haven
First recorded before 1050; Middle English; Old English hæfen; cognate with Dutch haven, German Hafen, Old Norse hǫfn; akin to Old English hæf, Old Norse haf sea
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.
KAMPALA, Uganda—This country has long been a haven for Africans fleeing war and famine.
A piece of a western Massachusetts estate was repurposed in the 1950s as a musical haven.
Cuba is a possible haven for Maduro, who in his youth trained on the island to be a union organizer.
Rajab echoed the thoughts of residents, analysts and aid workers who see in Israel’s assault a larger plan to recast the camps as ordinary city neighborhoods, not refugee havens.
From Los Angeles Times
Things never got appreciably better, the Bruins left adrift without a haven in sight.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
