darn

¹ American  

[dahrn] / dɑrn /

adjective

1. darned.

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verb (used with object)

1. to curse; damn.

   Darn that pesky fly!

idioms

1. give a darn. damn.

darn ² American  

[dahrn] / dɑrn /

verb (used with or without object)

1. to mend (torn clothing, especially of knitted fabric) with rows of stitches, sometimes by crossing and interweaving rows to span a gap.

   At the sound of my greeting, Grandma looked up and stopped darning the sock, holding her arms out for a hug.

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noun

• darns
  plural

1. a darned place, as in a garment.

   That old sweater full of darns was one of my favorite things to put on after work.

darn ¹ British  

/ dɑːn /

verb

1. to mend (a hole or a garment) with a series of crossing or interwoven stitches

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noun

1. a patch of darned work on a garment

2. the process or act of darning

darn ² British  

/ dɑːn /

interjection

1. a euphemistic word for damn damn damn damn damn

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Synonym Usage

See mend.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• darner
  noun
• darning
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• darns
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of darn¹

First recorded in 1775–85; see origin at darned

Origin of darn²

First recorded in 1590–1600; origin unknown

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Explanation

To darn is to stitch up a small hole in a piece of clothing. Instead of throwing your worn-out socks away, you can just darn the holes in their toes. When you darn your socks or sweaters, you use a needle and thread to close small holes in the woven fabric. There's even a specific stitch known as a "darning stitch," in which you first weave the thread with the grain of the fabric, and then fill in the other "woven" direction. The result is a sturdy patch made only of thread. Darn comes from the Middle French darner, "mend."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

darn darns

Rings are certainly less obtrusive than a smartwatch, many of which are pretty darn clunky.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026

“But I darn well believe it’s important that the coding is done and done well.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

“But we do pretty darn well on our own, and record labels don’t really have much to offer us, frankly.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

It was also cheap and pretty darn reliable.

From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026

I go back and forth about whether it’s a good thing that a baby octopus starts out life the size of a pencil eraser, because the eraser on my pencil is pretty darn small.

From "The Benefits of Being an Octopus" by Ann Braden

There, the mother darns socks and sweeps the endless dust, while the thoroughly American children daydream in midcentury fantasia.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 17, 2026

Instead, Alcott subverted everyone’s expectations by marrying Jo off to the exact opposite of Laurie: a stuffy, paternal German professor who darns his own socks.

From Slate ● Dec. 25, 2019

On road trips the team is ferried by volunteer drivers in private cars; a women's auxiliary washes the players' jerseys and darns their socks.

From Time Magazine Archive

The wife, Helen, darns his socks and whines testily, "When was the last time you cut your toenails?"

From Time Magazine Archive

Mam darns my socks and throws an extra coal on the fire to heat up the iron to press my shirt.

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

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Related Words

• dang
• doggone

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