den
[den]
- the lair or shelter of a wild animal, especially a predatory mammal.
- a room, often secluded, in a house or apartment, designed to provide a quiet, comfortable, and informal atmosphere for conversation, reading, writing, etc.
- a cave used as a place of shelter or concealment.
- a squalid or vile abode or place: dens of misery.
- one of the units of a cub scout pack, analogous to a patrol in the Boy Scouts.
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- to drive or pursue (an animal) into its den.
- to kill (an animal) inside its den.
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- to live in or as if in a den.
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Origin of den
before 1000; Middle English; Old English denn; compare early Dutch denne floor, cave, den, German Tenne floor
Den.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
sanctuarynestcavehotbedstudiolibraryplayroomlairsheltersanctumhauntcouchburrowcubbyholelodgecloisterholehideoutstudyretreatExamples from the Web for den
Contemporary Examples
It is unknown whether John Doe is David Neuman, who was once an executive at DEN.
When she got up at two the next afternoon, Jerry Lee was still up, drinking in his den.
As Perryman walked into the den, the Killer was sitting with his feet up in his favorite recliner chair.
Residents of South Carolina divorce at a rate twice as high as for that den of iniquity, Washington, D.C.
At just past noon, The Roots emerge from their den and strut into the Fallon studio.
Historical Examples
Yates threw off his coat, and went to work as if he were in his own den in the Argus building.
In the Midst of AlarmsRobert Barr
This was not surprising, for the den was only half a mile away.
Johnny BearE. T. Seton
He neither affects to show himself, nor lies sullen in his den.
Tales And Novels, Volume 9 (of 10)Maria Edgeworth
All his old prejudices were reviving; it was as if he were going to some ogre's den.
The Three Cities Trilogy, CompleteEmile Zola
He retired into his den, and presently emerged with a sheet of paper in his hand.
Jennie Baxter, JournalistRobert Barr
den
- the habitat or retreat of a lion or similar wild animal; lair
- a small or secluded room in a home, often used for carrying on a hobby
- a squalid or wretched room or retreat
- a site or haunta den of vice
- Scot a small wooded valley; dingle
- Scot and Northern English dialect a place of sanctuary in certain catching games; home or base
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- (intr) to live in or as if in a den
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Word Origin
Old English denn; related to Old High German tenni threshing floor, early Dutch denne low ground, den, cave
Den.
- Denmark
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for den
n.
Old English denn "wild animal's lair," from Proto-Germanic *danjan (cf. 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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper