hut
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
-
a small house or shelter, usually made of wood or metal
-
(on a sheep or cattle station) accommodation for the shearers, stockmen, etc
-
a shelter for mountaineers, skiers, etc
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of hut
1645–55; < French hutte < Frankish, cognate with Old Saxon hutta, Old High German hutt ( e ) a < West Germanic *hudjā; akin to hide 1
Explanation
If you've ever camped under a wooden lean-to, you know what a hut is — it's a simple, usually temporary shelter that doesn't do much more than keep the rain off your head. A hut can be built from many different materials, including wood, stone, snow, or even cardboard. What all huts have in common is a simple design and the intention that it provide a short-term shelter from the weather. Campers, hikers, and skiers often rest or sleep in huts. The word comes from the French hutte, "cottage," which has its root in the Old English word for "to hide," hydan. Hut was originally used in English to describe military dwellings.
Vocabulary lists containing hut
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Example Sentences
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See Examples For:
After returning to Ithaca disguised by Athena as an old beggar, Odysseus reveals himself to the son he hasn’t seen since infancy in the hut of the swineherd Eumaeus.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Elvin added interest in the hut had been "good" so far, with a number of inquiries already received.
From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026
A group of young people sheltered under a thatched hut by the side of the road, absorbed in a game of poker.
From Barron's ● Mar. 14, 2026
Malick Diop grew up in Senegal in a thatched-roof hut with a dirt floor, sooty walls and roaming goats.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 11, 2026
Nim said crossly as she tugged the wagon back to the hut for the books and Jack’s files of notes.
From "Nim’s Island" by Wendy Orr
The huts seat up to six and can be reserved for tastings or a meal of wood-fired pizzas from the winery’s restaurant, which opened in 2020.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Children linger in the narrow shade cast by the huts, some too tired to play, others trailing silently after their mothers.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
While beach huts regularly come up for sale in Abersoch, Elvin said it was rare for one on the beach's more sought-after right-hand side to reach the open market.
From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026
Nyamumba Evelyne’s family moved into this settlement of six straw huts more than a decade ago.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 9, 2026
The huts were really just tiny log cabins with big stone fireplaces making the whole rear wall.
From "My Brother Sam is Dead" by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
On its return from the Expedition, the regiment proceeded to Easton, Pennsylvania, and from thence to Morristown, N.J., where it was hutted for the winter.
From The Journal of Lieut. John L. Hardenbergh of the Second New York Continental Regiment from May 1 to October 3, 1779, in General Sullivan's Campaign Against the Western Indians With an Introduction, Copious Historical Notes, and Maps of the Battle-field of Newtown and Groveland Ambuscade by Hardenbergh, John Leonard
The dreary encampment at Valley Forge has become proverbial for its hardships; yet they were scarcely more severe than those suffered by Washington's army during the present winter, while hutted among the heights of Morristown.
From The Student's Life of Washington; Condensed from the Larger Work of Washington Irving For Young Persons and for the Use of Schools by Irving, Washington
In the winter of 1807, Napoleon established his army in cantonments behind the Passarge in face of the enemy, the advanced guard alone being hutted near the cities of Gutstadt, Osterode, &c.
From The Art of War by Mendell, George Henry
Captain Winslow and the officers and the crew of the “Osterley,” who had been hutted at a distance from the rest, on hearing the firing, had broken through the sentries, and hurried to the spot.
From Ronald Morton, or the Fire Ships A Story of the Last Naval War by Hoggans, T.
The one with which Washington made his headquarters was hutted on the heights about Morristown, N.J.
From Philip Winwood A Sketch of the Domestic History of an American Captain in the War of Independence; Embracing Events that Occurred between and during the Years 1763 and 1786, in New York and London: written by His Enemy in War, Herbert Russell, Lieutenant in the Loyalist Forces. by Stephens, Robert Neilson
The troops were landed, and there being no barrack accommodation for them, some succeeded in hutting themselves most comfortably.
From History of Prince Edward Island by Campbell, Duncan
The king, excitedly impatient, now led the way again, shooting hurry-scurry through my men's lines, which were much commented on as being different from Waganda hutting, on to the tall tree with the adjutant's nest.
From The Discovery of the Source of the Nile by Speke, John Hanning
We were put on shore on the 8th February, and instantly commenced hutting ourselves by brigades.
From Twenty-Five Years in the Rifle Brigade by Surtees, William
Do you remember when Prout and you were on their track for hutting and trespass, wasn't it?
From Stalky & Co. by Kipling, Rudyard
It was now the middle of February; the rains began to fall very heavy, and pointed the necessity of hutting the people; convicts were therefore appointed to assist the detachment in this work.
From A Source Book of Australian History by Swinburne, Gwendolen H.
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.
