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.
So far, none of the tribes he works with has insisted on midden preservation — though that’s a conversation he’d like to intensify in the coming year, as the erosion threat increases.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 28, 2023
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
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
What they found instead was a midden heap, a pigsty, an empty sheepfold, and a windowless daub-and-wattle hall scarce worthy of the name.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
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.
