den

A small cavern or hollow place in the side of a hill, or among rocks; especially, a cave used by a wild animal for shelter or concealment.

Adverb

  1. Pronunciation spelling of then, representing AAVE, Bermuda English.

Related

good-den

Noun Entry 2

  1. A small cavern or hollow place in the side of a hill, or among rocks; especially, a cave used by a wild animal for shelter or concealment.
    • a den of robbers
    • Daniel was put into the lions’ den.

    Synonyms: lair luster Wiktionary appendix of animal terms, including their homes

  2. A squalid or wretched place; a haunt.
    • a den of vice
    • an opium den; a gambling den
    • Lying in a den in Bombay With a slack jaw and not much to say - 1980, Colin Hay, Ron Strykert, “Down Under”, performed by Men at Work:
  3. A comfortable room not used for formal entertaining.
    • Near-synonyms: family room, sunroom, Florida room, Arizona room, rec room, playroom

    Synonyms: family room sunroom Florida room Arizona room rec room playroom

    Hypernyms: room space place site location

    Coordinate Terms: living room living-room lounge loungeroom lounge room parlour parlor sitting room sitter bedsit front room drawing room zitkamer

  4. Synonym of fort (“structure improvised from furniture, etc. for playing games.”).
    • Our little girls love using bedsheets and other stuff around the house to make dens in the living room and pretending they're on adventures.

    Synonyms: fort

  5. A narrow glen; a ravine; a dell.
    • I have made several visits of late to the Den of Rubislaw - 1806, Sir William Forbes, An Account of the Life and Writings of James Beattie, LL.D., including many of his Original Letters:
  6. A group of Cub Scouts of the same age who work on projects together.

Origin

From Middle English den, from Old English denn (“den, lair (of a beast), cave; a swine-pasture, a woodland pasture for swine”), from Proto-West Germanic *dani (“threshing-floor, barn-floor”). Cognate with Scots den (“den, lair”), Middle Dutch denne (“burrow, den, cave, attic”), Dutch den (“ship's deck, threshing-floor, mountain floor”), Middle Low German denne, danne (“threshing-floor, small dale”), German Tenne (“threshing-floor, barn for threshing”).

Forms

dens

Derived

beard the lion in his den Boris's den dealer's den denful denlike den mother denner den of iniquity dragon's den drug den gambling den lion's den Maggie's den Major's den opium den Tony's den

Noun abbreviation, alt of

  1. Abbreviation of denier (a unit of weight).

Origin

From Old French denier, from Latin denarius.

Noun Northumbria, alt of

  1. Alternative form of dene.

Forms

dens

Derived

Walsden

Verb

  1. To ensconce or hide oneself in (or as in) a den.
  2. Of an animal, to use as a den; to take up residence in.
    • Although present in virtually all habitats, it preferred to den in caves, so its distribution, especially in cold, northern areas, may have been limited to limestone and other rocky regions where caves form. - 2018, Tim...
    • “Denning” – behaviour around making dens – has changed and bears are swimming long distances, but, says Aars, there is still enough sea ice in the spring for the bears to hunt successfully. - 2023 August 30, Patrick...

Forms

dens denning denned