▪ I. den, n.1
(dɛn)
Forms: 1–4 denn, 4–7 denne, (4–5 deen), 3– den.
[OE. dęnn habitation of a wild beast:—OTeut. type *danjo{supm}, corresp. in form to OHG. tenni neut., MHG. tenne neut. fem., Ger. tenne f. floor, thrashing-floor, OLG. *denni, early mod.Du. denne ‘floor, pavement, flooring of a ship, also cave, cavern, den’ (Kilian): cf. also MDu. dan(n m. forest, abode of wild beasts, waste place, open country. The same root dan- appears in dean, OE. dęnu (:—dani-) vale: the root-meaning is uncertain.]
1. The lair or habitation of a wild beast.
| Beowulf 5512 Geseah [he]..wundur on wealle, and þæs wyrmes denn. c 1000 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 187/1 Lustra, wilddeora holl and denn. c 1220 Bestiary 13 Ðe leun..driueð dun to his den ðar he him berȝen wille. a 1300 Cursor M. 16762 + 110 (Cott.) Þe fox has his den and ilk foghel is nest. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 15 And so dide..þe prophete danyel in þe deen of lyonys. a 1400 Octouian 582 The lady wente..To the tygre denne. 1585 J. B. tr. Viret's Sch. Beastes B ij b, It is a signe of rayne..when the Ante bringeth out of her hole and denne al her egges. 1611 Bible Job xxxvii. 8 Then the beastes goe into dennes: and remaine in their places. 1808 Scott Marm. vi. xiv, And darest thou then To beard the lion in his den, The Douglas in his hall? |
2. A place hollowed out of the ground, a cavern († occas. a pit). Obs. or blended with 1 or 3.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 4185 (Cott.) Tac we him out of yon den [Joseph in the pit]. 1382 Wyclif Heb. xi. 38 Thei erringe in..dennys and cauys of the erthe. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 315 Þe lond of Sicilia is holow and ful of dennes [L. cavernosa]. 1530 Palsgr. 212/2 Den, a hole in the grounde, cauerne. 1548 Hall Chron. 191 [They] lurked in dennes and wholes secretly. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. ii. iii. 215 Aaron and thou looke downe into this den. 1678 Bunyan Pilgr. i. i, I lighted on a certain place, Where was a Denn; And I laid me down in that place to sleep. 1726 Cavallier Mem. i. 101, I..had already search'd into several Denns and Caverns of the Mountains. 1847 Emerson Poems, Saadi Wks. (Bohn) I. 473 No churl, immured in cave or den. |
3. transf. and fig. a. A place of retreat or abode (likened to the lair of a beast); a secret lurking-place of thieves or the like (cf. Matt. xxi. 13).
| c 1275 Pains of Hell 176 in O.E. Misc. 152 Vvrþer þer beoþ olde men Þat among neddren habbeþ heore den. c 1340 Cursor M. 14745 (Trin.) Ȝe hit make..A den to reset inne þeues. c 1430 How wise Man taught Son 132 in Babees Bk. 52 How litil her good dooþ hem availe Whanne þei be doluen in her den. 1588 Spenser Virgil's Gnat 96 No such sad cares..Do ever creepe into the shepheards den. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. viii. 186 [They would have] made the island a den of thieves. 1810 Scott Lady of L. i. iv, The Cavern, where, 'tis told, A giant made his den of old. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xxiii. 167 The very type of a robber den. |
b. A small confined room or abode; esp. one unfit for human habitation.
| 1837 Dickens Pickw. ii, The musicians were securely confined in an elevated den. 1840 T. A. Trollope Summ. Brittany I. 315 The frightful dens of some of the Manchester operatives. 1891 E. Peacock N. Brendon II. 100 The filthy den where her mother lived. |
c. colloq. A small room or lodging in which a man can seclude himself for work or leisure; as, ‘a bachelor's den’.
| 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. 5 June ¶3 So saying, he retreated into his den. 1816 Scott Lett. (1894) I. 372 A little boudoir..a good eating-room, and a small den for me in particular. 1882 Blackw. Mag. Dec. 709 [He] went off in the direction of his own den, a little room in which he smoked and kept his treasures. |
4. The name given in the Lowlands of Scotland, and north of England, to the conventional enclosure or place of safety in boys' out-of-door games, called elsewhere the home, bay, or base.
| 1901 R. C. Maclagan Games of Argyle 22 Equal sides being chosen, a ‘den’..sufficiently large to contain the whole of the side who are ‘in’ is fixed. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. of Schoolchildren viii. 150 Den or denny. Occasionally used as truce term, from the ‘den’ or sanctuary of certain catching games. 1968 Proc. Leeds Philos. Soc., Lit. & Hist. Section XIII. ii. 56 There is the den, in which players line up to take their turn in striking. |
5. ‘A deep hollow between hills; a dingle’ (Jam.). Sc. local.
[‘Often applied to a wooded hollow’ (Jam.), and then nearly synonymous with dean2; but not the same word.]
| 1552 Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 23 In the vail or den quharin thow usit to commit ydolatrie. 1785 Burns To W. Simpson x, We'll sing auld Coila's..banks an' braes, her dens an' dells. a 1800 Ballad, ‘The dowie dens of Yarrow.’ 1806 Sir W. Forbes Beattie II. 51 (Jam.), I have made several visits of late to the Den of Rubislaw. Note. A Den, in the vernacular language of Scotland..is synonymous with what in England is called a Dingle. |
(In many place names, as Dura Den near Cupar Fife, The Den near Kirkcaldy, Hawthornden in Mid Lothian; but as a termination often representing earlier dene, dean.)
† 6. Anat. A cavity or hollow. Obs.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iii. xxii. (1495) 70 Oute of a denne of the lyfte syde of the herte comyth a veyne. 1615 Crooke Body of Man 609 The implanted Ayre concluded within the dennes or cauities of the Eares. 1683 Snape Anat. Horse iii. xiv. (1686) 140 The Caverns or Cavities, by some called Dens. |
7. Comb., as † den-dreadful adj. (= dreadful with dens of wild beasts).
| 1621 G. Sandys Ovid's Met. i. (1626) 6 Now past den-dreadfull Mænalus confines [Mænala..latebris horrenda ferarum]. |
Add: [3.] d. A local meeting-place for Cub Scouts; hence (now the usual sense), a small subdivision of a Cub Scout pack. U.S.
| 1930 Survey 15 Dec. 330/1 In each neighborhood is a ‘den’ where the boys meet. 1946 Parents' Mag. Jan. 52/2 Our den elected to have refreshments at each meeting. 1965 B. Grant Boy Scout Encycl. 51/2 A den is made up of from two to eight boys. 1985 Stockholm Stud. in Eng. LXII. 26 It is common for the mother of a Cub Scout to take charge of the home-centred subdivision of the Cub Scout Pack, the Den. |
[7.] den mother N. Amer. (orig. U.S.), the woman leader of a den of Cub Scouts; also transf.
| 1936 National Republic Feb. 4/2 The *Den Mother is usually the kind of a mother whose yard..is usually full of boys anyway. 1961 M. Beadle These Ruins are Inhabited (1963) viii. 107, I put away my damask tablecloths years ago, and so did most American housewives, because we haven't time to wash and iron them and still be Den Mothers. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 4 Dec. 22/1 Linda's Pictures, for instance, is a collection of photographs by Linda McCartney, den mother to the Beatles. 1986 B. Freemantle Kremlin Kiss xxxvii. 269 You'll be here for years. You're going to become the den mother of the diplomatic wives. |
▪ II. † den, n.2
Also dene, deyn.
Obs. Sc. variant of Dan1, sir, master.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Egipciane 1110 To ȝour abbot, dene Iohne, say. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. x. 92 (Jam.) The Abbot of Abbyrbrothok than, Den Henry. c 1450 Holland Howlat 199 Gret Ganeris..That war demyt, but dowt, denyss douchty. 1552 Lyndesay Monarche 4670–2 All Monkrye..Ar callit Denis, for dignite; Quhowbeit his mother mylk the kow, He man be callit Dene Androw. |
▪ III. den3
in the salutation good den: see good even.
▪ IV. den, v.1
(dɛn)
[f. den n.1]
1. refl. (or pass.). To ensconce or hide oneself in (or as in) a den.
| c 1220 Bestiary 36 Wu he dennede him in ðat defte meiden, Marie bi name. 1613 Heywood Silver Age iii. Wks. 1874 III. 129 If he be den'd, Il'e rouze the monstrous beast. 1632 Lithgow Trav. vii. 315 A pit digged to hide the Gunner..the Gunner lay denned, and durst not stirre. 1823 Galt Entail II. xvii. 157 ‘Hae ye ony ark or amrie..where a body might den himsel till they're out o' the gate and away?’ |
2. intr. To live or dwell in a den; to escape into, or hide oneself in, a den.
to den up: to retire into a den for the winter, as a hibernating animal. (U.S. colloq.)
| 1610 G. Fletcher Christ's Vict. xiv, The sluggish saluages, that den belowe. 1722 Dudley in Phil. Trans. XXXII. 295 They generally den among the Rocks in great Numbers together. 1843 American Pioneer II. 171 In that climate [sc. of Canada] the bears usually den up in the winter, and lie in something of a torpid state. c 1860 Tom Taylor in Thornbury Two Cent. of Song (1867) 261 In a dingier set of chambers no man need wish to stow, Than those, old friend, wherein we denned, at Ten, Crown Office Row. 1894 Home Miss. (N.Y.) Jan. 463 Our people..are inclined to ‘den up’ in the hot weather, as certain animals..do in the cold season. 1918 Chambers's Jrnl. Mar. 187/1 The brown bear usually ‘dens up’ early in the season. |
† 3. to den out: to drive (a beast) out of its den; to unearth. Obs.
| 1571 Hanmer Chron. Irel. (1633) 203 [They] burned their Cabbans and Cottages, and such as dwelt in caves and rockes underground (as the manner is to denne out Foxes) they fired and smothered to death. |
Hence denned (dɛnd) ppl. a., denning vbl. n.
| 1622 S. Ward Woe to Drunkards (1627) 45 In such townes this Serpent hath no nestling, no stabling, or denning. 1854 Tait's Mag. XXI. 165 Arousing a denned lion. |
▪ V. † den, v.2 Obs. rare—1.
[Etymol. doubtful: cf. dem v.1]
trans. To dam up.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce xiv. 354 This fals tratour his men had maid..The ysche of a louch to den [rime men]. |
▪ VI. den
obs. form of dean1 (decanus), dene2.