Meaning

6 senses
  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.

  2. A squalid or wretched place; a haunt.

    a den of vice

    an opium den; a gambling den

    прито́нpritón

  3. A comfortable room not used for formal entertaining.

    Near-synonyms: family room, sunroom, Florida room, Arizona room, rec room, playroom

    Wohnzimmer

    a room that is comfortable and secluded

  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.

  5. A group of Cub Scouts of the same age who work on projects together.

    Höhle, Bau

    нора́norá, ло́говоlógovo, берло́гаberlóga

    нора́norá, барлі́гbarlíh, лі́гвищеlíhvyšče

    a unit of 8 to 10 cub scouts

  6. (Scotland, UK, obsolete)A narrow glen; a ravine; a dell.

Examples

46 sentences
  1. Tom and Mary were playing darts in the den.

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  2. He walked into the lion's den.

    deEr begab sich in die Höhle des Löwen.

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  3. He stepped into the lion's den.

    deEr begab sich in die Höhle des Löwen.

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  4. This island is a pirates' den.

    ruЭтот остров — логово пиратов.

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  5. The foxes are in their den.

    ruЛисы в своём логове.

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Translations

9 languages
Українська
By meaning 1
home of certain animals:
Русский
By meaning 2
squalid or wretched place:
home of certain animals:
Deutsch
By meaning 2
living room of a house:
home of certain animals:

Origin

From Middle English den, from Old English denn (“den, lair (of a beast), cave; a swine-pas

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”).

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

plural: dens
Singularden
Pluraldens

regular

Synonyms

12 synonyms
lairlusterfamily roomsunroomFlorida roomArizona roomrec roomplayroomfortWiktionary appendix of animal terms, including their homes
Close in meaning
  • the habitation of wild animals:lair
  • a hiding place; usually a remote place used by outlaws:hideouthideaway

Word family

10 related words

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
den — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto