| 释义 |
▪ 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 *danjom, 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. c1000Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 187/1 Lustra, wilddeora holl and denn. c1220Bestiary 13 Ðe leun..driueð dun to his den ðar he him berȝen wille. a1300Cursor M. 16762 + 110 (Cott.) Þe fox has his den and ilk foghel is nest. c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 15 And so dide..þe prophete danyel in þe deen of lyonys. a1400Octouian 582 The lady wente..To the tygre denne. 1585J. 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. 1611Bible Job xxxvii. 8 Then the beastes goe into dennes: and remaine in their places. 1808Scott 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.
a1300Cursor M. 4185 (Cott.) Tac we him out of yon den [Joseph in the pit]. 1382Wyclif Heb. xi. 38 Thei erringe in..dennys and cauys of the erthe. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 315 Þe lond of Sicilia is holow and ful of dennes [L. cavernosa]. 1530Palsgr. 212/2 Den, a hole in the grounde, cauerne. 1548Hall Chron. 191 [They] lurked in dennes and wholes secretly. 1588Shakes. Tit. A. ii. iii. 215 Aaron and thou looke downe into this den. 1678Bunyan Pilgr. i. i, I lighted on a certain place, Where was a Denn; And I laid me down in that place to sleep. 1726Cavallier Mem. i. 101, I..had already search'd into several Denns and Caverns of the Mountains. 1847Emerson 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).
c1275Pains of Hell 176 in O.E. Misc. 152 Vvrþer þer beoþ olde men Þat among neddren habbeþ heore den. c1340Cursor M. 14745 (Trin.) Ȝe hit make..A den to reset inne þeues. c1430How wise Man taught Son 132 in Babees Bk. 52 How litil her good dooþ hem availe Whanne þei be doluen in her den. 1588Spenser Virgil's Gnat 96 No such sad cares..Do ever creepe into the shepheards den. 1719De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. viii. 186 [They would have] made the island a den of thieves. 1810Scott Lady of L. i. iv, The Cavern, where, 'tis told, A giant made his den of old. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xxiii. 167 The very type of a robber den.
b. A small confined room or abode; esp. one unfit for human habitation.
1837Dickens Pickw. ii, The musicians were securely confined in an elevated den. 1840T. A. Trollope Summ. Brittany I. 315 The frightful dens of some of the Manchester operatives. 1891E. 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’.
1771Smollett Humph. Cl. 5 June ⁋3 So saying, he retreated into his den. 1816Scott Lett. (1894) I. 372 A little boudoir..a good eating-room, and a small den for me in particular. 1882Blackw. 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.
1901R. 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. 1959I. & 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. 1968Proc. 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.] 1552Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 23 In the vail or den quharin thow usit to commit ydolatrie. 1785Burns To W. Simpson x, We'll sing auld Coila's..banks an' braes, her dens an' dells. a1800Ballad, ‘The dowie dens of Yarrow.’ 1806Sir 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.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iii. xxii. (1495) 70 Oute of a denne of the lyfte syde of the herte comyth a veyne. 1615Crooke Body of Man 609 The implanted Ayre concluded within the dennes or cauities of the Eares. 1683Snape 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).
1621G. 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.
1930Survey 15 Dec. 330/1 In each neighborhood is a ‘den’ where the boys meet. 1946Parents' Mag. Jan. 52/2 Our den elected to have refreshments at each meeting. 1965B. Grant Boy Scout Encycl. 51/2 A den is made up of from two to eight boys. 1985Stockholm 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.
1936National Republic Feb. 4/2 The *Den Mother is usually the kind of a mother whose yard..is usually full of boys anyway. 1961M. 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. 1976National 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. 1986B. 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.
c1375Sc. Leg. Saints, Egipciane 1110 To ȝour abbot, dene Iohne, say. c1425Wyntoun Cron. viii. x. 92 (Jam.) The Abbot of Abbyrbrothok than, Den Henry. c1450Holland Howlat 199 Gret Ganeris..That war demyt, but dowt, denyss douchty. 1552Lyndesay 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.
c1220Bestiary 36 Wu he dennede him in ðat defte meiden, Marie bi name. 1613Heywood Silver Age iii. Wks. 1874 III. 129 If he be den'd, Il'e rouze the monstrous beast. 1632Lithgow Trav. vii. 315 A pit digged to hide the Gunner..the Gunner lay denned, and durst not stirre. 1823Galt 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.)
1610G. Fletcher Christ's Vict. xiv, The sluggish saluages, that den belowe. 1722Dudley in Phil. Trans. XXXII. 295 They generally den among the Rocks in great Numbers together. 1843American 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. c1860Tom 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. 1894Home Miss. (N.Y.) Jan. 463 Our people..are inclined to ‘den up’ in the hot weather, as certain animals..do in the cold season. 1918Chambers'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.
1571Hanmer 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.
1622S. Ward Woe to Drunkards (1627) 45 In such townes this Serpent hath no nestling, no stabling, or denning. 1854Tait'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.
1375Barbour 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. |