Meaning

A cattle-fort; a building used to shelter cattle..

Definitions by Sense

1. A cattle-fort; a building used to shelter cattle.
2. A defensive wall built around a tower house. It was once used to protect livestock during an attack.
3. Pronunciation spelling of born.

Example Sentences

The Grand Question Debated Whether Hamilton's Bawn Should be Turned into a Barrack or a Malt-house − 1729 This Hamilton's bawn, while it sticks in my hand, / I lose by the house what I get by the land; / But how to dispose of it to the best bidder, / For a barrack or malthouse, we now must consider.

When he was coming into the bawn at dinner-time, what work did he find Jack at but pulling armfuls of the thatch off the roof, and peeping into the holes he was making?

But these round hills and square bawnes, which you see so strongly trenched and throwne up

He [...] then made his way to where he belonged in Bronding country, home again, sure of his ground in strongroom and bawn.

The cattle, therefore, would be brought into the bawn at night, as is stated by the early 17th-century writer Fynes Moryson who wrote that the Irish cattle “eat only by day, and then are brought at evening within the bawns of castles, where they stand or lie all night in a dirty yard without so much as a lock of hay.”

Bofe de same age, sir—five months. Bawn de fust o' Feb'uary.

But ef it has ter be prove' ter folks w'at wa'n't bawn en raise' in dis naberhood, dey is a' easy way ter prove it.

Yah! You oughter bin bawn a Christian, you ought. You knaow too mach.

Word Forms

• bawns

Related Words

When Should You Use Bawn?

Use bawn when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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