Dern
Definition, Meaning & Examples
Pronunciation /ˈdɜː(ɹ)n/ · Part of speech noun
Quick meaning: Dern is a noun meaning (transitive, obsolete) To hide; secrete, as in a hole.
Meaning
(transitive, obsolete) To hide; secrete, as in a hole.
More Meanings
- (intransitive, obsolete) To hide oneself; skulk.
- (UK) A gatepost or doorpost.
- (obsolete) A secret; secrecy.
- (obsolete) A secret place; hiding.
- (obsolete) An obscure language.
- (obsolete) Darkness; obscurity.
- (obsolete, dialectal) Hidden; secret; private.
Example Sentences
He at length escaped them by derning himself in a fox-earth.
Through dreary beds of tangled fern, / Through groves of nightshade dark and dern.
But look how soon they heard of Holoferne / Their courage quail'd, and they began to derne.
Now with their backs to the den's mouth they sit, / Yet shoulder not all light from the dern pit.
Word Forms
- derns
- derning
- derned
Related Words
Related dictionary entries include dearn, durn, delve, drear, duello, degen.
Related Dictionary Tools
Sources & Attribution
FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.