1
: the lair of a wild usually predatory animal
2
a(1)
: a hollow or cavern used especially as a hideout
(2)
: a center of secret activity
b
: a small usually squalid dwelling
3
: a comfortable usually secluded room
4
: a subdivision of a Cub Scout pack made up of two or more boys
5
British
: a small structure built by children as a place to play, hide, or provide shelter
We roamed the fields and made dens in the hedges, dragging old logs and brushwood with scraps of canvas and rope to make shelters to hide in.—
Pat Smith
Pat Smith
denned; denning
: to live in or retire to a den
polar bears den in ice caves or snowdrifts
: to drive into a den
Denmark
Examples of den in a Sentence
Noun
The bears will spend most of the winter in their den.
The TV is in the den.
He spent most evenings in the den reading and smoking his pipe.
Recent Examples on the Web
Tom Layberger, Forbes.com, 14 May 2025
Recently, a den was discovered beneath the entryway, suggesting the snakes had been breeding undisturbed for years.
—Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 May 2025
Olivia Lloyd, Miami Herald, 31 Mar. 2025
Over the course of 6 years, Archer and her colleagues monitored 13 denning females in the Svalbard archipelago that had been fitted with tracking collars and used the collar data to pinpoint the locations of their dens.
—Bygennaro Tomma, science.org, 27 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for den
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Noun
Cable television was a gamechanger of gargantuan proportions as fans could watch, get this, home games on their television (likely color by then) in the comfort of their den.
—Tom Layberger, Forbes.com, 14 May 2025
Recently, a den was discovered beneath the entryway, suggesting the snakes had been breeding undisturbed for years.
—Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 May 2025
Verb
He would have been born in late fall or winter, which is typically a less common time for denning.
—Olivia Lloyd, Miami Herald, 31 Mar. 2025
Over the course of 6 years, Archer and her colleagues monitored 13 denning females in the Svalbard archipelago that had been fitted with tracking collars and used the collar data to pinpoint the locations of their dens.
—Bygennaro Tomma, science.org, 27 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for den
Cite this Entry
“Den.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/den. Accessed 19 May. 2025.
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