Category:Den

Den, n. Etym: [AS. denn; perh. akin to G. tenne floor, thrashing floor, and to AS. denu valley.]

1. A small cavern or hollow place in the side of a hill, or among rocks; esp., a cave used by a wild beast for shelter or concealment; as, a lion's den; a den of robbers.

2. A squalid place of resort; a wretched dwelling place; a haunt; as, a den of vice. "Those squalid dens, which are the reproach of great capitals." Addison.

3. Any snug or close retreat where one goes to be alone. [Colloq.]

4. Etym: [AS. denu.]

Defn: A narrow glen; a ravine; a dell. [Old Eng. & Scotch] Shak.

den Den, v. i.

Defn: To live in, or as in, a den. The sluggish salvages that den below. G. Fletcher.

---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary.

Den - A liar of wild beasts (Psalms 10:9; Psalms 104:22; Job 37:8); the hole of a venomous reptile (Isaiah 11:8); a recess for secrecy "in dens and caves of the earth" (Hebrews 11:38); a resort of thieves (Matthew 21:13; Mark 11:17). Daniel was cast into "the den of lions" (Daniel 6:16, Daniel 6:17). Some recent discoveries among the ruins of Babylon have brought to light the fact that the practice of punishing offenders against the law by throwing them into a den of lions was common.