Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A loud wailing or lament for the dead.
- intransitive verb To wail in lamentation, especially for the dead. synonym: cry.
- adjective Having a fine, sharp cutting edge or point.
- adjective Having or marked by intellectual quickness and acuity. synonym: sharp.
- adjective Acutely sensitive.
- adjective Sharp; vivid; strong.
- adjective Intense or bracing.
- adjective Pungent; acrid.
- adjective Ardent; enthusiastic.
- adjective Eagerly desirous.
- adjective Slang Great; splendid; fine.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A loud lamentation made over the dead; a wailing.
- noun The angle to which the wire tooth of card-clothing is bent between the foundation material and the point.
- Bold; daring; brave; active: applied to men.
- Grim; fierce; savage; rapacious: applied to wild animals.
- Vehement; earnest; eager; ardent; fierce; animated by or showing strong feeling or desire: as, a keen fighter; to be keen at a bargain.
- Such as to cut or penetrate easily; having a very sharp point or edge; sharp; acute: as, a keen edge.
- Sharp or irritating to the body or the mind; acutely harsh or painful; biting; stinging; tingling.
- Having a cutting or incisive character or effect; penetrating; vigorous; energetic; vivid; intense: as, keen eyes; a keen look; a keen rebuke; keen-witted.
- Having or manifesting great mental acuteness; characterized by great quickness or penetration of thought; sharply perceptive: as, a keen logician or debater; keen insight.
- To make keen or sharp; sharpen.
- To chap, as the hands.
- To make a loud lamentation over the dead; lament; wail.
- To wail over any loss, or in anticipation of loss.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb Ireland To wail as a keener does.
- noun Ireland A prolonged wail for a deceased person. Cf.
coranach . - adjective Sharp; having a fine edge or point.
- adjective Acute of mind; sharp; penetrating; having or expressing mental acuteness
- adjective Bitter; piercing; acrimonious; cutting; stinging; severe.
- adjective Piercing; penetrating; cutting; sharp; -- applied to cold, wind, etc.
- adjective Eager; vehement; fierce.
- adjective slang Wonderful; delightful; marvelous.
- transitive verb rare To sharpen; to make cold.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective showing a
quick andardent willingness or responsiveness,enthusiastic ,eager ;interested ,intense . - adjective
vehement ;fierce ; as, a keen appetite. - adjective
sharp ; having afine edge or point. - adjective
acute of mind; sharp;penetrating ; having or expressing mental acuteness. - adjective
bitter ;piercing ;acrimonious ; cutting; stinging; severe; as, keen satire or sarcasm. - adjective
piercing ;penetrating ; cutting; sharp; -- applied to cold, wind, etc,; as, a keen wind; the cold is very keen. - adjective
Enthusiastic - adjective US, informal, dated
Marvelous . - adjective UK extremely low as to be
competitive . - adjective obsolete
brave ,courageous ;bold ,audacious . - verb transitive, rare To sharpen; to make cold.
- noun A prolonged
wail for a deceased person. - verb intransitive To utter a keen.
- verb transitive To utter with a loud wailing voice or wordless cry.
- verb transitive To mourn.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective having a sharp cutting edge or point
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
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Examples
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At the same time she had not keen, she had only absorbing feelings of her rights; there was nothing _keen_ in lady Ann; neither sense nor desire, neither hope nor fear, neither joy nor sorrow, neither love nor hate.
There & Back George MacDonald 1864
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Japan's prime minister is expressing what he calls keen remorse and heartfelt apologies for his country's role in World War II.
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Thomas, who is not what I call keen about golf, preferred to remain before the fire.
The Holiday Round 1919
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It was still raining in torrents after lunch, and Thomas, who is not what I call keen about golf, preferred to remain before the fire.
Happy Days 1919
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"They've got what they call a keen sense of humour, you know."
West Wind Drift George Barr McCutcheon 1897
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We remain keen to support the successful introduction of HD services on the DTT platform and are willing to consider a further round of consultation on the licence amendment if you could provide more information and evidence in the following three areas:
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My first surprise was to find him described as a keen, all-round sportsman.
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The party in keen to get Lib Dems blogging but it takes courage.
BritBlog Roundup 2006
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So keen is it to draw a parallel between the two periods that it shows a black-and-white photograph of a US tank in Saigon, artfully juxtaposed with a contemporary picture of an American tank in Baghdad.
They can't help it Richard 2006
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I have a certain keen sense of liberation, these days.
sionnach commented on the word keen
the verb keen, meaning to wail as if in mourning, derives from the Irish word 'caoineadh'
February 19, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word keen
Sionnach, is caoineadh pronounced the same as the English word keen?
October 18, 2007
sionnach commented on the word keen
c_b: Yes, modulo regional differences. It seems to me that the match would be closest in Ulster, whereas in Munster we would pronounce it closer to "queen".
October 18, 2007