horn Definition
horn (hôrn)
noun
- a hard, hollow, bony or keratinous, permanent projection that grows on the head of various hoofed animals, esp. bovid ruminants
- an antler
- anything that protrudes naturally from the head of an animal, as one of the tentacles of a snail, a tuft of feathers on certain birds, etc.
- the projections imagined as growing on the brow of a cuckold
- the substance that horns are made of
- any similar, now often synthetic, substance
- a container made by hollowing out a horn a powder horn
- a drink contained in a horn
- cornucopia
- anything shaped like or suggesting a horn; specif.,
- a peninsula or cape
- either end of a crescent
- the pointed part of an anvil
- ☆ a projection above the pommel of a cowboy's saddle
- an instrument made of horn and sounded by blowing, as the shofar
- any brass instrument; specif., French horn
- ☆ Jazz any wind instrument
- a device with a kind of blaring sound for signaling or warning
- Bible an emblem of glory, strength, or honor
- Electronics
- a horn-shaped speaker
- a horn-shaped antenna
- Geol. a jagged mountain peak resulting from the erosion of several cirques, as the Matterhorn in the Alps
Etymology: ME < OE, akin to Ger < IE base *er-, upper part of the body, head > L cornu, Gr keras
transitive verb
- to strike, butt, or gore with the horns
- to furnish with horns
- Archaic to cuckold
adjective
made of horn horn-rimmed glasses
horn Related Forms
horn Idioms
around the horn
☆Baseball (thrown) from third base to second to first in trying for a double play
blow one's own horn
☆Informal to praise oneself; boast
horn in (on)
☆to intrude or meddle (in)
lock horns
☆ to have a disagreement or conflict
on the horns of a dilemma
having to make a choice between two things, both usually unpleasant
pull in one's horns
or draw in one's horns or haul in one's horns- to hold oneself back; restrain one's impulses or efforts
- to back down; become less dogmatic, positive, zealous, etc.
the horn
☆ Informal the telephone
Horn Definition
Horn (hôrn)
cape on an island (Horn Island) in Tierra del Fuego, Chile: southernmost point of South America
horn Synonyms
horn
n.
A wind instrument
woodwind, brass instrument, trumpet, air horn, electric horn. see also musical instrument.Types of horns include: bugle, trumpet, trombone, cornet, fluegelhorn, French horn, baritone, tuba, sax-tuba, saxophone, sousaphone, brass tuba, bombardon, serpent, alpenhorn, hunting horn, bass horn, conch, lure, ram's horn, shofar;
Hard growth on the head of certain animals
tusk, antler, rack, outgrowth, pronghorn, hornbill, frontal bone, epiphysis, apophysis, quill, corniculum, spine, spike, corniplume, point, cornu, cornicle, cornule; see also bone, tooth 1.The material comprising horns, sense 2
keratin, elastin, epidermal tissue, corneous matter, corneate matter.
blow one's own horn*
lock horns
on the horns of a dilemma
pull <strong>or </strong>draw<strong> or </strong>haul in one's horns
horn Usage Examples
Converse of object
- honk: You can alert others by honking a car horn or loudly describing what is happening.
- blare: Ignoring traffic, blaring horns and fingered salutes, we kissed on cheeks, then lips and hips gridlocked.
- toot: We drove all around Birmingham and tooted the horn at people in the street!
- beep: But when Laurie Anderson composed a drive-in concert of motorists beeping car horns, she was being creative.
Adjective modifier
- dorsal: The dorsal horns are where sensory neurons enter the spinal cord.
- anterior: This histological and MRI evidence of lesions indicates that the polio virus both damaged and destroyed neurons in CNS territories beyond the anterior horn.
- posterior: Logged Torn ACL, stable, medial meniscus tear of posterior horn.
Modifies a noun
loudspeaker: The company's advert featured a stereo anaglyph showing a type ' F ' table model and horn loudspeaker in a customer's house.
Noun used with modifier
- flugel: Steve Drury is available to assist you on cornet or flugel horn.
- buffalo: I used a piece of black buffalo horn to make a knob, capped with a slice of lilac wood.
- tenor: When he joined the full band he changed to the tenor horn as 1st horn.
- rhino: Rhino horn has proven to be very valuable on the black market.
- basset: Mendelssohn wrote two concert pieces for clarinet, basset horn and pianoforte dedicated to father and son Baermann.
- fog: There's fog horns, there's a piece of the Mozart Requiem, you name it.
Possessives
ram: Medallions of the king ever after showed him crowned with the ram's horns of kingship and divinity.
Preposition: of
- meniscus: It has a number of distal attachments: ( i)The posterior horn of lateral meniscus via a muscular attachment.
- consecration: Jucktas that we had glimpsed through the horns of consecration at Knossos.
- dilemma: This week's secret I am on the horns of a dilemma.
- altar: Flee out of your lost and miserable condition, flee to " the horns of the altar.
- ox: The horns of the male musk ox are larger than those of the female.
Browse dictionary entries near horn
- ‹ Hormuz
- ‹ hormone
- ‹ horizontal union
- ‹ horizontal spread
- ‹ horizontal privity
- ‹ horizontal cable
- ‹ horizontal bar
- ‹ horizontal agreement
- ‹ horizontal
- ‹ horizon
- horn fly ›
- horn in (on) ›
- horn-mad ›
- Horn of Africa ›
- horn of plenty ›
- horn silver ›
- hornbeam ›
- hornbill ›
- hornblende ›
- hornbook ›

