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horn Definition

horn (hôrn)

noun

    1. a hard, hollow, bony or keratinous, permanent projection that grows on the head of various hoofed animals, esp. bovid ruminants
    2. an antler
  2. 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.
  3. the projections imagined as growing on the brow of a cuckold
    1. the substance that horns are made of
    2. any similar, now often synthetic, substance
    1. a container made by hollowing out a horn a powder horn
    2. a drink contained in a horn
  6. cornucopia
  7. anything shaped like or suggesting a horn; specif.,
    1. a peninsula or cape
    2. either end of a crescent
    3. the pointed part of an anvil
    4. ☆ a projection above the pommel of a cowboy's saddle
    1. an instrument made of horn and sounded by blowing, as the shofar
    2. any brass instrument; specif., French horn
    3. ☆ Jazz any wind instrument
  9. a device with a kind of blaring sound for signaling or warning
  10. Bible an emblem of glory, strength, or honor
  11. Electronics
    1. a horn-shaped speaker
    2. a horn-shaped antenna
  12. 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

  1. to strike, butt, or gore with the horns
  2. to furnish with horns
  3. Archaic to cuckold

adjective

made of horn horn-rimmed glasses

horn Related Forms

horn′·less adjective horn′·like′ adjective

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
  1. to hold oneself back; restrain one's impulses or efforts
  2. 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.

  1. 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;

  2. 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.

  3. The material comprising horns, sense 2

    keratin, elastin, epidermal tissue, corneous matter, corneate matter.

blow one's own horn*

praise oneself, gloat, brag; see boast 1.

lock horns

disagree, conflict, defy; see oppose 1.

on the horns of a dilemma

torn between two alternatives, having to make a difficult decision, between the devil and the deep blue sea*, between a rock and a hard place; see in trouble at trouble.

pull <strong>or </strong>draw<strong> or </strong>haul in one's horns

withdraw, recant, hold oneself back; see restrain 1.

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.