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Horn

//hɔːn// name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Proper Noun

1
Cape Horn, at the southern tip of South America.
"Sailing around the Horn was an arduous journey for sailing ships."
2
A surname. countable, uncountable
3
The Horn of Africa, a peninsula of Africa which juts into the Arabian Sea.
"At the same time, it would be erroneous to exaggerate U.S. interests, to overreact to political developments in the Horn, or to adopt imprudent policies based on emotional reactions to Soviet and Cuban involvement."
4
A former civil parish in Rutland, England, abolished in 2016 on the formation of Exton and Horn parish. countable, uncountable
5
An unincorporated community in Dawes County, Nebraska, United States. countable, uncountable

Noun

1
A hard growth of keratin that protrudes from the top of the head of certain animals, usually paired. countable
2
one of the bony outgrowths on the heads of certain ungulates wordnet
3
Any similar real or imaginary growth or projection such as the elongated tusk of a narwhal, the eyestalk of a snail, the pointed growth on the nose of a rhinoceros, or the hornlike projection on the head of a demon or similar. countable, uncountable
4
any hard protuberance from the head of an organism that is similar to or suggestive of a horn wordnet
5
An antler. countable, uncountable

Show 29 more definitions

6
a device on an automobile for making a warning noise wordnet
7
The hard substance from which animals' horns are made, sometimes used by man as a material for making various objects. uncountable
"an umbrella with a handle made of horn"
8
a brass musical instrument with a brilliant tone; has a narrow tube and a flared bell and is played by means of valves wordnet
9
A vessel made from a horn, to contain drink, ink, gunpowder, etc. countable, uncountable
"horns of mead and ale"
10
a brass musical instrument consisting of a conical tube that is coiled into a spiral and played by means of valves wordnet
11
An object whose shape resembles a horn, such as cornucopia or the point of an anvil.; One of the two corners of a crescent, particularly of the crescent moon countable, uncountable
"[W]hile riſing ſlow, / Blank, in the leaden-colour'd eaſt, the moon / Wears a wan circle round her blunted horns."
12
an alarm device that makes a loud warning sound wordnet
13
An object whose shape resembles a horn, such as cornucopia or the point of an anvil.; The high pommel of a saddle; also, either of the projections on a lady's saddle for supporting the leg. countable, uncountable
14
a high pommel of a Western saddle (usually metal covered with leather) wordnet
15
An object whose shape resembles a horn, such as cornucopia or the point of an anvil.; The Ionic volute. countable, uncountable
16
a noisemaker (as at parties or games) that makes a loud noise when you blow through it wordnet
17
An object whose shape resembles a horn, such as cornucopia or the point of an anvil.; The outer end of a crosstree; also, one of the projections forming the jaws of a gaff, boom, etc. countable, uncountable
18
a device having the shape of a horn wordnet
19
An object whose shape resembles a horn, such as cornucopia or the point of an anvil.; A curved projection on the fore part of a plane. countable, uncountable
20
a noise made by the driver of an automobile to give warning wordnet
21
An object whose shape resembles a horn, such as cornucopia or the point of an anvil.; One of the projections at the four corners of the Jewish altar of burnt offering. countable, uncountable
"Joab […] caught hold on the horns of the altar"
22
the material (mostly keratin) that covers the horns of ungulates and forms hooves and claws and nails wordnet
23
Any of several musical wind instruments. countable
24
An instrument resembling a musical horn and used to signal others. countable
"hunting horn"
25
A loud alarm, especially one on a motor vehicle. countable
26
A sound signaling the expiration of time. countable, uncountable
"The shot was after the horn and therefore did not count."
27
A conical device used to direct waves. countable
"antenna horn"
28
Generally, any brass wind instrument. countable, informal
29
A telephone. countable, slang
"Get him on the horn so that we can have a discussion about this."
30
An erection of the penis. countable, slang, uncountable, vulgar, with-definite-article
31
A peninsula or projecting tract of land. countable
"to navigate around the horn"
32
A diacritical mark that may be attached to the top right corner of the letters o and u when writing in Vietnamese, thus forming ơ and ư. countable
33
An incurved, tapering and pointed appendage found in the flowers of the milkweed (Asclepias). countable, uncountable
34
In naval mine warfare, a projection from the mine shell of some contact mines which, when broken or bent by contact, causes the mine to fire. countable, uncountable

Verb

1
To assault with the horns. transitive
2
stab or pierce with a horn or tusk wordnet
3
To furnish with horns. transitive
4
To cuckold. obsolete, slang, transitive
5
To sound the horn of a motor vehicle; to honk. India, Singapore, intransitive
", His Precious Gem He horned five times but the man didn't moved his car away."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English horn, horne, from Old English horn, from Proto-West Germanic *horn, from Proto-Germanic *hurną. Compare West Frisian hoarn, Dutch hoorn, Low German Hoorn, horn, German Horn, Danish and Swedish horn, Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌽 (haurn). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥h₂-nó-m, from *ḱerh₂- (“head, horn”). Compare Breton kern (“horn”), Latin cornū, Ancient Greek κέρας (kéras), Proto-Slavic *sьrna, Old Church Slavonic сьрна (sĭrna, “roedeer”), Hittite [script needed] (surna, “horn”), Persian سر (sar), Sanskrit शृङ्ग (śṛṅga, “horn”). Doublet of corn (“callus”), corno, and cornu. (telephone): From the horn-shaped earpieces of old communication systems that used air tubes.

Etymology 2

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