Dun noun [ See Dune .] A mound or small hill.

Dun transitive verb To cure, as codfish, in a particular manner, by laying them, after salting, in a pile in a dark place, covered with salt grass or some like substance.

Dun (dŭn) transitive verb & i. [ imperfect & past participle Dunned (dŭnd); present participle & verbal noun Dunning (dŭn"nĭng).] [ Anglo-Saxon dyne noise, dynian to make a noise, or from Icelandic dynr , duna , noise, thunder, duna to thunder; the same word as English din . √74. See Din .] To ask or beset, as a debtor, for payment; to urge importunately.

Hath she sent so soon to dun ?

Swift.

Dun noun
1. One who duns; a dunner.

To be pulled by the sleeve by some rascally dun .

Arbuthnot.

2. An urgent request or demand of payment; as, he sent his debtor a dun .

Dun adjective [ Anglo-Saxon dunn , of Celtic origin; confer W. dwn , Ir. & Gael. donn .] Of a dark color; of a color partaking of a brown and black; of a dull brown color; swarthy.

Summer's dun cloud comes thundering up.

Pierpont.

Chill and dun
Falls on the moor the brief November day.

Keble.

Dun crow (Zoology) , the hooded crow; -- so called from its color; -- also called hoody , and hoddy . -- Dun diver (Zoology) , the goosander or merganser.

Dunbird noun [ Named from its color.] (Zoology) (a) The pochard; -- called also dunair , and dunker , or dun- curre . (b) An American duck; the ruddy duck.

Dunce noun [ From Joannes Duns Scotus, a schoolman called the Subtle Doctor , who died in 1308. Originally in the phrase "a Duns man". See Note below.] One backward in book learning; a child or other person dull or weak in intellect; a dullard; a dolt.

I never knew this town without dunces of figure.

Swift.

» The schoolmen were often called, after their great leader Duns Scotus, Dunsmen or Duncemen . In the revival of learning they were violently opposed to classical studies; hence, the name of Dunce was applied with scorn and contempt to an opposer of learning, or to one slow at learning, a dullard.

Duncedom noun The realm or domain of dunces. [ Jocose] Carlyle.

Duncery noun Dullness; stupidity.

Duncical adjective Like a dunce; duncish.

The most dull and duncical commissioner.

Fuller.

Duncify transitive verb [ Dunce + -fy .] To make stupid in intellect. [ R.] Bp. Warburton.

Duncish adjective Somewhat like a dunce. [ R.]

-- Dun"cish*ness , noun [ R.]

Dunder noun [ Confer Spanish redundar to overflow.] The lees or dregs of cane juice, used in the distillation of rum. [ West Indies]

The use of dunder in the making of rum answers the purpose of yeast in the fermentation of flour.

B. Edwards.

Dunder-headed adjective Thick-headed; stupid.

Dunderhead noun [ Prov. Eng. also dunderpoll , from dunder , same as thunder .] A dunce; a numskull; a blockhead. Beau. & Fl.

Dunderpate noun See Dunderhead .

Dune noun [ The same word as down : confer Dutch duin . See Down a bank of sand.] A low hill of drifting sand usually formed on the coats, but often carried far inland by the prevailing winds. [ Written also dun .]

Three great rivers, the Rhine, the Meuse, and the Scheldt, had deposited their slime for ages among the dunes or sand banks heaved up by the ocean around their mouths.

Motley.

Dunfish noun Codfish cured in a particular manner, so as to be of a superior quality.

Dung noun [ Anglo-Saxon dung ; akin to German dung , dünger , Old High German tunga , Swedish dynga ; confer Icelandic dyngja heap, Danish dynge , Middle High German tunc underground dwelling place, orig., covered with dung. Confer Dingy .] The excrement of an animal. Bacon.

Dung transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Dunged ; present participle & verbal noun Dunging .]
1. To manure with dung. Dryden.

2. (Calico Print.) To immerse or steep, as calico, in a bath of hot water containing cow dung; -- done to remove the superfluous mordant.

Dung intransitive verb To void excrement. Swift.

Dungaree noun A coarse kind of unbleached cotton stuff. [ Written also dungari .] [ India]

Dungeon noun [ Middle English donjoun highest tower of a castle, tower, prison, French donjon tower or platform in the midst of a castle, turret, or closet on the top of a house, a keep of a castle, Late Latin domnio , the same word as Late Latin dominus lord. See Dame , Don , and confer Dominion , Domain , Demesne , Danger , Donjon .] A close, dark prison, common..., under ground, as if the lower apartments of the donjon or keep of a castle, these being used as prisons.

Down with him even into the deep dungeon .

Tyndale.

Year after year he lay patiently in a dungeon .

Macaulay.

Dungeon transitive verb To shut up in a dungeon. Bp. Hall.

Dungfork noun A fork for tossing dung.

Dunghill noun
1. A heap of dung.

2. Any mean situation or condition; a vile abode.

He . . . lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill .

1. Sam. ii. 8.

Dunghill fowl , a domestic fowl of common breed.

Dungmeer noun [ Dung + (prob.) meer a pool.] A pit where dung and weeds rot for manure.

Dungy adjective Full of dung; filthy; vile; low. Shak.

Dungyard noun A yard where dung is collected.

Dunker noun [ German tunken to dip.] One of a religious denomination whose tenets and practices are mainly those of the Baptists, but partly those of the Quakers; -- called also Tunkers , Dunkards , Dippers , and, by themselves, Brethren , and German Baptists .

» The denomination was founded in Germany in 1708, but after a few years the members emigrated to the United States.

Seventh-day Dunkers , a sect which separated from the Dunkers and formed a community, in 1728. They keep the seventh day or Saturday as the Sabbath.

Dunlin noun [ Prob. of Celtic origin; confer Gael. dun hill (E. dune ), and linne pool, pond, lake, English lin .] (Zoology) A species of sandpiper ( Tringa alpina ); -- called also churr , dorbie , grass bird , and red-backed sandpiper . It is found both in Europe and America.

Dunnage noun [ Confer Dun a mound.] (Nautical) Fagots, boughs, or loose materials of any kind, laid on the bottom of the hold for the cargo to rest upon to prevent injury by water, or stowed among casks and other cargo to prevent their motion.

Dunner noun [ From Dun to ask payment from.] One employed in soliciting the payment of debts.

Dunnish adjective Inclined to a dun color. Ray.

Dunnock noun [ Confer Dun , adjective ] (Zoology) The hedge sparrow or hedge accentor. [ Local, Eng.]

Dunny adjective Deaf; stupid. [ Prov. Eng.]

My old dame Joan is something dunny , and will scarce know how to manage.

Sir W. Scott.

Dunt noun [ Dint .] A blow. [ Obsolete] R. of Glouc.

Dunted adjective Beaten; hence, blunted. [ Obsolete]

Fencer's swords . . . having the edge dunted .

Fuller.

Dunter noun (Zoology) A porpoise. [ Scott.]

Dunter goose (Zoology) the eider duck. J. Brand.

Duo noun [ Italian duo , from Latin duo two. See Duet .] (Mus.) A composition for two performers; a duet.

Duodecahedral adjective , Du`o*dec`a*he"dron noun See Dodecahedral , and Dodecahedron .

Duodecennial adjective [ Latin duodecennis ; duodecim twelve + annus year.] Consisting of twelve years. [ R.] Ash.

Duodecimal adjective [ Latin duodecim twelve. See Dozen .] Proceeding in computation by twelves; expressed in the scale of twelves. -- Du`o*dec"i*mal*ly , adverb

Duodecimal noun
1. A twelfth part; as, the duodecimals of an inch.

2. plural (Architecture) A system of numbers, whose denominations rise in a scale of twelves, as of feet and inches. The system is used chiefly by artificers in computing the superficial and solid contents of their work.

Duodecimfid adjective [ Latin duodecim twelve + findere to cleave.] Divided into twelve parts.

Duodecimo adjective [ Latin in duodecimo in twelfth, from duodecimus twelfth , fr . duodecim twelve. See Dozen .] Having twelve leaves to a sheet; as, a duodecimo from, book, leaf, size, etc.

Duodecimo noun ; plural Duodecimos A book consisting of sheets each of which is folded into twelve leaves; hence, indicating, more or less definitely, a size of a book; -- usually written 12mo or 12°.

Duodecuple adjective [ Latin duo two + ... decuple .] Consisting of twelves. Arbuthnot.

Duodenal adjective [ Confer French duodénal .] Of or pertaining to the duodenum; as, duodenal digestion.

Duodenary adjective [ Latin duodenarius , from duodeni twelve each: confer French duodénaire .] Containing twelve; twelvefold; increasing by twelves; duodecimal.

Duodenum noun [ New Latin , from duodeni twelve each: confer French duodenum . So called because its length is about twelve fingers' breadth.] (Anat.) The part of the small intestines between the stomach and the jejunum. See Illust. of Digestive apparatus , under Digestive .