Crossword clues for midden
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Midden \Mid"den\, n. [Also midding.] [Cf. Dan. m["o]gdynge, E. muck, and dung.]
A dunghill. [Prov. Eng.]
An accumulation of refuse about a dwelling place; especially, an accumulation of shells or of cinders, bones, and other refuse on the supposed site of the dwelling places of prehistoric tribes, -- as on the shores of the Baltic Sea and in many other places. See Kitchen middens.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
n. 1 A dungheap. 2 A refuse heap usually near a dwelling. 3 (context archaeology English) A prehistoric pile of bones and shells.
WordNet
n. (archeology) a mound of domestic refuse containing shells and animal bones marking the site of a prehistoric settlement [syn: eitchen midden, kitchen midden]
a heap of dung or refuse [syn: dunghill, muckheap, muckhill]
Wikipedia
A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap; from early Scandinavian; Danish: mødding, Swedish regional: mödding) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, vermin, shells, sherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human occupation.
The word is of Scandinavian via Middle English derivation, and is today used by archaeologists worldwide to describe any kind of feature containing waste products relating to day-to-day human life. They may be convenient, single-use pits created by nomadic groups or long-term, designated dumps used by sedentary communities that accumulate over several generations.
These features, therefore, provide a useful resource for archaeologists who wish to study the diet and habits of past societies. Middens with damp, anaerobic conditions can even preserve organic remains in deposits as the debris of daily life are tossed on the pile. Each individual toss will contribute a different mix of materials depending upon the activity associated with that particular toss. During the course of deposition sedimentary material is deposited as well. Different mechanisms, from wind and water to animal digs, create a matrix which can also be analyzed to provide seasonal and climatic information. In some middens individual dumps of material can be discerned and analysed.
Midden is an old dump for domestic waste associated with past human occupation.
Midden may also refer to:
- Packrat midden, a debris pile constructed by a woodrat
- Privy midden, a toilet system that consisted of a privy associated with a midden (or middenstead)
- Midden (slang), in Scotland and Northern England, refers to anything that is a mess, including people
- Midden (farming), a place where farm yard manure from cows or other animals is collected
- Midden (burrow), ground burrows that are used mostly for food storage
- Dung midden, an animal toilet area or dunghill, also serving as a territorial marker
- Midden (anvil), sites where rocks or similar items are available as natural anvils on which the animals habitually break open the shells
- Octopus midden, a pile of debris that octopuses pile up to conceal the entrance of their dens
Usage examples of "midden".
Sometimes the wolves would slink into the Lesser Town and attack the almsfolk foraging for scraps in the middens, and sometimes an almsman would be discovered dead in the snow, half naked and frozen stiff, still clutching his staff, looking like a statue toppled from its pedestal.
Het zilveren theeservies in het midden van den heer De Woude: daar omheen al het zilver, al het kristal, al het fijn porselein, door verwanten en vrienden geofferd, terwijl het prachtig cadeau der beide neven Van Raat, Henk en Paul, een elegant ameublementje van dof blauw satijn voor den kleinen salon der jonggehuwden, de geheele serre, als het ware, encombreerde.
Coming, as I was noting, to see his new lands, he was obliged to pass through the clachan one day, when all the middens were gathered out, reeking and sappy, in the middle of the causey.
Enclosing the yard were two tumbledown ricks, a midden, several delapidated outbuildings, and a drying-ground, in which some more boys were threshing corn with flails.
Scherp te midden dier gedachten, gevoelde zij echter een vrees, hem aldus vroeg of laat te moeten verliezen.
Het was nu Mei geworden en schoon het nog een week geleden winter was geweest viel de zomer in het midden van die maand als zonder overgang in, met een schroeiende warmte.
The whiff of megathere manure wafts up from the kitchen gardens and middens, and the more fragrant smell of peat smoke drifts from chimneys.
Het spijt me dat ik u niet meteen heb gebeld, maar het was midden in de nacht en ik was nog niet zeker van mijn zaak, niet helemaal.
Dikwijls, zonder de minste aanleiding, doemde die verwondering bij hem op, te midden van de vroolijkheid der anderen en zij vulde hem met een groote verveling bij de gedachte aan het onherroepelijke noodlot, dat hij steeds Vincent Vere was en wezen zou, dat hij nimmer herboren kon worden in een geheel ander schepsel, dat ademde onder geheel andere omstandigheden in een geheel anderen kring.
Keff, even sustainable technology could take care of that midden heap in a more aesthetic and less odiferous fashion.
Douray moor were often reested in the middle of the causey, and on more than one occasion some of them laired altogether in the middens, and others of them broke down.
Toen Emilio midden in de morgen het terras opliep en slaperig in zijn gezicht wreef, probeerden George en Sofia te bepalen of ze een soort touwladder konden maken waarmee iemand uit de Ultra-Light kon springen terwijl zij met de laagst mogelijke snelheid over de open plek vloog, die dan het struikgewas kon verwijderen voordat zij probeerde te landen.
Over the last twenty years, the worldwide net had come to be a midden of bogus sites and recursive fraudulence.
Hij had een Spaans sikje, een olijfkleurige huid, steil zwart haar met een scheiding in het midden, hoge en brede jukbeenderen en een verbazend fijne kin.
Still grinning, he followed the freshest tracks away from the midden, hoping for a sighting, and had gone only half a mile when just beyond the wall of grey impenetrable bush that flanked the narrow trail, there was a sudden hissing, churring outcry of alarm calls and a cloud of brown oxpeckers rose above the scrub.