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keen2

Syllabification: (keen)
Pronunciation: /kēn/
Translate keen | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of keen

verb

[no object]
  • wail in grief for a dead person; sing a keen.
  • (usually as noun keening) make an eerie wailing sound:the keening of the cold night wind

noun

  • an Irish funeral song accompanied by wailing in lamentation for the dead.

Origin:

mid 19th century: from Irish caoinim 'I wail'

keen in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of keen in the British & World English dictionary

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