keened

[ keen ]

SEE DEFINITION OF keened

as inhowl
as inmoan
as inmourn
as inwail
as inweep
as inululate
as incry
as ingrieve
as ingroan

Synonyms for keened

MOST RELEVANT

EXAMPLES FROM THE WEB FOR KEENED

And then Brigit came and keened her son with shrieking and with crying.

And they buried him, and put a flag-stone over his grave, and keened him there.

On other rolls, she keened and chanted oddly to herself, eyes closed, and pinched down most of the stock.

Pheola moaned, then keened, and waved her hands in front of her face, as if to ward off a swarm of bees.

From behind the first keened once more that ghastly and smothered escape of suffering, scarcely audible.

WORD ORIGIN

c.1200, from Old English cene "bold brave," later "clever, wise," from Proto-Germanic *kan- "be able to" (see can). Original prehistoric senses seem to have been both "brave" and "skilled;" cognate with Old Norse kænn "skillful, wise," Middle Dutch coene "bold," Dutch koen, Old High German kuon "pugnacious, strong," German kühn "bold, daring." Sense of "eager" is from mid-14c. The meaning "sharp" is peculiar to English: of blades and edges early 13c., of sounds c.1400, of eyesight c.1720. A popular word of approval in teenager and student slang from c.1900.