I. ˈdən adjective
( often dunner ; dunnest )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English dunn — more at dusk
1.
a. : having a dun color
b. of a horse : exhibiting reduced hair pigmentation usually accompanied by black points and dorsal stripe so that a basically black coat becomes pale grayish, a bay becomes yellowish, or a sorrel becomes pale and drab
2. : marked by dullness and drabness : dark , gloomy
the dun and dreary prairie — Laura Krey
when dun clouds flooded the naked plains with foul remorseless rains — Edmund Blunden
the dun professorial period of his life — V.L.Parrington
• dun·ness ˈdənnə̇s noun -es
II. transitive verb
( dunned ; dunned ; dunning ; duns )
Etymology: Middle English dunnen, from Old English dunnian, from dunn, adjective
1. : to make dun colored : darken
2. : to cure (as codfish) by the method formerly common in New England of salting, laying in a pile in a dark place, and covering (as with salt grass)
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from dun, adjective
1. : a dun horse
2. : a variable color averaging a nearly neutral slightly brownish dark gray and ranging from red to yellow in hue
3.
a. : the subimago of a mayfly ; also : an artificial fly tied to imitate such an insect
b. : caddis fly
IV. transitive verb
( dunned ; dunned ; dunning ; duns )
Etymology: origin unknown
1. : to make persistent demands upon (as for money) : ask for repeatedly
the grocer dunned that customer monthly by mail and by telephone for payment of his bill
some organizations are always dunning their members for contributions
2. : to plague or pester constantly
dunned by troubles literary and monetary — Irish Digest
hear her dun him for a secret — Edith Sitwell
V. noun
( -s )
1. : dunner 1
2. : an urgent request ; especially : a demand for payment
VI. ˈdün noun
( -s )
Etymology: Scottish Gaelic & Irish Gaelic dūn, from Old Irish — more at down
: a fortified residence in Scotland and Ireland surrounded by two or more concentric circular earthen mounds with a deep moat filled with water between them or a wall and a circular mound fortified with palisades