lion's den

English

Alternative forms

• lion's-den

Etymology

From Daniel in the lions' den, chapter 6 of the Book of Daniel.

Pronunciation

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Noun

lion's den (plural lions' dens)

1. (idiomatic) Any dangerous or frightening place.
   • 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter XL, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:

     Mrs. Bowls cautioned her lodger against venturing into the lion's den, "wherein you will rue it, Miss B., mark my words, and as sure as my name is Bowls."

   • 1913, Sax Rohmer, chapter 24, in The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu:

     Despite the girl's assurance, we knew that proximity to the sinister Chinaman must be fraught with danger. We stood, not in the lion's den, but in the serpent's lair.

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see lion,‎ den.

Synonyms

• dragon's den

Translations

a dangerous or frightening place

• Catalan: fossa dels lleons
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 龍潭／龙潭 (zh) (lóngtán) (dragon's pool), 虎穴 (zh) (hǔxué) (tiger's den)

• Dutch: hol van de leeuw n
• French: gueule du loup f, fosse aux lions (fr)
• German: Höhle des Löwen f
• Italian: antro (it) m, tana (it) f, covo (it) m, fossa del leone f, fossa dei leoni
• Japanese: 虎穴 (ja) (koketsu) (tiger's den)
• Polish: w paszczy lwa
• Portuguese: cova dos leões
• Romanian: groapa cu lei
• Russian: во́лчье ло́гово n (vólčʹje lógovo) (wolf's lair)
• Spanish: foso de los leones
• Swedish: lejonkula
• Turkish: kurtlar sofrası

Anagrams

• indenols