hoard

noun

\ ˈhȯrd

Definition of hoard

(Entry 1 of 2)

: a supply or fund stored up and often hidden away a hoard of cash

hoard

verb

hoarded; hoarding; hoards

Definition of hoard (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to collect and often hide away a supply of : to accumulate a hoard (see hoard entry 1) of hoarding food

2 : to keep (something, such as one's thoughts) to oneself she hoarded her intention— Virginia Woolf the people outside disperse their affections, you hoard yours, you nurse them into intensity— Joseph Conrad

intransitive verb

: to collect and often hide away a supply of something : to accumulate a hoard (see hoard entry 1) a tendency to hoard

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Examples of hoard in a Sentence

Noun

a squirrel's hoard of nuts keeps a hoard of empty yogurt containers in his basement workshop for storing whatnots

Verb

he's been hoarding empty yogurt containers all winter, with the intention of using them to start seedlings in the spring

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Overseas inflows into Chinese government bonds this year nearly matched the entire hoard of Brazilian bonds held by foreigners, according to emerging-market asset manager Ashmore Group PLC. — Mike Bird, WSJ, "Battered Global Investors Find an Unlikely Safe Space: Chinese Bonds," 28 Dec. 2018 But with any type of spotlight and status comes a hoard of social media trolls. — Anna Moeslein, Glamour, "Everybody Loves Brittany," 20 Dec. 2018 Another photo showed a hoard of toddlers coming toward Kim. — Katherine Lam, Fox News, "Kim Jong Un's bizarre North Korea propaganda photos," 13 Aug. 2018 Once the Christmas branch was up and running, the next step in right-sizing my holiday was to rummage through The Box and edit my hoard of lights, ornaments, decorations and ephemera. — Al Kemp, The Seattle Times, "How I came to grips with a downsized Christmas," 12 Dec. 2018 Lankford's Grocery & Market At Lankford Grocery & Market in Montrose, an old-fashioned Coca-Cola underscores the divey atmosphere, and there are hoards of people trying to find an open picnic table. — Diana Oates, Condé Nast Traveler, "20 Best Restaurants in Houston," 1 Oct. 2018 Rumors of a gold hoard on the ship have swirled for decades, although the possibility of a sunken treasure has also been viewed with skepticism. — James Rogers, Fox News, "Sunken Imperial Russian warship may contain $130 billion in gold," 19 July 2018 After October’s decrease, the foreign-exchange hoard, the world’s largest, totaled $3.053 trillion, according to the data. — WSJ, "Strong Dollar Hits China’s Foreign-Exchange Reserves," 7 Nov. 2018 The audience continued to stand on their feet and a hoard of cameras and reporters looked on as the former first lady ticked off a list of motherly adorations. — Ashley Killough, CNN, "A mother-son story: How Barbara Bush tried to save Jeb's campaign," 21 Apr. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

The reason the collective rankings matter is because the top 10 recruiting classes tend to hoard the most promising players on the offensive and defensive lines. — Shawn Windsor, Detroit Free Press, "How Michigan, MSU can become playoff contender: Starts with trenches," 8 Jan. 2018 After all, not having to hoard old toilet paper tubes is priceless. — Eric Limer, Popular Mechanics, "Finally, A Nice-Looking Way to Store All Your Stupid Cables," 3 Aug. 2015 Sconces look great in larger rooms but tend to hoard wall space and limit options in small rooms. 6. — Colleen Egan, ELLE Decor, "How to Style Your Home Like a Staging Pro," 1 Apr. 2015 Don't hoard weights, use an extra bench as your desk or water bottle holder, and don’t work out right in front of the stack of dumbbells, Maietta says. — SELF, "Your Guide to Navigating the Free Weights at the Gym," 12 Jan. 2019 My only hoarding vice is saving birthday cards, letters, and ticket stubs that live in disorganized splendor in my night table drawer. — Lonnie Firestone, Glamour, "It Took a Fire in My Building to Understand Marie Kondo's Method," 15 Jan. 2019 The union argues that the district is hoarding reserves of $1.8 billion that could be used to fund the pay and staffing hikes. — Christopher Weber, The Seattle Times, "Parents wonder if kids are learning amid Los Angeles strike," 14 Jan. 2019 This super-tight economy is probably due to Bungie wanting to reduce the giant back stocks of resources some hardcore players have been hoarding. — Aaron Zimmerman, Ars Technica, "Destiny 2: Forsaken review: Hallelujah, Destiny’s back," 19 Sep. 2018 Some teams had been hoarding cap dollars for years in anticipation of a moment like this. — Andrew Beaton, WSJ, "The NFL’s Best Players Are Getting Richer Than Ever," 5 Sep. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hoard.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.