midden

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noun mid·den \ ˈmi-dᵊn \

Definition of midden

1 :dunghill

2 a :a refuse heap; especially :kitchen midden

b :a small pile (as of seeds, bones, or leaves) gathered by a rodent (such as a pack rat)

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Recent Examples of midden from the Web

Shell middens are layers of cooking remains, particularly bones, shell and grease, deposited through years of human use of a site.

— lynda v. mapes, The Seattle Times, "Land transfer brings closure to Lummi tribe 20 years after ancestors’ remains disturbed," 30 June 2017
Erosion has already washed away cemeteries and historic Native American sites, called middens, along the state's coast.

— sara sneath, NOLA.com, "Iceland's coastal erosion threatens Viking artifacts: report," 30 May 2017
The menu has ranged from mammoth to lemurs to seafood, scattered through caves and collected in middens.

— brian switek, Smithsonian, "Why Paleontologists Should Love Meat-Eaters," 30 Jan. 2017
Marneweck and colleagues tracked more than 200 individual white rhinos in South Africa from different populations and took samples of their poop after the animals visited their middens.

— carrie arnold, National Geographic, "Rhinos Use Poop Piles Like a Social Network," 11 Jan. 2017

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

Origin and Etymology of midden

Middle English midding, from Old Norse *mykdyngja, from myki dung + dyngja manure pile — more at dung

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First Known Use: 14th century

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