plural hoards
: a supply or fund stored up and often hidden away
a hoard of cash
hoarded; hoarding; hoards
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
Virginia Woolfthe people outside disperse their affections, you hoard yours, you nurse them into intensity—Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad
: to collect and often hide away a supply of something
specifically
: to engage in compulsive hoarding
One thing people who hoard have in common is a skewed perceived value of possessions. —Connie McDougall
Connie McDougall
plural hoards
: a temporary board fence put around a building being erected or repaired : hoarding entry 2 sense 1
Examples of hoard in a Sentence
Noun (1)
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
Chuck Palahniuk, Vulture, 13 Nov. 2025
That cash hoard provides a substantial downside cushion, and consequently makes selling downside puts a less risky affair.
—Michael Khouw, CNBC, 30 Oct. 2025
Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2025
The lawsuit, filed by former Attorney General Eric Schmitt, accused China of hoarding masks and other protective gear during the pandemic that would have slowed the virus’s spread.
—Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 20 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hoard
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Noun
There was Le Art Mal, wherein the Society spent months gathering hideous paintings and showcased them in a failing gallery, duping hoards of snobs into a fake opening, complete with bad cheese and red wine.
—Chuck Palahniuk, Vulture, 13 Nov. 2025
That cash hoard provides a substantial downside cushion, and consequently makes selling downside puts a less risky affair.
—Michael Khouw, CNBC, 30 Oct. 2025
Verb
While billions of pennies remain in circulation, shortages are expected as coins are lost, removed from circulation by collectors or hoarded.
—Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2025
The lawsuit, filed by former Attorney General Eric Schmitt, accused China of hoarding masks and other protective gear during the pandemic that would have slowed the virus’s spread.
—Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 20 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hoard
Cite this Entry
“Hoard.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hoard. Accessed 24 Nov. 2025.
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