duns

Noun (1)

dun (usually uncountable, plural duns)

1. (usually) A brownish grey colour.

   Synonyms:

   claybank

Noun (2)

dun (plural duns)

1. (countable) A collector of debts, especially one who is insistent and demanding.
   • "The truth is, Mr. Curl, I cannot write when I am plagued about trifles; and a tiresome dun this morning put to flight every idea that I had in the world."
     "Mr. Maynard," said the bookseller, in a solemn tone, "it is very wrong to run in debt."1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 162–163
2. An urgent request or demand of payment.
   • Miss Hoppin received a dun for volume 9 1840–1 which Mr. James McConnell, (who now pays the above) is sure was paid.1842, A.B.G., “Errata”, in Evangelical Magazine and Gospel Advocate, volume 13, →OCLC, page 251

Noun (3)

dun (plural duns)

1. (countable) A newly hatched, immature mayfly; a mayfly subimago.
   • Also, duns are dull and generally sober colored, whilst spinners are more brightly colored and shining and their wings are clear and transparent.1966, John Harris, An Angler's Entomology, New York: Barnes, →OCLC, page 16
2. (countable) A fly made to resemble the mayfly subimago.
   • We have besides for this Month a little Dun call'd a whirling Dun (though it is not the whirling Dun indeed, which is one of the best Flies we have) and for this the dubbing must be of the bottom fur of a Squirrels tail and the wing of the grey feather of a Drake.1676, Charles Cotton, The Compleat Angler. Being Instructions how to Angle for a Trout or Grayling in a Clear Stream, London: Richard Marriott, and Henry Brome, →OCLC, March, page 59

Noun (4)

dun (plural duns)

1. An ancient or medieval fortification; especially a hill-fort in Scotland or Ireland.
   • Pampedun, or Pandon, was probably a place of residence from the earliest times; its sheltered situation for boats, and proximity to the ancient way over the river, protected perhaps by a dun or camp, on the height above [...] possibly gave origin to the ancient name of the place, Pampedun, from the...1858, Henry MacLauchlan, Memoir written during a survey of the Roman Wall, through the counties of Northumberland and Cumberland, in the years 1852-1854, London: Printed for private circulation...

See all 21 meanings of dun