horns

Noun

horn (countable and uncountable, plural horns)

1. (countable) A hard growth of keratin that protrudes from the top of the head of certain animals, usually paired.
2. Any similar real or imaginary growth or projection such as the elongated tusk of a narwhal, the eyestalk of a snail, the pointed growth on the nose of a rhinoceros, or the hornlike projection on the head of a demon or similar.
3. An antler.
4. (uncountable) The hard substance from which animals' horns are made, sometimes used by man as a material for making various objects.
   • an umbrella with a handle made of horn

   Synonyms:

   keratin

5. A vessel made from a horn, to contain drink, ink, gunpowder, etc.
   • horns of mead and ale1775, William Mason, The Poems of Mr. Gray. To which are prefixed Memoirs of his Life and Writings by W. Mason.
6. One of the two corners of a crescent, particularly of the crescent moon
   • [W]hile riſing ſlow, / Blank, in the leaden-colour'd eaſt, the moon / Wears a wan circle round her blunted horns.a. 1749 (date written), James Thomson, “Winter”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768, →OCLC, page 169, lines 123–125

See all 32 meanings of horn