warrens

Noun

warren (plural warrens)

1. A system of burrows in which rabbits or other animals live.
   • The largest warren in group 9 had 10 entrances in use and 11 not in use.1986, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (Australia), Australian Wildlife Research, page 332

   Synonyms:

   burrow, earth

   1. A structure where rabbits are kept as pets or for food, etc; the rabbits living in such a structure.
2. (figuratively) A mazelike place of passages and/or rooms in which it's easy to lose oneself; especially one that may be overcrowded.
   • We piled into Manchester's car, leaving mine at the gallery, and crossed town, striking off the main road and into a warren of dirt roads and adobe.1984, Brett : from Bloomsbury to New Mexico, page 265
3. (archaic) The class of small game such as hare, pheasants, stoats, etc., as opposed to beasts of chase such as deer, bear, and foxes.
   • A forest is a certen territorie of wooddy grounds and fruitfull pasrues, priviledged for wild beast and foules of forest, chase, and warren to rest and abide in, in the safe protection of the king for his princely delight and pleasure, which territorie of ground, so priviledged, is meered and...1598, folio 1
4. A place legally authorized for the keeping, breeding and hunting of beasts of warren, especially rabbits.
   • Free warren is a franchise , erected for the preservation or custody ( which the word signifies ) of beasts and fowls of warren; which , being feræ naturæ , every one had a natural right to kill as he could : but upon the introduction of the forest laws, at the period of the Norman conquest, these...1823, Thomas Burgeland Johnson, The Shooter's Companion, page 296
5. (historical) The right to maintain and hunt an area of small beasts, similar to a free warren, but with certain limitations, such as restricting the right to hunt on parts of the land held by freeholders.
   • Free-warren confers the property in wild animals, and that property may be claimed (a) in the land of another, to the exclusion of the owner of the soil; for in ancient times persons summoned to parliament often obtaine from the Crown grants of warren in their demesne lands, comprising such parts...1845, John Smith Furlong, A Treatise on the Law of Landlord and Tenant, page 337

See all 48 meanings of warren