1. [n]  a room that is comfortable and secluded
2. [n]  a hiding place; usually a remote place used by outlaws
3. [n]  the habitation of wild animals

1. \Den\, n. [AS. denn; perh. akin to G. tenne floor, thrashing
   floor, and to AS. denu valley.]
   1. A small cavern or hollow place in the side of a hill, or
      among rocks; esp., a cave used by a wild beast for shelter
      or concealment; as, a lion's den; a den of robbers.
   2. A squalid place of resort; a wretched dwelling place; a
      haunt; as, a den of vice. ``Those squalid dens, which are
      the reproach of great capitals.'' --Addison.
   3. Any snug or close retreat where one goes to be alone.
      [Colloq.]
   4. [AS. denu.] A narrow glen; a ravine; a dell. [Old Eng. &
      Scotch] --Shak.
   

2. \Den\, v. i.
   To live in, or as in, a den.
         The sluggish salvages that den below.    --G. Fletcher.
   

a lair of wild beasts (Ps. 10:9; 104:22; Job 37:8); the hole of a venomous reptile (Isa. 11:8); a recess for secrecy "in dens and caves of the earth" (Heb. 11:38); a resort of thieves (Matt. 21:13; Mark 11:17). Daniel was cast into "the den of lions" (Dan. 6:16, 17). Some recent discoveries among the ruins of Babylon have brought to light the fact that the practice of punishing offenders against the law by throwing them into a den of lions was common.