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warren

warren

3 8.1
A crowded area or building where many people live close together in poor conditions
  • noun
  • /ˈwɔrən/
translation icon : barrio
  • More relatives crowded the warrens: my aunt's family and her four adolescent children.

Examples

  • The warren of workspaces in the graphics room was quiet, the hall empty.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • Joe is ushered through the fluorescent-lit warren that is the bullpen of the New York FBI office.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • No idea where "here" was, except somewhere in the warrens of the White Chamber.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • The building was deeper than it had appeared to be, a warren of rooms that ran back behind the cordage company.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • An endless warren of corridors and shelves.

  • In a short time, he sniffed out the boy in a warren of shanties.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Geoffrey continues scouting the warren of tiny rooms that run off the central courtyard.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • Kenny moves hard and fast through the twisting warren of hallways and tiny offices, which is the West Wing.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • James follows Vaughan down a cramped corridor to a photographic workshop formed out of a warren of small rooms.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • The neighborhood was a crowded warren of small apartments where families lived closely together.

Synonyms

rabbit warren
vswarren
  • Informal
7.5

A crowded maze of small houses and narrow streets

focuses on cramped poor living conditions rather than confusing layout

Antonyms

45 2.5

A large open room or area with plenty of space

18 1.0

An outdoor area with no cover

Compounds

Underground tunnels where wild rabbits live

rabbit warren
  • Informal
7.5

A crowded maze of small houses and narrow streets

A confusing group of narrow winding streets that twist and turn

How Crowded

warren
3 8.1
slum
77 3.0
building
1.0
room
1.0
open
18 1.0

Surface Forms

warren singular
warrens plural

Etymology

Warren was first used for places where rabbits lived, and people later used it for crowded houses that are like a maze because the many small rooms and paths look like rabbit tunnels. So a warren can mean an area or building packed with people living close together.