# hoard

Pronunciation: US say "HORD" /hɔɹd/; UK say "HAWD" /hɔːd/

## Verb

1. To gather and store up a large amount of something, usually to keep as one's own private collection.
   - Simple: To collect and keep a lot of something, usually just for yourself.
   - _Some collectors hoard rare coins for decades and never show them to anyone._
   - _During the shortage, a few families hoarded gasoline in cans in their garages._
4. To keep something stored away in one's mind for some future need or use.
   - Simple: To keep something in your mind so you can use it later.
   - _Writers hoard odd phrases they overhear, saving them for a story someday._
   - _She hoarded every word of praise from her coach to replay on hard days._

## Noun

2. A supply of something, such as food or money, that is kept hidden away.
   - Simple: A supply of food, money, or other things that someone keeps hidden.
   - _After their grandmother died, they found a hoard of cash stuffed inside her mattress._
   - _The hikers kept a small hoard of provisions buried near the cabin for emergencies._
3. In archaeology, a cache of valuable objects or artifacts hidden together and later found.
   - Simple: A group of valuable old objects that were hidden together and later found.
   - _A farmer plowing his field uncovered a hoard of Roman silver coins._
   - _Archaeologists believe the hoard was buried by a family fleeing an invasion._
5. A projecting structure in a fortification, especially a wooden one, somewhat like the brattice and later replaced by it.
   - Simple: A part, often made of wood, that sticks out from the wall of a castle or fort.
   - _Stone corbels below the parapet once carried a wooden hoard that ran the length of the wall._
   - _From the hoard, defenders could drop stones on attackers at the base of the tower._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A hoarding (temporary structure used during construction).
- (noun) A hoarding (billboard).

## Origin

**Meanings 2–3** — From Middle English hord, from Old English hord ("a store of valuables kept for later; treasure"), from Proto-Germanic *huzdą ("treasure, hoard"). Its origin is unknown, but it may come from Proto-Indo-European *kewdʰ- ("to conceal, hide"), meaning "something hidden"; it is related to German Hort ("hoard; refuge") and Icelandic hodd ("treasure").
**Meanings 1, 4** — From Middle English horden, from Old English hordian, from Proto-West Germanic *hoʀdōn.
**Meaning 5** — From Middle English hord, whorde, from Anglo-Norman hurde and Old French hourd, hourt ("barrier, palisade"), from Middle Dutch horde, ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *hurdi ("wickerwork, hurdle, scaffolding").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/hoard (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).