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  1. boreen love

Definitions

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A lane or narrow road.

Wiktionary

  1. n. Ireland A narrow, frequently unpaved, rural road in Ireland.

Etymologies

  1. Borrowing from Irish bóithrín, diminutive of bóthar ("road") (Wiktionary)

Examples

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Lists

Comments

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  • hernesheir From Irish Irish gaelic bóithrín. Rhymes with colleen, as in the lovely song "Star of the County Down". Jun 29, 2010

  • bilby "Then I heard her step that I knew so well on the boreen beside the house and I ran to the door, meaning to say I was sorry for the trouble we were giving her, but when I opened the door Denis called out her name in a loud voice, and the crying fit came on me, thinking how light-hearted we used to be together."
    - Frank O'Connor, 'The Bridal Night'. Sep 5, 2008

  • sionnach Etymologically, boreen is related to the Irish word for cow, "bo". Allegedly, in order to qualify for the designation, a pathway had to be wide enough to accommodate one cow standing perpendicular to the path's direction and another cow in the direction of motion. Roughly speaking it had to be one and a half cows' lengths across.

    (I'm not actually making this up, though my recollection of the details may not be perfect) Feb 22, 2007

  • chained_bear A lane, a narrow road; also transf. an opening in a crowd. (Used only when Irish subjects are referred to.)

    They're the things that you see when you wake up and scream
    The cold things that follow you down the boreen
    They live in the small ring of trees on the hill
    Up at the top of the field...
    --"Sit Down by the Fire," the Pogues, c. 1988 Shane Macgowan Feb 7, 2007

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‘boreen’ has been looked up 1781 times, added to 7 lists, commented on 4 times, and has a Scrabble score of 8.