keen

[Bushwhacker]

Might keen be a noun?

A curious bunch are searching some other people, and when arrives at a certain place of a street, the sentence says:

The keen lessened in the shadow of the Hunting Garden wall.

Is keen a group, a bunch?

Thanks

 

[bhaisahab]

Might keen be a noun?

A curious bunch are searching some other people, and when arrives at a certain place of a street, the sentence says:

The keen lessened in the shadow of the Hunting Garden wall.

Is keen a group, a bunch?

Thanks

No, "keen" is not a noun. Is there any more context?

 

[Anglika]

AskOxford: keen²


DO try checking the dictionaries first.;-)

 

[bhaisahab]

Sorry, Anglika is right "keen" is a noun in the sense of an Irish lament.

 

[emsr2d2]

Might keen be a noun?

A curious bunch are searching some other people, and when arrives at a certain place of a street, the sentence says:

The keen lessened in the shadow of the Hunting Garden wall.

Is keen a group, a bunch?

Thanks

Keen as an adjective means enthusiastic. The only definition of it as a noun is a lament, a wail which people make when they are grieving.
If the writer means keen as a noun above then "the keen (the sound) lessened (got quieter) in the shadow......." However, this doesn't make much sense as a sound would not become quieter just because you are standing in the shadows!

 

[Anglika]

Keen as an adjective means enthusiastic. The only definition of it as a noun is a lament, a wail which people make when they are grieving.
If the writer means keen as a noun above then "the keen (the sound) lessened (got quieter) in the shadow......." However, this doesn't make much sense as a sound would not become quieter just because you are standing in the shadows!

Who said this writer ever makes a great deal of sense?

Standing in darkness may well make the group subdued and therefore not so moisy.

 

[Bushwhacker]

Certainly, it is a wintry windy night. Maybe the sentence is referring to the lament of the bunch because of the cold which lessens at the shelter of the wall. Could it make sense?

Thanks

 

[Bushwhacker]

Or even simply keen as "howling or whining wind"?

See my previous last post too, please.

Any help please.

 

[bhaisahab]

Or even simply keen as "howling or whining wind"?

See my previous last post too, please.

Any help please.

It would be better written as "keening" in that case.