dern /ˈdɜː(ɹ)n/noun 5verb 2adjective 1forms 5 noun5 •(UK) A gatepost or doorpost.So I just put my eye between the wall and the dern of the gate, and I saw him come up to the back door […] — 1855 •(no longer used) A secret; secrecy. •(no longer used) A secret place; hiding. •(no longer used) Darkness; obscurity. •(no longer used) An obscure language. verb2 •(no longer used) To hide; secrete, as in a hole.He at length escaped them by derning himself in a fox-earth. — 1865 •(no longer used) To hide oneself; skulk.But look how soon they heard of Holoferne / Their courage quail'd, and they began to derne. — 1584 adjective1 •(dialect, no longer used) Hidden; secret; private.Now with their backs to the den's mouth they sit, / Yet shoulder not all light from the dern pit. — 1659 formsderned · derning · derns · more dern · most dern