keen´ly

keen¹ «keen», adjective.

1. so shaped as to cut well: »

a keen blade.

2. sharp; cutting; piercing; intense: »

a keen wind, keen hunger, keen pain, Figurative. keen wit.

SYNONYM(S): penetrating, biting, bitter.

3. strong; vivid: »

keen competition.

4. Figurative. able to do its work quickly and exactly; able to perceive well: »

a keen mind, a keen sense of smell. She had usually a keen sense of the ludicrous (Bret Harte).

SYNONYM(S): acute. See syn. under sharp. (Cf. ↑sharp)

5. full of enthusiasm; eager: »

He is keen about canoeing. Never did I know a creature…So keen and greedy to confound a man (Shakespeare).

SYNONYM(S): ardent. See syn. under eager. (Cf. ↑eager)

6. Slang. wonderful; perfect.

╂[Old English cēne]

–keen´ly, adverb.

–keen´ness, noun.

keen² «keen», noun, verb.

–n.

a wailing lament for the dead.

–v.i.

to utter the keen or lamentation for the dead; wail; lament: »

I sat on the bed and keened to myself for a moment (Punch).

–v.t.

to bewail with keening or wailing: »

Isn't it a bitter thing to think of him floating that way…and no one to keen him but the black hags that do be flying on the sea? (John M. Synge).

╂[< Irish caoine < caoinim I cry]

–keen´er, noun.