Definition

1. Noun:

   • A secret store of valuables or money: A collection of valuable items, money, or supplies that is hidden or saved, often for future use or due to a desire to possess them.
   • An archaeological find of buried objects: A collection of valuable or historical objects that were deliberately buried in the ground in the past and later discovered.

2. Verb:

   • To accumulate and store away a large quantity of something: To gather and save a large amount of items, often secretly or in a hidden place, typically for future use or due to a fear of scarcity.
   • To collect and keep things obsessively: To gather and retain items to an excessive degree, often beyond what is reasonable or necessary.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • The dragon guarded its hoard of gold and jewels in the mountain cave.
  • Archaeologists discovered a Viking hoard containing silver coins and arm rings.

• Verb:

  • During the crisis, some people began to hoard essential supplies like toilet paper and canned food.
  • She tends to hoard old magazines, finding it difficult to throw anything away.

Advanced Usage

• "To hoard away": To store something secretly or in large quantities for future use.

  • He had hoarded away a fortune in his basement over the years.

• "A hoarder" (noun, derived form): A person who accumulates and stores things obsessively and has difficulty discarding them.

  • After his passing, they discovered he had been a hoarder, with every room filled with collected items.

Variants and Related Words

• Hoarder (n): A person who hoards.
• Hoarding (n): The act of accumulating and storing goods; also, a large board used for advertising.

Synonyms

• Noun: Cache, stash, treasure, stockpile, reserve.
• Verb: Accumulate, amass, stockpile, stash, squirrel away.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Hoard up: To gather and save something, especially in large amounts.
  • They advised against hoarding up gasoline, as it could be dangerous.

Related Idioms

• A miser's hoard: Refers to a large amount of money or treasure that a stingy person has saved and refuses to spend.
  • The old man's will revealed a miser's hoard hidden in the attic.

Noun

1. a secret store of valuables or money

Verb

1. get or gather together
   • I am accumulating evidence for the man's unfaithfulness to his wife
   • She is amassing a lot of data for her thesis
   • She rolled up a small fortune
2. save up as for future use