BOON

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does boon mean? 

• BOON (noun)
  The noun BOON has 1 sense:

1. a desirable state

  Familiarity information: BOON used as a noun is very rare.

• BOON (adjective)
  The adjective BOON has 1 sense:

1. very close and convivial

  Familiarity information: BOON used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BOON (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A desirable state

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

blessing; boon

Context example:

a spanking breeze is a boon to sailors

Hypernyms ("boon" is a kind of...):

good fortune; good luck; luckiness (an auspicious state resulting from favorable outcomes)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "boon"):

mercy (something for which to be thankful)

• BOON (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Very close and convivial

Context example:

boon companions

Similar:

close (close in relevance or relationship)

 Context examples 

So they brought in a dirty-looking fellow; and when he had sung before the king and the princess, he begged a boon.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

“A boon, gracious sir, a boon!” cried the condemned man.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You must struggle and strive to live, though death would seem a boon unspeakable.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

He asked, he urged, he claimed the boon of a brand snatched from the burning.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Laurie went by in the afternoon, and seeing Meg at the window, seemed suddenly possessed with a melodramatic fit, for he fell down on one knee in the snow, beat his breast, tore his hair, and clasped his hands imploringly, as if begging some boon.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Global dust storms on Mars could soon become more predictable — which would be a boon for future astronauts there — if the next one follows a pattern suggested by those in the past.

(Study Predicts Next Global Dust Storm on Mars, NASA)

We were all extremely glad to see Traddles so put down, and exalted Steerforth to the skies: especially when he told us, as he condescended to do, that what he had done had been done expressly for us, and for our cause; and that he had conferred a great boon upon us by unselfishly doing it.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

But what is this boon, rogue, which you would crave?

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Let me ask for this concession—boon, privilege, what you will.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

It was a grand boon doubtless; and independence would be glorious—yes, I felt that—that thought swelled my heart.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)