inn

1 of 2

noun

1
a
: an establishment for the lodging and entertaining of travelers
b
: tavern
2
: a residence formerly provided for British students in London and especially for students of law

inn

2 of 2

verb

inned; inning; inns

intransitive verb

: to put up at an inn

Examples of inn in a Sentence

Noun We stayed at a cozy little inn in the country. we decided to stay at an inn rather than keep driving all night
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
At its peak, Rawsonville had a thriving inn along the Huron River, a cheese factory, two copper shops, a distillery for rye whisky, and various other shops. Detroit Free Press, 4 Mar. 2024 Each of the 22 rooms at the inn is themed with the key characters from Buffalo Bill’s life and features artifacts depicting the histories of these people in their furnishings. Molly O’Brien, Travel + Leisure, 1 Mar. 2024 Right now, the venerable inn has more history than attention to detail on its side. Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 23 Feb. 2024 The slopes at the small ski center are on the easier side, but there are five downhill runs, jump ramps, a lively inn, and perhaps most importantly for casual visitors, ski rental. David Nikel, Forbes, 17 Feb. 2024 Each day at 3 p.m., the inn gets a special delivery from coffee shop Common Ground of select pastries, which can be found in the downstairs guest lobby of the inn. Sallie Funderburk, Charlotte Observer, 31 Jan. 2024 The crosswalks, inns and Red Oaks retain history and, by surviving, tell a story. Cortne Bonilla, Essence, 13 Jan. 2024 Copper City Inn The inn offers three sumptuous rooms of varying décor, each with a balcony overlooking Main Street. Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 11 Jan. 2024 Unusual for an inn, the Cohens let employees share in the ownership. Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 23 Feb. 2024
Verb
But in Thompson’s comments — and surely inn the conversation with Kerr that preceded them — there was just as much retrospection as introspection. Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 3 Jan. 2024 Gallen seemed relatively pleased, though he was bothered by the length of his first-inning at-bat against 1B Brandon Belt, who fell behind 0-2 before eventually bouncing out to second. Nick Piecoro, azcentral, 24 Feb. 2020 Strasburg, Scherzer and Corbin all appeared in relief; Strasburg’s October started with a crucial three-inning relief outing in a comeback win over Milwaukee in the wild-card game on Oct. 1. Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY, 16 Feb. 2020 The Giants stayed close, thanks to a first-inning two-run homer by Kevin Pillar, his 20th of the season. Jeff Faraudo, The Mercury News, 1 Sep. 2019 The top of the order then finished the state championship-clinching damage when Sills singled home the second run and Golden, who ripped doubles with his second and fourth-inning at-bats, used his first two-bagger to up the lead to 4-0. Robert Avery, Houston Chronicle, 24 July 2019 Eloy Jimenez just missed hitting a home run on the second pitch of his fourth-inning at-bat Sunday against Kyle Hendricks, pulling the ball foul down the left-field line. Lamond Pope, chicagotribune.com, 7 July 2019 Entering his fourth-inning at-bat on an 0-for-14 skid, Cuthbert powered a Hector Santiago sinker over the wall in left, contributing his first home run since Aug. 20 of last season. Jesse Newell, kansascity, 29 Apr. 2018 Mark Canha’s seventh-inning home run provided the winning margin and Marcus Semien collected two hits. Sporting Green Staff, SFChronicle.com, 27 Mar. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'inn.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old Norse inni dwelling, inn, Old English in, adverb

First Known Use

Noun

12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of inn was in the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near inn

Cite this Entry

“Inn.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inn. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

inn

noun
ˈin
: a public house that provides lodging and food for travelers : hotel

Geographical Definition

Inn

geographical name

river 320 miles (515 kilometers) long flowing from southeastern Switzerland northeast through Austria into the Danube River in southeastern Germany see engadine

More from Merriam-Webster on inn

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