Eagre
adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 a tidal bore
"A large wave like an eagre, diverging from its bow, was extending to either bank, swamping the tules and threatening to submerge the lower levees."
- 2 a high wave (often dangerous) caused by tidal flow (as by colliding tidal currents or in a narrow estuary) wordnet
- 1 Obsolete form of eager. alt-of, obsolete
"Howſoeuer it were, the Lacedæmonians being no leſſe wearied of the warre, than the Athenians were eagre to purſue it, the one obtained their eaſe, and the other the execution and honor which they deſired : for all the Greekes (thoſe of Peloponmeſus excepted) willingly ſubiected themſelues to the commandment of the Athenians which was both beginning of their greatneſſe in that preſent age, and of their ruine in the next ſucceeding."
Example
More examples"Howſoeuer it were, the Lacedæmonians being no leſſe wearied of the warre, than the Athenians were eagre to purſue it, the one obtained their eaſe, and the other the execution and honor which they deſired : for all the Greekes (thoſe of Peloponmeſus excepted) willingly ſubiected themſelues to the commandment of the Athenians which was both beginning of their greatneſſe in that preſent age, and of their ruine in the next ſucceeding."
Etymology
See eager.
Not attested in Middle English; either from Old English *ēagor (“water, sea”) (attested in ēagorstrēam) or Old Norse ægir (“sea, ocean”); however, both possibilities fail to show the phonological outcome one would expect.
Related phrases
More for "eagre"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.