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Harass
Definitions
- 1 Harassment; pestering. archaic, transitive
"Mean while the men of Judah to prevent / The harraſs of thir Land, beſet me round; […]"
- 1 To annoy (someone) frequently or systematically; to pester. transitive
"For it is a stout calf, ripe for the temples and altar [to be sacrificed], and to be sprinkled with wine; who is now ashamed to draw the dugs of his mother, and who harasseth the oaks with his budding horn."
- 2 exhaust by attacking repeatedly wordnet
- 3 To annoy (someone) frequently or systematically; to pester.; To persistently bother (someone, or a group of people) physically or psychologically when such behaviour is illegal and/or unwanted, especially over an extended period. specifically, transitive
"I am gay and have AIDS and would very much like to write to someone. It is vey lonely here and they seem to think I'm going to die soon, though I wonder if they aren't just harassing me."
- 4 annoy continually or chronically wordnet
- 5 To put excessive burdens upon (someone); to subject (someone) to anxieties. transitive
"To harass good people is no different than speaking ill of them."
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- 6 To trouble (someone, or a group of people) through repeated military-style attacks. transitive
"But meanevvhile, to harraſſe and vvearie the Engliſh, they [the French] did vpon all aduantages ſet vpon them vvith their Light-Horſe; vvherein neuertheleſſe they receiued commonly loſſe, eſpecially by meanes of the Engliſh-Archers."
- 7 Often followed by out: to fatigue or tire (someone) with exhausting and repeated efforts. obsolete, transitive
"VVhich Troupes came to the Army but the day before, harraſed vvith a long and vveariſome march: and (as it is left for a memorable circumſtance in all Stories,) the Souldiers, being more ſenſible of a little Heat of the Sunne, than of any cold Feare of Death, caſt avvay their Armour, and Garments from them, and fought in their Shirts: […]"
Etymology
The verb is derived from Middle French, Old French harasser (“to exhaust, tire out, wear out; to harry, torment, vex”) (modern French harasser (“to exhaust, tire out, wear out”)), possibly from Old French harer (“to set a dog on”), from Frankish *hara (“here, hither”) (a command for a dog to attack), from Proto-Germanic *hē₂r (“here, in this place”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe (“here; this”) + *ís (“the (person or thing just named)”) + *-r. The noun is derived from the verb.
The verb is derived from Middle French, Old French harasser (“to exhaust, tire out, wear out; to harry, torment, vex”) (modern French harasser (“to exhaust, tire out, wear out”)), possibly from Old French harer (“to set a dog on”), from Frankish *hara (“here, hither”) (a command for a dog to attack), from Proto-Germanic *hē₂r (“here, in this place”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe (“here; this”) + *ís (“the (person or thing just named)”) + *-r. The noun is derived from the verb.
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