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Leer
Definitions
- 1 Empty; unoccupied; clear. obsolete
"The horse runs leere away without the man."
- 2 Destitute; lacking; wanting. obsolete
- 3 Faint from lack of food; hungry. obsolete
- 4 Thin; faint. UK, dialectal, obsolete
- 5 Having no load or burden; free; without a rider. obsolete
"a leer horse"
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- 6 Lacking sense or seriousness; trifling; frivolous. obsolete
"leer words"
- 1 A town and rural district of Lower Saxony, Germany.
- 2 A small hamlet in Long Rapids Township, Alpena County, Michigan.
- 3 A town, the county seat of Leer County, Unity State, South Sudan.
- 4 A county of Unity State, South Sudan.
- 1 A significant side glance; a glance expressive of some passion, as malignity, amorousness, etc.; a sly or lecherous look.
"Nevertheless humanity stood before him no longer in the pensive sweetness of Italian art, but in the staring and ghastly attitudes of a Wiertz Museum, and with the leer of a study by Van Beers."
- 2 The cheek. obsolete
"No ladie (quoth the earle with a lowd voice, and the tears trilling downe his leeres)"
- 3 Alternative form of lehr. alt-of, alternative
- 4 a suggestive or sneering look or grin wordnet
- 5 An arch or affected glance or cast of countenance.
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- 6 The face. obsolete
- 7 a facial expression of contempt or scorn; the upper lip curls wordnet
- 8 One's appearance; countenance. obsolete
"a Rosalind of a better leer than you"
- 9 Complexion; hue; colour. obsolete
"Here's a young lad fram'd of another leer. Look, how the black slave smiles upon the father;"
- 10 Flesh; skin. obsolete
- 11 The flank or loin. UK, dialectal
- 1 To look sideways or obliquely; now especially with sexual desire or malicious intent. intransitive
"And she looked to Mr. –––– / And leered like a love-sick pigeon."
- 2 To teach. obsolete, transitive
- 3 look suggestively or obliquely; look or gaze with a sly, immodest, or malign expression wordnet
- 4 To entice with a leer or leers. transitive
"But Bertran has been taught the Arts of Court, / To guild a Face with Smiles; and leer a man to ruin."
- 5 To learn. obsolete, transitive
Etymology
Exact development uncertain, but apparently from a verb *leer (“to make a face, look sideways”), from leer (“cheek, face, profile”).
Exact development uncertain, but apparently from a verb *leer (“to make a face, look sideways”), from leer (“cheek, face, profile”).
From Middle English ler, leor (“face, cheek”), from Old English hlēor (“face, cheek, profile”), from Proto-West Germanic *hleuʀ, from Proto-Germanic *hleuzą (“ear, cheek”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlews- (“temple of the forehead, cheek”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlew- (“to hear”). Cognate with Scots lire, lere (“face, appearance, complexion”), Dutch lier (“cheek”), Swedish lyra (“pout”), Norwegian lia (“hillside”), Icelandic hlýr (“the face, cheek, countenance”). Related to Old English hlyst (“sense of hearing, listening”) and hlysnan (“to listen”). More at list, listen.
From Middle English lere, from Old English ġelǣr, *lǣre (“empty, void, empty-handed”), from Proto-Germanic *lēziz, *lēzijaz (“empty”), from Proto-Indo-European *les- (“to collect, pick”). Cognate with Dutch laar (“a clearing in the woods”), German leer (“empty”). Related to Old English lesan (“to gather, collect”). More at lease.
From Middle English leren, from Old English lǣran (“to teach, instruct, guide, enjoin, advise, persuade, urge, preach, hand down”), from Proto-West Germanic *laiʀijan, from Proto-Germanic *laizijaną (“to teach”), from Proto-Indo-European *leys- (“track, footprint, furrow, trace”). Cognate with Dutch leren (“to teach, to learn”), German lehren (“to teach”), Swedish lära (“to teach”). Related to Old English lār (“lore, learning, science, art of teaching, preaching, doctrine, study, precept, exhortation, advice, instigation, history, story, cunning”). See lore.
See lehr.
From German Leer, from Old Frisian Hleri.
From Norwegian Bokmål Lier, a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway, from Old Norse Líðir, plural of (h)líð (“slope”).
From Nuer.
See also for "leer"
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Unscramble this word: leer