fleer
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English [edit]
Etymology 1 [edit]
Probably from a Scandinavian source, compare Norwegian bokmål flire (“to giggle”), Jutish Danish flire.
Pronunciation [edit]
Verb [edit]
fleer (third-person singular simple present fleers, present participle fleering, simple past and past participle fleered)
- To make a wry face in contempt, or to grin in scorn; to deride; to sneer; to mock; to gibe.
- 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act 5 Scene 1
- LEONATO. Tush, tush, man! never fleer and jest at me:
- I speak not like a dotard nor a fool,
- As, under privilege of age, to brag
- What I have done being young, or what would do,
- Were I not old.
- 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act 5 Scene 1
- To grin with an air of civility; to leer.
- Latimer
- Grinning and fleering as though they went to a bear baiting.
- Latimer
Translations [edit]
to make a wry face in contempt, or to grin in scorn
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Etymology 2 [edit]
Pronunciation [edit]
Noun [edit]
fleer (plural fleers)
- one who flees
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Ld. Berners to this entry?)
