lair
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
English[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
- (UK) IPA(key): /lɛə/
Audio (UK) (file) - (US) IPA(key): /lɛəɹ/
- Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)
- Homophone: layer (one pronunciation)
Etymology 1[edit]
From Middle English leir, leire, lair, lare, from Old English leġer (“couch, bed”), from Proto-Germanic *legrą, from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ-.
Noun[edit]
lair (plural lairs)
- A place inhabited by a wild animal, often a cave or a hole in the ground.
- A shed or shelter for domestic animals.
- (figuratively) A place inhabited by a criminal or criminals, a superhero or a supervillain; a refuge, retreat, haven or hideaway.
- 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula Chapter 21
- ...Van Helsing stood up and said, "Now, my dear friends, we go forth to our terrible enterprise. Are we all armed, as we were on that night when first we visited our enemy's lair. Armed against ghostly as well as carnal attack?"
- 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, Sydney: Ure Smith, published 1962, page 41:
- [H]e did a little scout work, and discovered the lair of that old woman.
- 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula Chapter 21
- (Britain dialectal) A bed or resting place.
- 1820, Clare, John, “Address to Plenty in Winter”, in Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery[1], page 50:
- Then would I in Plenty's lap,
For the first time take a nap;
Falling back in easy lair,
Sweetly slumb'ring in my chair;
- 1843 June 1, Thom, William, “Extract from a Letter to J. Robertson, Esq.”, in Rhymes and Recollections of a Hand-loom Weaver, 3rd edition, London: Smith, Elder and Co., published 1847, page 136:
- Wake ye, sleep ye, my hapless boy,
In this homeless house of care?
Lack ye the warmth of a mother's eye
On the cauldrife, lonely lair?
- (Scotland) A grave; a cemetery plot. [from c. 1420]
- 2018 August 2, BBC News, quoting Aberdeen City Council, “Dad 'will sleep by son's grave' to stop council clearing mementoes”, in BBC News[2]:
- We appreciate that this is a sensitive issue for lair owners and would like to assure them that the maintenance of the cemetery is carried out in a sensitive and dignified manner.
Synonyms[edit]
- (of an animal): burrow (of some smaller mammals), den (of a lion or tiger), holt (of an otter)
- (of a criminal): den, hide-out
Derived terms[edit]
- (grave): lair-stone (“tombstone”)
Translations[edit]
of an animal
|
|
of a criminal
|
Verb[edit]
lair (third-person singular simple present lairs, present participle lairing, simple past and past participle laired)
- (Britain) To rest; to dwell.
- 1822, Ainslie, Hew, “The Waesome Death O' Christy Ford”, in A Pilgrimage to the Land of Burns, Deptford: W. Brown, page 42:
- The lee-light that December gies
Was lairing in the wast,
Whan Christy wi' her oa claes,
Was boun' to dree the blast.
- (Britain) To lay down.
- (Britain) To bury.
Etymology 2[edit]
From Old Norse leir (“clay, mud”). Compare Icelandic leir (“clay”).
Noun[edit]
lair (plural lairs)
Verb[edit]
lair (third-person singular simple present lairs, present participle lairing, simple past and past participle laired)
- (transitive, Scotland) To mire.
- (intransitive, Scotland) To become mired.
Etymology 3[edit]
Backformation from lairy.
Noun[edit]
lair (plural lairs)
- (Australia, New Zealand, colloquial) A person who dresses in a showy but tasteless manner and behaves in a vulgar and conceited way; a show-off.
References[edit]
- Wright, Joseph (1902) The English Dialect Dictionary[3], volume 3, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pages 505–506
- “lair” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.
Anagrams[edit]
Manx[edit]
Noun[edit]
lair f
- Alternative form of laair
Scots[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Old English lār (“instruction”)
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
lair (plural lairs)
- lore
- "Ower mony a fair-farrant an rare beuk o precious lair" (second line of "The Raven" translated into Scots).
Categories:
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɛə(ɹ)
- Rhymes:English/ɛə(ɹ)/1 syllable
- English terms with homophones
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *legʰ-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- British English
- English dialectal terms
- Scottish English
- English verbs
- English terms derived from Old Norse
- English transitive verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- Australian English
- New Zealand English
- English colloquialisms
- en:Animal dwellings
- Manx lemmas
- Manx nouns
- Manx feminine nouns
- Scots terms inherited from Old English
- Scots terms derived from Old English
- Scots terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Scots/er
- Scots lemmas
- Scots nouns