Nearby Words

leer

[leer] Example Sentences Origin

leer

1[leer]
verb (used without object)
1.
to look with a sideways or oblique glance, especially suggestive of lascivious interest or sly and malicious intention: I can't concentrate with you leering at me.
noun
2.
a lascivious or sly look.

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Leer is one of our favorite verbs.
So is skedaddle. Does it mean:
to run away hurriedly; flee.
to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.

Origin:
1520–30; perhaps v. use of obsolete leer cheek (Middle English leor, Old English hlēor; cognate with Old Norse hlȳr (plural))

leer·ing·ly, adverb
Example Sentences
  • Leer is la más fácil, para mí, much más fácil que escribir.
  • Participantes internacionales por favor leer la nota de abajo.
  • Un gran descubrimiento fue aprender a leer la escritura de los mayas.
Dictionary.com Unabridged

leer

2[leer]
adjective British Dialect.
1.
having no burden or load.
2.
faint for lack of food; hungry.

Origin:
before 1050; Middle English lere, Old English gelǣr; cognate with German leer empty

leer

3[leer]
noun

lee

1[lee]
noun
1.
protective shelter: The lee of the rock gave us some protection against the storm.
2.
the side or part that is sheltered or turned away from the wind: We erected our huts under the lee of the mountain.
3.
Chiefly Nautical. the quarter or region toward which the wind blows.
adjective
4.
pertaining to, situated in, or moving toward the lee.
5.
by the lee, Nautical. accidentally against what should be the lee side of a sail: Careless steering brought the wind by the lee.
6.
under the lee, Nautical. to leeward.

Origin:
before 900; Middle English; Old English hlēo(w) shelter, cognate with Old Frisian hli, hly, Old Saxon hleo, Old Norse hlé
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To leer
Collins
World English Dictionary
leer (lɪə)
 
vb
1.  (intr) to give an oblique, sneering, or suggestive look or grin
 
n
2.  such a look
 
[C16: perhaps verbal use of obsolete leer cheek, from Old English hlēor]
 
'leering
 
adj, —n
 
'leeringly
 
adv

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

lee
O.E. hleo "shelter," from P.Gmc. *khlewo- (cf. O.N. hle, Dan. læ, Du. lij "lee, shelter"); no known cognates outside Gmc.; original sense uncertain and may have been "warm" (cf. Ger. lau "tepid," O.N. hly "shelter, warmth").
EXPAND

leer
"to look obliquely" (now usually implying "with a lustful or malicious intent"), 1530, from M.E. noun ler "cheek," from O.E. hleor "the cheek, the face," from P.Gmc. *khleuzas "near the ear," from *kleuso- "ear," from PIE root *kleu- "to hear" (see listen). The notion is
probably of "looking askance" (cf. figurative development of cheek). The noun is first attested 1598.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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