lair
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /lɛə/
ipa: /lɛɚ/
ipa: /leː/
note: without the cheer–chair merger
ipa: /leə/
note: New Zealand, cheer–chair merger
ipa: /liə/
ipa: /leɹ/
note: Lancashire, fair–fur merger
ipa: /lɜː(ɹ)/
rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)
homophone: layer (one pronunciation)
homophone: leer (cheer–chair merger)
Forms: form: lairs
Etymology: From Middle English leir, leire, lair, lare, from Old English leġer (“couch, bed”), from Proto-Germanic *legrą, from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ-.
Senses: examples: text: O dainty dew, O morning dew / That gleamed in the world's first dawn, did you / And the sweet grass and manful oaks / Give lair and rest / To him who toadwise sits and croaks / His death-behest?
ref: a. 1881, Sidney Lanier, Strange Jokes:
text: “Would you go into the dragon's lair, my peerless Wiglaf?”
ref: 1961, Norma Lorre Goodrich, “Beowulf”, in The Medieval Myths, New York: The New American Library, page 47:
glosses: A place inhabited by a wild animal, often a cave or a hole in the ground.
glosses: A shed or shelter for domestic animals.
examples: text: ...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?"
ref: 1897, Bram Stoker, chapter 21, in Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC:
text: [H]e did a little scout work, and discovered the lair of that old woman.
ref: 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 41:
glosses: A place inhabited by a criminal or criminals, a superhero or a supervillain; a refuge, retreat, haven or hideaway.
examples: text: 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;
ref: 1820, John Clare, “Address to Plenty in Winter”, in Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery, page 50:
text: 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?
ref: 1843 June 24, William Thom, “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:
glosses: A bed or resting place.
examples: text: […] but few knew the reason, and some thought it was because the deceased were strangers, and had no regular lair. I dressed the two bonny orphans in the best mourning at my own cost […]
ref: 1821, John Galt, Annals of the parish, or, The chronicle of Dalmaling, xlix (page 205 in the 1908 edition)
text: This is one of the 'lairs' of the Harknesses of Holestain and Haprig.
ref: 1849, The Edinburgh topographical, traditional and antiquarian magazine, page 114:
text: […] I would purchase a lair in the Necropolis, and have wee Johnnie removed from his humble resting-place, and laid down [there].
ref: 1862, George Roy, Generalship; a Tale, page 58:
text: 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.
ref: 2018 August 2, BBC News, quoting Aberdeen City Council, “Dad 'will sleep by son's grave' to stop council clearing mementoes”, in BBC News:
glosses: A grave; a cemetery plot.
topics: lifestyle
seduction-community
sexuality
glosses: A group where pickup artists meet to discuss and practise seduction techniques.
Synonyms: sense: of an animal
english: of some smaller mammals
translation: of some smaller mammals
word: burrow
sense: of an animal
english: of a lion or tiger
translation: of a lion or tiger
word: den
sense: of an animal
english: of an otter
translation: of an otter
word: holt
sense: of a criminal
word: den
sense: of a criminal
word: hide-out
Derived terms: sense: grave
english: tombstone
translation: tombstone
word: lair-stone
word: lairless
word: lairlike