harass
Part of speech: verb
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: The verb is derived from Middle French, Old French harasser (“to exhaust, tire out, wear out; to harry, torment, vex”) (modern French harasser (“to exhaust, tire out, wear out”)), possibly from Old French harer (“to set a dog on”), from Frankish *hara (“here, hither”) (a command for a dog to attack), from Proto-Germanic *hē₂r (“here, in this place”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe (“here; this”) + *ís (“the (person or thing just named)”) + *-r.
The noun is derived from the verb.
Inflected forms:
form: harasses
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: harassing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: harassed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: harassed
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: To annoy (someone) frequently or systematically; to pester.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: For it is a stout calf, ripe for the temples and altar [to be sacrificed], and to be sprinkled with wine; who is now ashamed to draw the dugs of his mother, and who harasseth the oaks with his budding horn.
In my old home, I always knew that John and my master were my friends; but here, although in many ways I was well treated, I had no friend. York might have known, and very likely did know, how that rein harassed me; but I suppose he took it as a matter of course that could not be helped; at any rate nothing was done to relieve me.
Some who dwell in wildernesses, / who seek and occupy, by their own wills, homes in dark caverns, these await / the heavenly dwelling-place; he who grudgeth them life, / oft bringeth hateful terror upon them; / sometimes he showeth them horror, sometimes vain glory; / the wily murderer hath power of both, / and harasseth these lonely-dwellers; […]
Scottie, a precocious 10-year old,^([sic]) wears provocatively sloganed T-shirts and harasses her peers by text message.
gloss: To annoy (someone) frequently or systematically; to pester.
pos: verb
tags: specifically
transitive
examples: I am gay and have AIDS and would very much like to write to someone. It is vey lonely here and they seem to think I'm going to die soon, though I wonder if they aren't just harassing me.
In February 2004, we developed a technique using compressed air to physically and audibly harass the birds. […] One person slowly (< 5 mph) drove a pick-up truck through the airport terminal at dusk while the second person sat on a bench in the truck bed and directed the compressed air from the pipe into the canopy to harass starlings attempting to enter the roost site.
gloss: To put excessive burdens upon (someone); to subject (someone) to anxieties.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: To harass good people is no different than speaking ill of them.
The ſoul that dies this death, is like a loving wife matched with a rigorous huſband: ſhe does what ſhe can to pleaſe him, yet he is never pleaſed; but toſſeth, haraſſeth, and beats her, till ſhe break her heart, and death ſets her free: […]
He, who harasseth his household, shall inherit the wind; / And the fool shall be the servant of the wise in heart.
Zeal without judgment is an evil, though it be zeal unto good; / […] / By a shoulder to the wheel downhill harasseth the labouring beast, / And where an obstruction were needed, will harm by an ill judged thrusting-on.
I am sure I did but speak / Of my mother's faded cheek / When it slowly grew so thin, / That I felt she was slowly dying / Vext with lawyers and harass'd with debt: […]
gloss: To trouble (someone, or a group of people) through repeated military-style attacks.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: But meanevvhile, to harraſſe and vvearie the Engliſh, they [the French] did vpon all aduantages ſet vpon them vvith their Light-Horſe; vvherein neuertheleſſe they receiued commonly loſſe, eſpecially by meanes of the Engliſh-Archers.
[T]he Britains, left to ſhift for themſelves, and daily haraſſed by cruel Inroads from the Picts, were forced to call in the Saxons for their Defence; […]
Spain, or Iberia, as it was called in ancient days, has been a country harassed from the earliest times, by the invader.
The tradition of this Yoga has now for a long time been broken here, O Arjuna, who harassest thy foes, like the sun, by the heat of thy prowess.
gloss: Often followed by out: to fatigue or tire (someone) with exhausting and repeated efforts.
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
transitive
examples: VVhich Troupes came to the Army but the day before, harraſed vvith a long and vveariſome march: and (as it is left for a memorable circumſtance in all Stories,) the Souldiers, being more ſenſible of a little Heat of the Sunne, than of any cold Feare of Death, caſt avvay their Armour, and Garments from them, and fought in their Shirts: […]
Their Bodies harraſs, ſink 'em when they run; / And fry their melting Marrow in the Sun.
Nature oppreſs'd, and harraſs'd out with Care, / Sinks down to Reſt.
As the waters wear to pieces the stones, / As their overflowings sweep the soil from the land,— / So consumest thou the hope of man; / Thou harassest him continually till he perish; / Thou weariest out his frame, and despatchest him.
'[T]is true, that he neither harasseth his vassals from morn to eve by hard labour and exaction, nor committeth them to the dungeon, when they can no longer work nor pay. But to knights of our calling, Monsieur Robichon, he is as ill disposed as the worst of them:— […]
Related words: nonharassment
Derived words: cyberharass
don't ask, don't tell, don't harass, don't pursue
harassable
harassed
harassedly
harasser
harassful
harasshole
harassing
harassingly
harassive
harassment
overharass
sexually harass
unharassable
unharassed
Translations:
lang: Asturian
word: escorrexar
lang: Asturian
word: acorviar
lang: Asturian
word: atortorar
lang: Asturian
word: amocar
lang: Bengali
word: জ্বালাতন করা
roman: jalaton kora
lang: Bengali
word: সাতানো
roman: satano
lang: Bulgarian
word: безпокоя́
roman: bezpokojá
lang: Bulgarian
word: дразня
roman: draznja
lang: Catalan
word: fastiguejar
lang: Catalan
word: molestar
lang: Catalan
word: vexar
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 騷擾 /骚扰
roman: sāorǎo
lang: Dutch
word: pesten
lang: Esperanto
word: turmentadi
lang: Finnish
word: hätyyttää
lang: Finnish
word: kiusata
lang: French
word: harceler
lang: German
word: belästigen
lang: Italian
word: importunare
lang: Italian
word: infastidire
lang: Italian
word: molestare
lang: Italian
word: tormentare
lang: Italian
word: vessare
lang: Jamaican Creole
word: badda badda
lang: Latin
word: vexō
lang: Māori
word: hawene
lang: Māori
word: whakakūrakuraku
lang: Māori
word: whakangari
lang: Māori
word: whakatīwheta
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: harselere
lang: Polish
word: dręczyć
lang: Polish
word: gnębić
lang: Polish
word: nękać
lang: Polish
word: prześladować
lang: Portuguese
word: assediar
lang: Portuguese
word: incomodar
lang: Portuguese
word: molestar
lang: Romanian
word: hărțui
lang: Russian
word: беспоко́ить
roman: bespokóitʹ
lang: Russian
word: досажда́ть
roman: dosaždátʹ
lang: Sanskrit
word: बाधति
roman: bādhati
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: sàraich
lang: Spanish
word: acosar
lang: Spanish
word: hostigar
lang: Spanish
word: asicar
lang: Walloon
word: peler
lang: Walloon
word: soyî
lang: Walloon
word: tourmeter