leer
1[ leer ]
verb (used without object)
to look with a sideways or oblique glance, especially suggestive of lascivious interest or sly and malicious intent: Go away! I can't concentrate with you leering at me.
noun
a lascivious or sly look.
Origin of leer
1First recorded in 1520–30; perhaps verb use of obsolete noun leer “cheek” (Middle English leor, Old English hlēor; cognate with Old Norse hlȳr (plural))
Other definitions for leer (2 of 2)
leer2
[ leer ]
adjectiveBritish Dialect.
having no burden or load.
faint for lack of food; hungry.
Origin of leer
2before 1050; Middle English lere,Old English gelǣr; cognate with German leer empty
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use leer in a sentence
Ein leerer Sack steht nicht aufrecht—An empty sack does not stand upright.
British Dictionary definitions for leer
leer
/ (lɪə) /
verb
(intr) to give an oblique, sneering, or suggestive look or grin
noun
such a look
Origin of leer
1C16: perhaps verbal use of obsolete leer cheek, from Old English hlēor
Derived forms of leer
- leering, adjective, noun
- leeringly, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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