lair

¹

[ lair ]

noun

1. a den or resting place of a wild animal:

   The cougar retired to its lair.

2. a secluded or hidden place, especially a secret retreat or base of operations; a hideout or hideaway:

   a pirate's lair.

3. British. a place in which to lie or rest; a bed.

verb (used with object)

1. to place in a lair.
2. to serve as a lair for.

verb (used without object)

1. to go to, lie in, or have a lair.

lair

²

[ lair ]

noun

1. British Dialect. mud; mire.

verb (used without object)

1. Scot. to sink or stick in mud or mire.

lair

³

[ lair ]

noun

, Chiefly Scot.

1. lore; learning.

lair

⁴

[ lair ]

noun

, Australian Informal.

1. a man who dresses garishly and is crude or vulgar; show-off.

lair

¹

/ lɛə /

noun

1. the resting place of a wild animal
2. informal.
   a place of seclusion or hiding
3. an enclosure or shed for farm animals
4. the ground for a grave in a cemetery

verb

1. intr (esp of a wild animal) to retreat to or rest in a lair
2. tr to drive or place (an animal) in a lair

lair

²

/ lɛə /

noun

1. a flashy man who shows off

verb

1. intr; foll by up or around to behave or dress like a lair

lair

³

/ ler /

noun

1. See mire
   a Scot word for mire

Word History and Origins

Origin of lair¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English leir(e), lair, lare, Old English leger; cognate with Dutch, Old High German leger “bed, camp,” Afrkaans laager “defensive circle of wagons,” German Lager “storehouse”; akin to lie ²

Origin of lair²

First recorded in 1300–50; verb use of Middle English lair “clay, mire,” from Old Norse leir ”clay, mud”

Origin of lair³

Middle English lōre, laire (north and Scots lare, lere ), Old English lār “teaching, instruction”; lore ¹

Origin of lair⁴

First recorded in 1930–35; back formation from lairy

Word History and Origins

Origin of lair¹

Old English leger; related to lie ² and Old High German leger bed

Origin of lair²

perhaps from leer

Origin of lair³

from Old Norse leir mud

Example Sentences

She laughs, and answers that it’s helped her lure audiences into her vocal lair.

From Nautilus

Balker, who used to sleep in a doorway behind the British Museum, is rounded up by an unknown official and given a clean bed in the heart of the iGhetti’s lair.

From MIT Technology Review

As I descended into the basement of Padilla-Brown’s Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, home, a pink glow gave the impression that I was entering a mad scientist’s lair.

From Outside Online

Ancient underground lairs left behind by these animals appear in rocks from coastal Taiwan.

From Science News For Students

Ancient underground lairs left behind by these animals appear in rocks from coastal Taiwan, researchers report January 21 in Scientific Reports.

From Science News

“The lair of the laser loves all of you,” he tells a visiting Atlas Obscura tour group.

From The Daily Beast

In January the actor kidnapped Kimmel, tying him up in his lair.

From The Daily Beast

He blamed agent Rossi for ruining his life, and over five years, brought women to an underground lair where he killed them.

From The Daily Beast

She was only needed if Hitler was actually at the Wolf's Lair, though she never actually saw him.

From The Daily Beast

He was not a recluse, however, as the documents and electronic chips recovered by the SEALs from his lair revealed.

From The Daily Beast

No trail was so obtuse, no thicket so dense that members of that regiment would not track them to their lair.

From Project Gutenberg

The belated moon stole up from its lair, hovered above the sky-line, a gaudy orange sphere in the haze of smoke.

From Project Gutenberg

Every instinct and habit made her a stranger among these poor swamp-people living like vermin in their lair.

From Project Gutenberg

The boat will leap over laughing waters and flit home, as the muskawk to its lair when the sun dies.

From Project Gutenberg

Now he was up and about, cheerful and sunny, but a serious object lesson to the lion hunters bound for the lair of the lion.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• hideaway