leer

1
[ leer ]
See synonyms for: leerleeredleering on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object)
  1. 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
  1. a lascivious or sly look.

Origin of leer

1
First 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.
  1. having no burden or load.

  2. faint for lack of food; hungry.

Origin of leer

2
before 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

  • I have seen the original letter of the bookseller Leers, where he describes the death of our philosopher.

  • She grew to fear Davy's ugly leers more than the brutal words of the others.

    The Daughter of Anderson Crow | George Barr McCutcheon
  • (He laughs again and leers with lacklustre eye) Thanks be to God we have it in the house, what, eh, do you follow me?

    Ulysses | James Joyce

British Dictionary definitions for leer

leer

/ (lɪə) /


verb
  1. (intr) to give an oblique, sneering, or suggestive look or grin

noun
  1. such a look

Origin of leer

1
C16: 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