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harry

[har-ee]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR harry ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), har·ried, har·ry·ing.

to harass, annoy, or prove a nuisance to by or as if by repeated attacks; worry: He was harried by constant doubts.
to ravage, as in war; devastate: The troops harried the countryside.

verb (used without object), har·ried, har·ry·ing.

to make harassing incursions.

Origin of harry

before 900; Middle English herien, Old English her(g)ian (derivative of here army); cognate with German verheeren, Old Norse herja to harry, lay waste
Related formsun·har·ried, adjective

Synonyms for harry

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR harry ON THESAURUS.COM
1. molest, plague, trouble. 2. plunder, strip, rob, pillage.

Harry

[har-ee]

noun

a male given name, form of Harold or Henry.

Lawes

[lawz]

noun

HenryHarry, 1596–1662, English composer.
Lewis E(dward),1883–1947, U.S. penologist.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for harry

beleaguer, sack, torment, ravage, molest, worry, badger, gnaw, perturb, vex, attack, irk, persecute, devastate, pillage, plunder, plague, trouble, fret, bedevil

Examples from the Web for harry

Contemporary Examples of harry

Historical Examples of harry

  • Birkenholt, sir,” answered Ambrose, “but our uncle is Harry Randall.

    The Armourer's Prentices

    Charlotte M. Yonge

  • Kate and Harry, meanwhile, awaited their opportunity to go in and visit Aunt Jane.

    Malbone

    Thomas Wentworth Higginson

  • She saw with amazement, and walked on quickly that Harry might not also see.

    Malbone

    Thomas Wentworth Higginson

  • "And have left her no other resource," said Harry, coloring still more.

    Malbone

    Thomas Wentworth Higginson

  • Passing the Jewish cemetery, Kate and Harry paused a moment.

    Malbone

    Thomas Wentworth Higginson

British Dictionary definitions for harry

harry

verb -ries, -rying or -ried

(tr) to harass; worry
to ravage (a town, etc), esp in war

Word Origin for harry

Old English hergian; related to here army, Old Norse herja to lay waste, Old High German heriōn

Lawes

noun

Henry. 1596–1662, English composer, noted for his music for Milton's masque Comus (1634) and for his settings of some of Robert Herrick's poems
his brother, William . 1602–45, English composer, noted for his harmonically experimental instrumental music
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
Word Origin and History for harry
v.

Old English hergian "make war, lay waste, ravage, plunder," the word used in the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" for what the Vikings did to England, from Proto-Germanic verb *harohan (cf. Old Frisian urheria "lay waste, ravage, plunder," Old Norse herja "to make a raid, to plunder," Old Saxon and Old High German herion, German verheeren "to destroy, lay waste, devastate"), from *harjaz "an armed force" (cf. Old English here, Old Norse herr "crowd, great number; army, troop," Old Saxon and Old Frisian heri, Dutch heir, Old High German har, German Heer "host, army," Gothic harjis), from PIE root *koro- "war" (cf. Lithuanian karas "war, quarrel," karias "host, army;" Old Church Slavonic kara "strife;" Middle Irish cuire "troop;" Old Persian kara "host, people, army;" Greek koiranos "ruler, leader, commander"). Weakened sense of "worry, goad, harass" is from c.1400. Related: Harried; harrying.

Harry

masc. proper name, a familiar form of Henry. Weekley takes the overwhelming number of Harris and Harrison surnames as evidence that "Harry," not "Henry," was the Middle English pronunciation of Henry. Also cf. Harriet, English equivalent of French Henriette, fem. diminutive of Henri. Nautical slang Harriet Lane "preserved meat" (1896) refers to a famous murder victim whose killer allegedly chopped up her body.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper