harry

[ har-ee ]
See synonyms for harry on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object),har·ried, har·ry·ing.
  1. to harass, agitate, or trouble by or as if by repeated attacks; beleaguer: He was harried by constant doubts.

  2. to ravage, as in war; devastate: The troops harried the countryside.

verb (used without object),har·ried, har·ry·ing.
  1. to make harassing incursions.

Origin of harry

1
First recorded 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”

Other words for harry

Other definitions for Harry (2 of 2)

Harry
[ har-ee ]

noun
  1. a male given name, form of Harold or Henry.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use harry in a sentence

  • These are harrying days for all kids, but for those on the spectrum, the challenges are more intense and different in kind.

    Autism's Back-to-School Anxiety | Priscilla Gilman | September 24, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • But no slaughtering; he wanted them to be merciful: just make a pretence of harrying in Bernalillo; nothing more.

    Overland | John William De Forest
  • These forays were conducted in much more gentlemanly fashion than the harrying of the Christian valleys in the autumn of 1915.

    The Cradle of Mankind | W.A. Wigram
  • "Tories and scalpers harrying the outlying farms," breathed Elerson.

    The Reckoning | Robert W. Chambers
  • If he saw a cat that needed harrying he merely licked his little red chops—the outward sign of a desperate self-control.

    Greyfriars Bobby | Eleanor Atkinson
  • In a brief year Punch was thoroughly estranged by the methods of the militants and their harrying of Ministers.

British Dictionary definitions for harry

harry

/ (ˈhærɪ) /


verb-ries, -rying or -ried
  1. (tr) to harass; worry

  2. to ravage (a town, etc), esp in war

Origin of harry

1
Old English hergian; related to here army, Old Norse herja to lay waste, Old High German heriōn

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