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. 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

Fearless Nancy then shoots him repeatedly until he falls out of the second story of his lair.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

They allow Mr. Fuentes’s message of hate to reach millions from his suburban Chicago lair.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

That excludes costs for the large Lego mosaic she commissioned for outside the basement room that’s become her Lego lair.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

She also explained why she didn't leave "Epstein's lair even after we knew what he wanted from us."

Read more on BBC

Mancuso is first glimpsed in the second episode in his lair deep in the basement of a Russian bath house.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• hideaway