to look with a sideways or oblique glance, especially suggestive of lascivious interest or sly and malicious intention: I can't concentrate with you leering at me.
noun
a lascivious or sly look.
Origin of leer
1
1520–30; perhaps v. use of obsolete leer cheek (Middle Englishleor,Old Englishhlēor; cognate with Old Norsehlȳr (plural))
Related formsleer·ing·ly, adverb
leer
2
[leer]
adjectiveBritishDialect.
having no burden or load.
faint for lack of food; hungry.
Origin of leer
2
before 1050;Middle Englishlere,Old Englishgelǣr; cognate with Germanleer empty
C16: perhaps verbal use of obsolete leer cheek, from Old English hlēor
Lee
1
noun
a river in SW Republic of Ireland, flowing east into Cork Harbour. Length: about 80 km (50 miles)
Lee
2
noun
Ang (æŋ). born 1954, Taiwanese film director; his films include Sense and Sensibility (1995), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Brokeback Mountain (2005), and Life of Pi (2012)
Bruce, original name Lee Yuen Kam . 1940–73, US film actor and kung fu expert who starred in such films as Enter the Dragon (1973)
Gypsy Rose, original name Rose Louise Hovick . 1914–70, US striptease and burlesque artiste, who appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies (1936) and in films
Laurie (ˈlɒrɪ). 1914–97, British poet and writer, best known for the autobiographical Cider with Rosie (1959)
Richard Henry. 1732–94, American Revolutionary statesman, who moved the resolution in favour of American independence (1776)
Robert E (dward). 1807–70, American general; commander-in-chief of the Confederate armies in the Civil War
Spike, real name Shelton Jackson Lee. born 1957, US film director: his films include She's Gotta Have It (1985), Malcolm X (1992), and the documentary When the Leeves Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2008)
T (sung) -D (ao) (tsuːŋ daʊ). born 1926, US physicist, born in China. With Yang he disproved the principle that that parity is always conserved and shared the Nobel prize for physics in 1957
lee
noun
a sheltered part or side; the side away from the direction from which the wind is blowing
by the leenauticalso that the wind is blowing on the wrong side of the sail
under the leenauticaltowards the lee
adjective
(prenominal)nauticalon, at, or towards the side or part away from the windon a lee shore Compare weather (def. 5)
Word Origin for lee
Old English hlēow shelter; related to Old Norse hle
"to look obliquely" (now usually implying "with a lustful or malicious intent"), 1520s, probably from Middle English noun ler "cheek," from Old English hleor "the cheek, the face," from Proto-Germanic *khleuzas "near the ear," from *kleuso- "ear," from PIE root *kleu- "to hear" (see listen). The notion is probably of "looking askance" (cf. figurative development of cheek). Related: Leered; leering.
Old English hleo "shelter, cover, defense, protection," from Proto-Germanic *khlewaz (cf. Old Norse hle, Danish læ, Old Saxon hleo, Dutch lij "lee, shelter"). No known cognates outside Germanic; original sense uncertain and might have been "warm" (cf. German lau "tepid," Old Norse hly "shelter, warmth"), which might link it to PIE *kele- (1) "warm." As an adjective, 1510s, from the noun.
