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speer

or speir, spier

[speer]
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verb (used with or without object)
  1. Chiefly Scot. to ask; inquire.
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Origin of speer

before 900; Middle English speren, spiren, Old English spyrian to make tracks, trace, ask about; cognate with German spüren, Old Norse spyrja to ask; akin to spoor
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for speir

Historical Examples

  • "Jist answer me ae queston, Isy, and I'll speir nae mair," said Marion.

    Salted With Fire

    George MacDonald

  • On the occasion when Jack appeared he found Mrs. Speir seated in her library.

    A Successful Shadow

    Harlan Page Halsey

  • What was your name, madam, before your marriage to Mr. Speir?

    A Successful Shadow

    Harlan Page Halsey

  • I maun be goin' hame, but I'll try and get back the morn, to speir how ye're keepin'.

    Morag

    Janet Milne Rae

  • How did you find all at Gawin's to-day, now when I have gotten time to speir?

British Dictionary definitions for speir

speir

speer

verb
  1. Scot to ask; inquire
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Word Origin

Old English spyrian to seek after, search for
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