leer
Empty; unoccupied; clearEmpty; unoccupied; clear.
Recorded UK: Celestianpower, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons · Recorded US: Dvortygirl, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
» Look at the leer on Tom's face.
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
6 senses(obsolete)Empty; unoccupied; clear.
(obsolete)Destitute; lacking; wanting.
(obsolete)Faint from lack of food; hungry.
(UK, dialectal, obsolete)Thin; faint.
(obsolete)Having no load or burden; free; without a rider.
(obsolete)Lacking sense or seriousness; trifling; frivolous.
leer words
Examples
4 sentencesLook at the leer on Tom's face.
Is that a smile or a leer?
She caught him leering at the waitress.
A second look may be flattering; after that, things go downhill: first to staring, then to ogling, finally to frankly leering.
Origin
From Middle English lere, from Old English ġelǣr, *lǣre (“empty, void, empty-handed”), froFrom Middle English lere, from Old English ġelǣr, *lǣre (“empty, void, empty-handed”), from Proto-Germanic *lēziz, *lēzijaz (“empty”), from Proto-Indo-European *les- (“to collect, pick”). Cognate with Dutch laar (“a clearing in the woods”), German leer (“empty”). Related to Old English lesan (“to gather, collect”). More at lease.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
more leer, most leerSynonyms
25 synonymsWord family
1 related wordsLessons for this word
2 lessons- A2Comparatives — Because it has a comparative form
- A2Superlatives — Because it has a superlative form
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.