▪ I. lair, n.1
(lɛə(r))
Forms: 1 leᵹer, 3–6 leir, 5 layere, 5–7 lare, layre, 5–7 leyre, 6–7 lear(e, laire, laier, (lieare), 6–9 layer, 9 Sc. layre, dial. lear, 4– lair. See also layer.
[OE. leᵹer str. neut., corresponding to OFris. legor lying, situation, OS. legar neut., bed, bed of sickness (Du. leger bed, camp), OHG. leger masc., bed, camp (mod.G. lager, influenced by lage, lying, situation), ON. legr neut., seduction, Goth. ligr-s masc., bed:—OTeut. *legro-, f. root *leg-: see lie v.1]
† 1. The action or fact of lying. Obs.
| Beowulf (Gr.) 3043 Se [sc. se draca] wæs fiftiᵹes fotᵹemearces lang on leᵹere. c 893 ælfred Oros. i. i. §23 Mid þan langan leᵹere þæs deadan mannes inne. 1513 Douglas æneis viii. iv. 70 All the beistis war Repaterit weyll eftyr thair nychtis lair. 1631 Markham Way to Get Wealth v. ii. xviii. (1668) 87 Touching the keeping of Corn after it is thrasht and drest, it is divers wayes to be done, as by stowage or place of lear. |
† b. A lying with a person; fornication. Obs.
| 1296 Durham Halmote Rolls (Surtees) 1 Eda filia Pater Noster pro leyr, 6d. 1332–3 Ibid. 13 De Ivetta Horner, pro leyr in adulterio, 2s. 1361 Ibid. 27 De Christiana ancilla Willelmi capellani pro leyr cum capellano, 2s. |
† c. Of land: The state of lying fallow. Obs.
| 1602 Carew Cornwall 20 a, The Tiller..is driuen to giue it at least seuen or eight yeres leyre. |
2. The resting place of a corpse; a grave, tomb. Now only Sc., a plot in a graveyard.
| c 1000 Laws Northumbr. Priests §62 in Schmid Gesetze 370 Þoliᵹe he clænes leᵹeres. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 288 Unsac he wæs on life beo on leᵹere swa swa he mote. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 2293 Sir Arthure..ledde hyme to the layere thare the kyng lygges. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. vii. x. 3243 He chesyd his layre in till Kelsew. c 1470 Harding Chron. lxxxiv. iii, The mynster churche..Of Glastonbury, where nowe he hath his leyre. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (1858) I. 118 Ane feild full fair, Quhair that him self befoir chesit his lair. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 154 Sanct Salvatouris colledge quhairin he maid his lair verri cureouslie and costlie. 1882 McQueen in Macm. Mag. XLVI. 162 Some of the inhabitants..had their family ‘lair’ or burying-place in the graveyard of a village. 1890 [Notice in Stromness Ch.-yard] The Committee appointed by the Heritors to take charge of the new Burial Ground have had before them alternative plans for placing of lairs. |
3. That whereon one lies down to sleep; a bed, couch. † at or to lair: in or to bed. † to take one's lair: to take to one's bed. Now chiefly with some reference to sense 5 b.
| a 1000 Wife's Compl. 34 Frynd leᵹer weardiaþ þonne ic on uhtan ana gonge. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 103 He beð neðer þanne he er was, alse fro sete to leire. a 1300 Cursor M. 29091 In askes and in hare, and weping and vneses lair. c 1425 Dispute Mary & Cross 96 in Leg. Rood (1871) App. 200 My love I lulled vppe in hys leir. 1494 Acta Dom. Conc. (1739) 372/2 His wiff wes liand in cheld bed lare. 1619 H. Hutton Follies Anat. (Percy Soc.) 35 Robin has for tobaccho sold his chaire, Reserving nothing but a stoole for's lare. 1633 T. Adams Comm. 2 Pet. i. 9 (1865) 107 The physician coming to his patient inquires the time when he took his layre. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 24 The shepherd..on the sloping pond-head lies at lair. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. (1858) 13 Wretchedness..shivers hunger-stricken into its lair of straw. 1851 Mayne Reid Scalp Hunt. xx. 139 There were ‘lairs’ among the underwood, constructed of branches. 1899 F. T. Bullen Log of a Sea-waif 160 The villainous den beneath the top-gallant-forecastle, far in the fore-part of the ship, which is the lair of seamen in most English ships. |
| transf. and fig. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles iv. iv, Till stretch'd upon the bloody lair Each rebel corpse was laid! 1821 Shelley Prometh. Unb. i. 687 We make there our liquid lair. |
4. A place for animals to lie down in. a. for domestic animals. † Also, a haunt or range. Now spec. an enclosure or large shed for cattle on the way to market.
By Spenser, if the reading be correct, used pseudo-arch. for ‘pasture’.
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 52 Take heede ek if the dwellers in that leir Her wombis sidis, reynys swelle or ake. 1513 Douglas æneis xiii. Prol. 44 All stoyr and catall seysit in thar lair. 1573 Tusser Husb. cxiii. (1878) 206 Borne I was..In Essex laier, in village faier, that Riuenhall hight. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. viii. 29 More hard for hungry steed t' abstaine from pleasant lare. a 1605 Montgomerie Mindes Mel., Ps. xxiii. 5 He makes my leare In feelds so fare. 1649 W. Blithe Eng. Improv. Impr. (1653) 110 The Warmest parts of many Pastures, which Sheep and Cattell chuse alway for their Lieare. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 233 Nature shall provide..Mossy Caverns for their Evening lare. 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Cow, You must..fill up the Holes carefully that are in the Cowhouse-yard or Layer. 1810 in Risdon's Surv. Devon 406 Each flock of sheep has its particular range,..These places are called lears. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 105 Low of distant cattle..dropping down to lair. 1865 Daily Tel. 22 Aug. 5/5 These lairs..are tolerably comfortable places, and the cattle have food and water while staying there. 1887 Times 27 Aug. 11/4 Hay, straw, and forage for use in the lairs. |
b. for beasts of chase or of prey. Phr. at lair: in his or their lair.
| 1576 Turberv. Venerie 115. 1592 Nashe P. Penilesse (ed. 2) 31 b, All the nimble Citizens of the wood betooke them to their Laire. 1626 Breton Fantasticks, Summer (1857) 324 The stately Hart is at Layre in the high wood. 1667 Milton P.L. vii. 457 Out of the ground up rose, As from his laire the wilde Beast. 1735 Somerville Chase iii. 294 Fierce from his Lair springs forth the speckled Pard. 1840 Thirlwall Greece vii. lv. 96 They were hunted like wild beasts into their lairs. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. I. ii. 535 In that forest was the lair Of a great boar. |
| transf. and fig. 1814 Byron Lara ii. ix, He had hoped quiet in his sullen lair. 1860 W. Collins Wom. White iii. viii. 383, I had stirred in its lair the serpent-hatred of years. 1870 Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. xxxii. 6 Before the great devouring floods leap forth from their lairs. |
c. of other animals.
| 1841 Browning Pippa Passes 167 That mossy lair of lizards. 1860 Emerson Cond. Life, Fate Wks. (Bohn) II. 324 Every creature,—wren or dragon,—shall make its own lair. 1867 F. Francis Angling v. (1880) 182 A fish feeding in his lair. |
5. Agric. Nature or kind of soil, with reference to its effect on the quality of crops, or of the animals pastured upon it.
| 1519 W. Horman Vulg. 178 The tyllar wyll..shone it as poysonde leyre. 1530 Palsgr. 237/2 Layre of a grounde, terroy[r]. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 141 What laier much better then there, or cheaper (thereon to doo well?) 1610 W. Folkingham Art of Survey i. viii. 15 Virgill infers the best layer for Tillage to be an Earth which is blackish and darke. 1616 Surflet & Markh. Countrey Farme 117 Sheepe bred either of a fruitfull ground, and rich leare, or vpon barren ground, and poore leare. 1623 Markham Cheape & Good Husb. (ed. 3) 104 Leare, which is the earth on which a Sheepe lyeth, and giueth him his colour, is much to be respected; the red Leare is held the best. 1655 Moffet & Bennet Health's Improv. (1746) 158 Chuse the Female before the Male [rabbit],..and both from out a chalky Ground and a sweet Layer. 1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. 135/2 Sheep at their Lear. Some say, Feeding or Grasing. 1799 A. Young Agric. Lincs. 211 Where the soil is so good as to run well to grass good layers are easily formed. 1847 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. viii. i. 64 Manure is used heavily on clover-layers. |
| fig. 1565 Jewel Repl. Harding (1611) 355 Lacke of Deuotion both in the people and in the Priest, is a good leare to breed Masses. 1602 Breton Wonders worth hearing (Grosart) 8/1 His Bride and hee were both Rabbets of one Laier. |
6. Comb.: lair-holder Sc., the owner of a grave; † lair-stall, † -stead, a grave within a church; † lair-stone, a gravestone; † lair-stow, a burial-place.
| 1864 N.B. Mail 2 Nov., The subcommittee of the *lair-holders thought it would [etc.]. |
| 1541 Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 195 Pro denariis debitis pro le *layrestall infra ecclesiam. 1672 Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 338 For laying downe layerstalls, 5s. |
| 1559 Richmond. Wills (Surtees 1853) 130, I gyue for my *lare stede in the churche iijs. iiij{supd}. |
| 1538 Invent. in Archæologia LI. 71 Itm the laton on the *larestones, vd. 1565 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees 1835) 247 For his lairstone in ye church iijs. iiij{supd}. c 1632 in Brand Hist. Newcastle (1789) I. 370 note, One swea tree with two rolles for taking and laying down lairstones. |
| c 1000 ælfric Hom. (Th.) I. 430 Ypolitus ða bebyriᵹde ðone halᵹan lichaman on ðære wudewan *leᵹer-stowe. c 1205 Lay. 22874 Me nom alle þa dede & to leirstowe heom ladden. |
▪ II. lair, n.2 Now dial.
(lɛə(r))
Also 4, 8 lare, 4–5 layre, 4–5, 9 laire, 8 laier.
[a. ON. leir (Sw. ler, Da. leer):—OTeut. type *laizo-n, ? cogn. w. laimo- loam.]
Clay, mire, mud. † under lair: under the ground.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 519 O watur his blod, his fless o lair, His hete o fir, hijs and of air. a 1340 Hampole Psalter lxviii. 18 Out take me of the lare that .i. be not infestid. a 1400–50 Alexander 4445 All sall leue ȝow at þe laste and in-to laire worth. c 1440 York Myst. xxxi. 213 One Lazar..Lay loken vndir layre fro lymme and fro light. 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 276 My short legs could not step ouer this lair or sinking mire. 1787 Grose Prov. Gloss., Laier, soil, dung. Ess. and Suff. Lare, a quagmire. N. 1803 W. S. Rose Amadis 76 He sees two damsels o'er the laire advance. 1825 Brockett N.C. Words, Lair, mire, dirt. 1893 Northumbld. Gloss., Lair, mud, ‘sleck’, quicksand, or any soft yielding surface. 1895 Crockett Men of Moss Hags 31 He was covered with the lair of the moss-hags. |
▪ III. † lair, n.3 Obs.
Also 5–6 layer, 6 leyar, leire, laire.
A ewer.
| 1491 Will of Vaughan (Somerset Ho.), A layer of siluer ouer gilt. 1508 Sponselles L. Marye 25 in Camden Misc. (1895), No salte, cuppe, or layer..set on the borde. 1565 in Leland's Collect. (1770) I. ii. 691 The Communion Table was richly furnished with Plate..viz... Two great Leires, garnished with stones. 1576 in H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) I. 287 A fair bason and lair guilt. |
▪ IV. lair, n.4 Austral. slang.
(lɛə(r))
Also lare.
[Back-formation from lairy a.2]
A flashily dressed man, one who ‘shows off’. Also (rare) ˈlairize v. intr., to act like a lair, to show off.
| 1935 K. Tennant Tiburon ix. 106 He was also considered something of a lare among the girls. 1941 Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 42 Lair, a flashily-dressed man. 1941 K. Tennant Battlers iii. 29 But a brainy young lare called ‘the mob’ together on the pavement outside the shop. ‘This can be worked, can't it?’ he asked, displaying his slip. 1953 ― Joyful Condemned iii. 22 You came lairizing round at our place like you owned it. 1955 H. Drake-Brockman Men without Wives 83 A flash young man. What they call on the goldfields ‘a regular lare’. Hair much slicked, double-breasted coat, patent leather shoes. 1956 J. Wright in Coast to Coast 1955–56 168 But he was what they called a bit of a lair; he couldn't keep a job and had run through three already. 1956 K. Tennant Honey Flow xvi. 188 When they dressed in their best, they looked cheap lares, the type you see leaning against the hotel or the general store. 1973 A. Broinowski Take One Ambassador iii. 31 Two young lairs from the surf club carried their boards down..and tossed them onto the sea. With insolent grace they hopped on. |
▪ V. lair, v.1
(lɛə(r))
Also 2 leire.
[f. lair n.1]
† 1. trans. To prostrate, lay on the ground.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 103 Þe rihte bileue and þe soðe luue..ben leirede and slaine on his heorte. |
2. a. intr. To lie, repose (on a bed). b. Of cattle: To go to their lair. c. trans. To place in a lair. Also refl. To find one's lair. d. To serve as a lair for; in quot. 1870 fig.
| 1607 Topsell Serpents (1658) 766 Vnder this herb a Snake full cold doth lear [= L. latet anguis sub herba]. 1662 G. Swinnock Life of Christ Pref., O how sad is it that so many precious souls should be laring on their beds of security and idleness. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. II. 74 The berries of the brambly wood..Which, when his cattle lair, he runs to get. 1851 Mayne Reid Rifle Rangers i. 13 The jaguar is not far distant, ‘laired’ in the secret depths of the impenetrable jungle. 1853 Alex. Smith Life Drama x. 183 I'd rather lair me with a fiend in fire Than look on such a face as hers to-night. 1870 Lowell Cathedral Poet. Wks. (1879) 453 As a mountain seems To dwellers round its bases but a heap Of barren obstacle that lairs the storm. 1890 Daily Tel. 22 May 5/6 At this moment there are over 7,000 beasts laired in Deptford Market. |
▪ VI. lair, v.2
(lɛə(r))
Also 6 lare.
[f. lair n.2]
1. intr. To stick or sink in mire or bog.
| a 1572 Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. (1846) I. 86 Some Scottismen..not knowing the ground lared, and lost thair horse. a 1575 Diurn. Occurr. (Bannatyne Club) 252 In the quhilk passage ane of thair greit peices of ordinance larit. 1785 Burns Winter Nt. iii, Silly sheep, wha..thro' the drift, deep-lairing, sprattle. 1805 State, Leslie of Powis 74 (Jam.) His cattle sometimes laired in the waggle. 1880 in Antrim & Down Gloss. 1897 Crockett Lads' Love xxix. 290, I feared o' lairin' in the moss mysel'. |
| fig. 1859 Cairns in Life (1895) 438 The subject [origin of Evil] is the deepest bog in which the human mind can lair. |
2. trans. To cause or allow to sink in mire or a morass. Also refl.
| c 1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) xx. 46 Thow wald no{supt} rest but raik, And lair thee in þe myre. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 405 They come to ane place callit the Solloun mose..and thair in lairit and mischeiffit thair horse. 1722 Ramsay Three Bonnets iv. 76 But past relief lar'd in a midding, He's now oblig'd to do her bidding. 1830 Lyell Princ. Geol. (1875) II. iii. xliv. 510 In Scotland..Cattle venturing on a ‘quaking moss’, are often mired or ‘laired’. 1875 W. M{supc}Ilwraith Guide Wigtownshire 76 Watery flows, in which sheep and cattle sometimes lair themselves. 1894 Crockett Raiders (ed. 3) 213 They say that King Robert..laired and bogged a hale army o' the English there. |
| fig. a 1810 Tannahill Poems (1846) 83 Some..polemic wight..Wha lairs himself in controversy. |
▪ VII. lair, v.3 Austral. slang.
(lɛə(r))
Also lare.
[f. lair n.4 or lairy a.2]
To dress flashily, to dress up; to act in a lairy manner. Freq. in pa. pple. (all) laired up.
| 1941 Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 42 Lair up, to dress, esp. to don one's best clothes for a festive occasion. 1945 ― Austral. Lang. vi. 119 All laired up and its synonym all mockered up may also be noted. 1955 H. Drake-Brockman Men without Wives 83 It's that Rienzi. He's a trimmer. Always laring round. No good to girls. 1962 S. Gore Down Golden Mile 64 He climbs out of the cockpit, all laired up in this red rig-out. |
▪ VIII. lair
obs. f. layer; Sc. f. lore, learning.