greedy, a.
(ˈgriːdɪ)
Forms: 1 grǽdiᵹ, 2–3 gradi, -y, 2–6 gredi, 3 grediȝ, 3–4 gredie, 4–7 gredy, 6 greadye, 6 Sc. grydy, 6–7 greedie, 6– greedy.
[OE. grǽdiᵹ = OS. grádag, OHG. grâtag, ON. gráðug-r (OSw. grådig, Da. graadig), Goth. grédags:—OTeut. *græ̂đago-, -ugo-, f. *græ̂đu-z (Goth. grêdu-s hunger, ON. gráð-r hunger, greed, OE. grǽd in dat. pl. grǽdum eagerly), cognate with Skr. grdh to be greedy.]
1. Having an intense desire or inordinate appetite for food or drink; ravenous, voracious, gluttonous. † In some of the earlier quots. the meaning is simply: Hungry. Const. of (OE. gen.); † also after, on, upon, (for) to have something (obs.).
| Beowulf (Z.) 121 Wiht unhælo grim and grædiᵹ ᵹearo sona wæs, reoc and reþe. 971 Blickl. Hom. 211 Þa fynd..heora gripende wæron swa swa grædiᵹ wulf. a 1000 ælfric Hom. I. 216 Þam grædiᵹan fisce, þe ᵹesihð þæt æs, and ne ᵹesihð ðone angel ðe on ðam æse sticað. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 123 Þenne bið he gredi þes eses and forswoleȝeð þene hoc forð mid þan ese. c 1200 Vices & Virtues (1888) 139 Sobrietas..makeð þanne mann maðfull ðe was to grady. a 1225 Ancr. R. 324 Hwou gredie hundes stondeð biuoren þe borde. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1494 Iacob wurð war he was gredi. c 1325 Body & Soul 43 in Map's Poems (Camden) 340 Thyne mete..That thou were gredi for to frete. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. vii. 398 Two gredy sowes. 1575–85 Abp. Sandys Serm. iii. 53 The foxe is rauenous, greedie on his pray. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 756 The falling Mast, For greedy Swine provides a full repast. 1725 Pope Odyss. ix. 427 He said, and greedy grasped the heady bowl. 1733–39 J. Tull Horse-Hoing Husbandry 86 Most sorts of Cattle are greedy of it. 1767 T. Hutchinson Hist. Mass. II. i. 100 As greedy after their prey as a wolf. 1772 Ann. Reg. 96/2 This snake is very greedy of milk. a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) I. 180 Greedy hawk must gorge his prey. |
| fig. a 1000 Phœnix 507 (Gr.) Liᵹ..grædiᵹ swelᵹeð londes frætwe. 1572 Gascoigne Dan Barthol. of Bathe Hund. Flowers 429, I seeke a greedy graue, To make an ende of all these stormes and strife. 1610 G. Fletcher Christ's Vict. i. xxix, Cooz'ning the greedie sea, pris'ning their nimble prey. 1654–66 Ld. Orrery Parthenissa (1676) 651, I..knew the Vessel was founder'd, had struck, or sprung some greedy Leak. 1715–20 Pope Iliad ix. 288 The first fat offerings, to the immortals due, Amidst the greedy flames Patroclus threw. 1843 Carlyle Past & Pr. ii. xv. (1845) 158 The..noise of greedy Acheron. 1860 B. Taylor Pine Forest of Monterey Poems (1866) 321 Look from the greedy wave. |
b. said of the stomach, etc.; also of the appetite. See also greedy-guts.
| 1514 Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.) p. xli, Their greedy gorges are rapt with the smell. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 99 b, To stuffe & fyll the gredy gutte of thy bely with delycate meetes. 1599 H. Buttes Dyets drie Dinner A a iv b, Yet soft and fayre: oregreedy jawes Eate not their meale with decent pause. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 211 Her appetite strong and greedy. 1644 Digby Nat. Bodies (1645) 353 The stomack, when it is greedy of meate, draweth it selfe up towards the throate. |
c. said of chemical substances which absorb with avidity. ?
Obs.| 1758 Reid tr. Macquer's Chym. I. 278 The Acid of the Phosphorus..is very greedy of moisture. 1791 W. Nicholson tr. Chaptal's Elem. Chem. (1800) III. 63 The oil is more drying or greedy of oxigene. 1800 tr. Lagrange's Chem. I. 194 When the air is very greedy of moisture. |
d. greedy glede dial., a kite; also the name of a children's game (
Jam.).
† greedy worm: see
quot. 1585;
= hungry worm (see
hungry a. 4).
| 1508 Dunbar Flyting 146 As gredy gleddis, ȝe gang With polkis to mylne, and beggis baith meill and schilling. 1530 Palsgr. 227/1 Gredy worme that is in a dogges tong. a 1568 Wyf of Auchtermuchty 51 By thair cumis the gredy gled, And likkit vp five [gaislingis]. 1585 Lupton Thous. Notable Th. (1675) 33 If the little nerve under a Whelp's tongue (commonly called the greedy worm) be taken away, it keeps the same safe after from being mad. 1627 Bp. Hall Pharis. & Chr. Wks. 417 O thou worldling, which hast the Greedy⁓worme vnder thy tongue, with Esaies dogges, and neuer hast enough. 1768 Ross Helenore 10 At greedy-glad, or warpling o' the green, She 'clipst them a'. 1802 G. Montagu Ornith. Dict. 282 Greedy glead. 1885 Swainson Prov. Names Birds 137 Greedy gled. |
2. Eager for gain, wealth, and the like; avaricious, covetous, rapacious. Const. as in sense 1.
| a 1000 Sal. & Sat. 344 (Gr.) Sum to lyt hafað godes grædiᵹ. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 105 God nele þet we beon gredie ȝitseras. a 1200 Moral Ode 264 And weren to gredi of solure and of golde. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 195 Þe deuel is gredi uppen woreld richeise and gredi him to winende. a 1225 Ancr. R. 416 Ne beo non þe grediure uorto habben more. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 347 Men seien þat preestis ben moost gredy purchasours in erþe. c 1400 Rom. Rose 5696 An usurer..Shal never for richesse riche bee But..Scarce, and gredy in his entent. c 1500 Plumpton Corr. (Camden) 148 Praying that ye wille content unto this bringer, my Cousin Robart Hastings, iiij mark & xxd. now dew unto him at this Martymasse last, which is right gredy therupon. 1648 Gage West Ind. xxi. 202 A wolvish, greedy, and covetous heart. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 72 That Crop rewards the greedy Peasant's pains. 1752 Hume Pol. Disc. ii. 33 Nor is a porter less greedy of money, which he spends on bacon and brandy, than a courtier, who purchases champagne and ortolans. 1841 W. Spalding Italy & It. Isl. III. 209 Unscrupulous and greedy power. 1844 Thirlwall Greece VIII. 461 The..exactions of corrupt magistrates, and their greedy officers. |
| absol. c 1400 Rom. Rose 5791 If these gredy..Loveden, and were loved ageyn..Such wikkidnesse ne shulde falle. |
3. In wider sense: Eager, keen;
† eagerly active, zealous (
obs.); eagerly or keenly desirous
of or
† to do (something).
| a 1300 Cursor M. 27597 O pride becums als wainglory, Þat es to be o roos gredi. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1370 The Grekes were full gredy, grippit hom belyue, Prayen and pyken mony priuey chambur. 1540 Coverdale Fruitf. Less. To Rdr. A 4 b, O, how euill doth it become a beleeuer to be irefull and greedie of vengeance. 1553 Latimer Serm. Lincolnsh. vii. (1562) 118 b, So all oure prelates byshops and curates..should be so paynful, so gredy in castyng their netts, that is to say, in preachyng Gods worde. 1600 Forman Autobiog. (1849) 11 He was soe gredy on his bocke. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. i. viii. 34 A great enquirer of truth, but too greedy a receiver of it. 1734 tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. xix. v. (1827) VIII. 160 The populace, who are ever greedy of novelty. 1784 Cowper Task iii. 671 The rank society of Weeds, Noisome, and ever greedy to exhaust The impoverished earth. 1884 Sat. Rev. 12 July 38/1 The people of the United States are seldom greedy of legislation. |
| fig. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 1709 (1758) The see, that gredy is to flowen. 1899 Findlay in Expositor Feb. 94 Dogmatic theology, greedy of proof-texts. |
4. Of actions, qualities, emotions, and the like: Characterized by or manifesting intense or eager desire; keen, eager.
| c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. Prol. 105 My besy goost..To sene this flour so yonge..Constrayned me with so gredy desyre. 1568 T. Howell Arb. Amitie (1879) 37 Most greedy gripes with plunging paines, do pierce my ruthfull hart. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. viii. 29 He himselfe with greedie great desyre Into the castle entred forcibly. Ibid. 48 With griping talaunts armd to greedy fight. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. v. §394 [Which] begot a greedy hope, and expectation in him that this petition would have been..an introduction to peace. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 257 With greedy hope to find His wish and best advantage. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 18 Had not my greedy Eye espied a House more eminently seated. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones viii. xiv, He and Partridge sat with greedy and impatient ears. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. xxii, Smike listened with greedy interest. |
† 5. transf. Of spoil, prey: Greedily pursued.
Obs.| 1586 Marlowe 1st Pt. Tamburt. ii. ii, Being void of martial discipline, All running headlong after greedy spoils. 1648 Gage West Ind. xxi. 187 The monster..thinking to have made some of us his greedy prey. |
6. adv. or quasi-adv.| 1599 Minsheu Sp. Gram. 83 To a greedi eating horse, a short halter. 1612 Rowlands More Knaues Yet 16 A desp'rate fellow fell to eate salt Beefe: Feeding so greedy that the rest admir'd. |
7. Comb., as
greedy-minded adj.| 1577 J. Northbrooke Dicing (1843) 48 A greedy minded man..may be, and is a couetous man. 1613 Hieron Wks. I. 259 Greedy minded men, which seeke by all meanes to secret and keep close the treasure they haue found. |