different between glair vs lair

English

Alternative forms

• glaire

Etymology

From Old French glaire, from Vulgar Latin *cl?ria, a substantive use of Latin cl?rus (“clear”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?l??(?)/
• Rhymes: -??(?)
• Homophone: glare

Noun

glair (plural glairs)

1. Egg-white, especially as used in various industrial preparations.
2. Any viscous, slimy substance.
3. A broadsword fixed on a pike; a kind of halberd.

Translations

Verb

glair (third-person singular simple present glairs, present participle glairing, simple past and past participle glaired)

1. To smear with egg-white.

Anagrams

• GRAIL, argil, grail

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /l??/
• (US) IPA^(key): /l???/
• Rhymes: -??(?)
• Homophone: layer (one pronunciation)

Etymology 1

From Middle English leir, leire, lair, lare, from Old English le?er (“couch, bed”), from Proto-Germanic *legr?, from Proto-Indo-European *leg?-.

Noun

lair (plural lairs)

1. A place inhabited by a wild animal, often a cave or a hole in the ground.
2. A shed or shelter for domestic animals.
3. (figuratively) A place inhabited by a criminal or criminals, a superhero or a supervillain; a refuge, retreat, haven or hideaway.
   • 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula Chapter 21

     ...Van Helsing stood up and said, "Now, my dear friends, we go forth to our terrible enterprise. Are we all armed, as we were on that night when first we visited our enemy's lair. Armed against ghostly as well as carnal attack?"

4. (Britain dialectal) A bed or resting place.
5. (Scotland) A grave; a cemetery plot. [from c. 1420]

Synonyms

• (of an animal): burrow (of some smaller mammals), den (of a lion or tiger), holt (of an otter)
• (of a criminal): den, hide-out

Derived terms

• (grave): lair-stone (“tombstone”)

Translations

Verb

lair (third-person singular simple present lairs, present participle lairing, simple past and past participle laired)

1. (Britain) To rest; to dwell.
2. (Britain) To lay down.
3. (Britain) To bury.

Etymology 2

From Old Norse leir (“clay, mud”). Compare Icelandic leir (“clay”).

Noun

lair (plural lairs)

1. (Scotland) A bog; a mire.

Verb

lair (third-person singular simple present lairs, present participle lairing, simple past and past participle laired)

1. (transitive, Scotland) To mire.
2. (intransitive, Scotland) To become mired.

Etymology 3

Backformation from lairy.

Noun

lair (plural lairs)

1. (Australia, New Zealand, colloquial) A person who dresses in a showy but tasteless manner and behaves in a vulgar and conceited way; a show-off.

References

• Wright, Joseph (1902) The English Dialect Dictionary?^[3], volume 3, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pages 505–506
• “lair” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.

Anagrams

• aril, lari, liar, lira, rail, rial

Manx

Noun

lair f

1. Alternative form of laair

Scots

Etymology

From Old English l?r (“instruction”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?lair/
• Rhymes: -er

Noun

lair (plural lairs)

1. lore
   • "Ower mony a fair-farrant an rare beuk o precious lair" (second line of "The Raven" translated into Scots).