harry

See also: Harry

English

Etymology

From Middle English herien, harien (compare Walloon hairyî, old French hairier, harier), from Old English herġian, from Proto-Germanic *harjōną (compare East Frisian ferheerje, German verheeren (to harry, devastate), Swedish härja (ravage, harry)), from Proto-Germanic *harjaz (army) (compare Old English here, West Frisian hear, Dutch heer, German Heer), from Proto-Indo-European *koryos (compare Middle Irish cuire (army), Lithuanian kãrias (army; war), Old Church Slavonic кара (kara, strife), Ancient Greek κοίρανος (koíranos, chief, commander), Old Persian [script needed] (kāra, army)). More at here (army).

Pronunciation

Verb

harry (third-person singular simple present harries, present participle harrying, simple past and past participle harried) (transitive)

  1. To plunder, pillage, assault.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)
  2. To make repeated attacks on an enemy.
    • 1906, Alfred Noyes, The Highwayman:
      "One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize to-night,
      But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light;
      Yet, if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day,
      Then look for me by moonlight,
      Watch for me by moonlight,
      I'll come to thee by moonlight, though Hell should bar the way."
  3. To strip, lay waste, ravage.
    • Washington Irving
      to harry this beautiful region
    • J. Burroughs
      A red squirrel had harried the nest of a wood thrush.
  4. To harass, bother or distress with demands, threats, or criticism.
    • 2011 October 23, Becky Ashton, “QPR 1 – 0 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport:
      Chelsea also struggled to keep possession as QPR harried and chased at every opportunity, giving their opponents no time on the ball.
    • 2014 July 5, Sam Borden, “For bellicose Brazil, payback carries heavy price: Loss of Neymar [International New York Times version: Brazil and referee share some blame for Neymar's injury: Spaniard's failure to curb early pattern of fouls is seen as major factor (7 July 2014, p. 13)]”, in The New York Times:
      The Colombians' ire was raised even more 10 minutes later when the referee showed a yellow card to [James] Rodríguez  – who was apoplectic at the decision – for an innocuous trip that was, as Rodríguez vociferously pointed out with multiple hand gestures, a first offense compared with Fernandinho's harrying.

Derived terms

Translations


Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From the English name Harry.

Adjective

harry (indeclinable)

  1. (slang, derogatory) cheesy, shabby, kitschy

Derived terms

  • harrytur
  • harryhandel

References


Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From the English name Harry.

Adjective

harry (indeclinable)

  1. (slang, derogatory) cheesy, shabby, kitschy

Derived terms

  • harrytur
  • harryhandel

References

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