lair1

[lair] /lɛər/
noun
1.
a den or resting place of a wild animal:
The cougar retired to its lair.
2.
a secluded or hidden place, especially a secret retreat or base of operations; a hideout or hideaway:
a pirate's lair.
3.
British. a place in which to lie or rest; a bed.
verb (used with object)
4.
to place in a lair.
5.
to serve as a lair for.
verb (used without object)
6.
to go to, lie in, or have a lair.
Origin
before 900; Middle English leir, Old English leger; cognate with Dutch, Old High German leger bed, camp; akin to lie2

lair2

[lair] /lɛər/
noun
1.
British Dialect. mud; mire.
verb (used without object)
2.
Scot. to sink or stick in mud or mire.
Origin
1250-1300; v. use of Middle English lair clay, mire < Old Norse leir clay, loam

lair3

[lair] /lɛər/
noun, Chiefly Scot.
1.
lore; learning.
Origin
Middle English (north and Scots) lare, Old English lār lore

lair4

[lair] /lɛər/
noun, Australian Informal.
1.
a man who dresses garishly and is crude or vulgar; showoff.
Origin
1930-35; back formation from lairy
Examples from the web for lair
  • It is often not even apparent until the weakened bat comes out of its lair from hibernation now too weak to survive.
  • Holed up in a secret lair as they braved the fury of the streets, he seemed hopelessly out of date and out of touch.
  • And what is oddest about the essay's power to lure us into its lair is how it goes about this work.
  • Then a huge barrow is constructed over the remains of the pyre, and all the treasure taken from the dragon's lair is placed in it.
  • He formed a lair somewhere in the forest, and became solitary.
  • They had supposed that the old lion had gone to sleep, and suddenly he had come out of his lair, and was roaring.
  • Gradually one of them will get bold enough to push her way into his lair.
  • Her younger sister stood outside the lair and whinged to be let in.
  • Instead he returns to the parental loft and, mumbling something about the flight, crawls into his old lair.
  • There was a secret meeting some months ago in an underground lair around an oval-shaped table.
British Dictionary definitions for lair

lair1

/lɛə/
noun
1.
the resting place of a wild animal
2.
(informal) a place of seclusion or hiding
3.
an enclosure or shed for farm animals
4.
(Scot) the ground for a grave in a cemetery
verb
5.
(intransitive) (esp of a wild animal) to retreat to or rest in a lair
6.
(transitive) to drive or place (an animal) in a lair
Word Origin
Old English leger; related to lie² and Old High German leger bed

lair2

/ler/
noun, verb
1.
a Scot word for mire
Word Origin
from Old Norse leir mud

lair3

/lɛə/
noun
1.
a flashy man who shows off
verb
2.
(intransitive; foll by up or around) to behave or dress like a lair
Word Origin
perhaps from leer
Word Origin and History for lair
n.

Old English leger "bed, couch, grave; act or place of lying down," from Proto-Germanic *legraz (cf. Old Norse legr "grave," also "nuptials" ("a lying down"); Old Frisian leger "situation," Old Saxon legar "bed," Middle Dutch legher "act or place of lying down," Dutch leger "bed, camp," Old High German legar "bed, a lying down," German Lager "bed, lair, camp, storehouse," Gothic ligrs "place of lying"), from PIE *legh- "to lie, lay" (see lie (v.2)). Meaning "animal's den" is from early 15c.