blear
/blɪə/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 0.00 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
Alternative form of blare
Example Sentences
- "A Promontory Wen, with grieſly grace, Stood high, upon the Handle of his Face: His blear Eyes ran in gutters to his Chin: His Beard was stubble, and his Cheeks were thin."
- "The Devil, now disguised as a half-wit peasant to Lars-Goren’s left, stood grinning, his blear eyes glittering."
- "Thus I hurle My dazling spells into the ſpungie aire Of power to cheate the eye with bleare illuſion, And give it falſe preſentments, […]"
- "18th c., attributed to Jonathan Swift, “The Story of Orpheus, Burlesqued,” in Walter Scott (ed.), The Works of Jonathan Swift, Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 2nd edition, 1883, Volume 10, p. 403, Orpheus, a one-eyed blearing Thracian, The crowder of that barb’rous nation, Was ballad-singer by vocation;"
- "The street-lamps blearing thro’ the rainy rout, Each like a winking, sickly evil-eye."
- "1917, Madge Morris, The “Red Wind Blows” in The Lure of the Desert Land and Other Poems, San Francisco: Har Wagner, p. 83, Let loose thy snow-winged dove, to rise And fly across the seething blood-mad world. To flutter over fields where that dread Silence is! To light on upturned faces blearing at the skies And curiously peck at dead men’s eyes."
Etymology
From Middle English blere, related to Low German bleeroged (“bleareyed”), Middle High German blerre (“double vision”), German Blerre (“double vision”). Perhaps also related to blur.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: blere, bleren, *blerian, *blǣran
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /blɪə/
- British English: /blɪə/
Usage
Inflected Forms
more blear (comparative)
most blear (superlative)
bleer (alternative, archaic)
blears (present, singular)
blearing (participle, present)
bleared (participle, past)
bleared (past)