harry
see also: Harry
Pronunciation
  • (GA) IPA: /hæɹi/, /hɛɹi/
  • (RP) IPA: /hæɹi/
Verb

harry (transitive)

  1. To plunder, pillage, assault.
  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.
    • to harry this beautiful region
    • A red squirrel had harried the nest of a wood thrush.
  4. To harass, bother or distress with demands, threats, or criticism.

Harry
Pronunciation
  • (RP, Boston, Rhode Island, New York) enPR: hărʹ-i, IPA: /ˈhæɹi/
  • (America) enPR hărʹi, IPA: /ˈhæɹi/, /ˈhɛɹi/, /ˈhɛəɹi/
    (Mary-marry-merry) homophones en
Proper noun
  1. A male given name, also used as a pet form of Henry and Harold.
    • c. 1596–1599, William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act V, scene v]:
      Yet weep that Harry's dead, and so will I; / But Harry lives that shall convert those tears / By number into hours of happiness.
    • 1830 Mary Russell Mitford, Our Village: Fourth Series: Cottage Names:
      Henry now, what a soft swain your Henry is! the proper theme of gentle poesy; a name to fall in love withal; devoted at the font to song and sonnet, and the tender passion; a baptized inamorato; a christened hero. Call him Harry, and see how you ameliorate his condition. The man is free again, turned out of song and sonnet and romance, and young ladies' hearts. Shakspeare understood this well, when he wrote of prince Hal and Harry Hotspur. To have called them Henry would have spoiled both characters.
    • 2010, Elly Griffiths, The Janus Stone, in Ruth Galloway: The Early Cases: A Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries Collection, Hachette UK ISBN 9781848669734
      'I suppose you think I should call him Harry,' says Ruth.
      'Harry? No. Ever since Harry bloody Potter that's been a nightmare. […]
  2. (rare compared to given name) Surname
Related terms Translations
  • French: Harry
  • German: Harry qf borrowing from English
  • Portuguese: Harry
  • Russian: Га́рри



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