harry

See also: Harry

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /hæɹi/
- Audio (Southern England): (file)
(General American) IPA^(key): /hæɹi/, /hɛɹi/
- Audio (US, without the Mary–marry–merry merger): (file)
- Audio (US, Mary–marry–merry merger): (file)
Homophone: Harry
Homophone: hairy (only in accents with the Mary-marry-merry merger)
Rhymes: -æɹi

Etymology 1

From Middle English herien, harien, from Old English herġian, from Proto-West Germanic *harjōn, from Proto-Germanic *harjōną, from *harjaz (“army”), from Proto-Indo-European *koryos, from *ker- (“army”).

Cognates

See also Walloon hairyî, Old French hairier, harier; also Saterland Frisian ferheerje, German verheeren (“to harry, devastate”), Swedish härja (“ravage, harry”); also Old English here, West Frisian hear, Dutch heer, German Heer); also 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”).

Verb

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

To plunder, pillage, assault.
Synonyms: maraud, raid, sack
- c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
  I repent me much , That so I harry'd him
To make repeated attacks on an enemy.
Synonym: harass
- 1906 August, Alfred Noyes, “The Highwayman”, in Poems, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., published October 1906, →OCLC, part 1, stanza V, page 47:
  '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.'
To strip, lay waste, ravage.
Synonyms: devastate, obliterate; see also Thesaurus:destroy
- 1855–1859, Washington Irving, The Life of George Washington:
  to harry this beautiful region
- 1896, John Burroughs, Birds and bees and other studies in nature:
  A red squirrel had harried the nest of a wood thrush.
To harass, bother or distress with demands, threats, or criticism.
Synonyms: harrow, torment; see also Thesaurus:vex, Thesaurus:pester
- 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.