eager

Etymology 1

From Middle English egre, eger, from Old French egre (French aigre), from Latin acer (“sharp, keen”); see acid, acerb, etc. Compare vinegar, alegar.

adj

  1. Desirous; keen to do or obtain something.
    Stacey is very eager to go cycling this weekend.
    The hounds were eager in the chase.
    I was eager to show my teacher how much I'd learned over the holidays.
    You stayed up all night to get to the front of the queue. You must be very eager to get tickets.
    When Timothy and Julia hurried up the staircase to the bedroom floor, where a considerable commotion was taking place, Tim took Barry Leach with him. […]. The captive made no resistance and came not only quietly but in a series of eager little rushes like a timid dog on a choke chain. 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess
  2. (computing theory) Not employing lazy evaluation; calculating results immediately, rather than deferring calculation until they are required.
    an eager algorithm
  3. (dated) Brittle; inflexible; not ductile.
  4. (obsolete, literally) Sharp; sour; acid.
  5. (obsolete, figurative) Sharp; keen; bitter; severe.

verb

  1. (intransitive) To be or become eager.
    Now everybody considered it a high privilege (valued it at a high consideration) to see him and to hear him speak, and to obey his command (him commanding), whereas he, though being such a person, eagered to be unknown, and to escape notice in solitude. 1864, The Fathers, Historians, and Writers of the Church, page 121
    Our spirits fret and chafe like sea waves on the rocks eagering to climb the shore. 1913, William Alfred Quayle, The Climb to God, page 116
    The buggy jolted on, the stout, wellkept team eagering, homing, barning. 1932, William Faulkner, Light in August
    After entering college, I eagered to have a parttime job. 2002, Mark F. Harris, A Distant Place, page 198
    After the go-ahead from the joint committee, the Mugglesby CO warmed up and eagered up tremendously, and we went back to plotting. 2021, Bill Watson, The Chaos Factor
  2. (intransitive) To express eagerness.
    His hair crinkled towards her fondly. "Yes," he eagered. 1924, Mark Lemon, Henry Mayhew, Tom Taylor, Punch - Volume 167, page 181
    Peg! eager voices eagered voicely. 1969, Kenneth Patchen, Sleepers Awake, page 141
    […] Sister Clare saying Oh look a greenfinch and the name was a gift to me as much as the three and a half more minutes the green vision danced and fretted and eagered and preened in front of me […] 2019, Toby Litt, Patience
  3. (transitive) To make or encourage to be eager
    Physicians also admit to eagering patients to turn to specialised web sites in order to read further. 2013, Andrzej Łyda, Krystyna Warchał, Occupying Niches, page 135
    But they only eagered him to be off . 1927, Carleton Beals, Brimstone and Chili
    Its presence gave him no thought of condemnation, but only eagered his longing for the redemption body. 1941, William R. Newell, Romans Verse-by-Verse

Etymology 2

See eagre.

noun

  1. Alternative form of eagre (tidal bore).

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