sleerv.
rare.
intransitive. ? To look askance.The form may be genuine, as modern dialects have sleer to sneer, and slire, slier, etc., to look askance. In some instances, however, where editions of 17th and 18th cent. works have sleer, the original reading is fleer.
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the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > seeing or looking > see [verb (intransitive)] > look sideways
schule?c1225
to look asidec1230
bagge1369
gogglec1380
to look awryc1400
slizec1400
leer1530
to look askew1538
skew1570
gloat1576
to glance one's eye, look1590
squean1608
squinny1608
squint1610
sken1611
sleer1680
glime1684
skime1691
side-glance1799
1680 T. Otway Hist. Caius Marius ii. 16 But then Marius's Eye agen! how 'twill sparkle, and twinckle, and rowl, and sleer?
Derivatives
ˈsleering adj.
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1633 P. Fletcher Purple Island vii. xlvi. 96 Ecthros slie, Whose..sleering eyes still watch and wait to spie When to return still-living injuries.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
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