Dear \Dear\, a. [Compar. Dearer; superl. Dearest.]
[OE.
dere, deore, AS. de['o]re; akin to OS. diuri, D. duur, OHG.
tiuri, G. theuer, teuer, Icel. d?r, Dan. & Sw. dyr. Cf.
Darling, Dearth.]
1. Bearing a high price; high-priced; costly; expensive.
The cheapest of us is ten groats too dear. --Shak.
2. Marked by scarcity or dearth, and exorbitance of price;
as, a dear year.
3. Highly valued; greatly beloved; cherished; precious.
``Hear me, dear lady.'' --Shak.
Neither count I my life dear unto myself. --Acts xx.
24.
And the last joy was dearer than the rest. --Pope.
Dear as remember'd kisses after death. --Tennyson.
4. Hence, close to the heart; heartfelt; present in mind;
engaging the attention.
(a) Of agreeable things and interests.
[I'll] leave you to attend him: some dear cause
Will in concealment wrap me up awhile. --Shak.
His dearest wish was to escape from the bustle
and glitter of Whitehall. --Macaulay.
(b) Of disagreeable things and antipathies.
In our dear peril. --Shak.
Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven Or ever
I had seen that day. --Shak.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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