Eager \Ea"ger\, a. [OE. egre sharp, sour, eager, OF. agre,
aigre, F. aigre, fr. L. acer sharp, sour, spirited, zealous;
akin to Gr. ? highest, extreme, Skr. a?ra point; fr. a root
signifying to be sharp. Cf. Acrid, Edge.]
1. Sharp; sour; acid. [Obs.]
``Like eager droppings into
milk.'' --Shak.
2. Sharp; keen; bitter; severe. [Obs.]
``A nipping and an
eager air.'' ``Eager words.'' --Shak.
3. Excited by desire in the pursuit of any object; ardent to
pursue, perform, or obtain; keenly desirous; hotly
longing; earnest; zealous; impetuous; vehement; as, the
hounds were eager in the chase.
And gazed for tidings in my eager eyes. --Shak.
How eagerly ye follow my disgraces! --Shak.
When to her eager lips is brought Her infant's
thrilling kiss. --Keble.
A crowd of eager and curious schoolboys.
--Hawthorne.
Conceit and grief an eager combat fight. --Shak.
4. Brittle; inflexible; not ductile. [Obs.]
Gold will be sometimes so eager, as artists call it,
that it will as little endure the hammer as glass
itself. --Locke.
Syn: Earnest; ardent; vehement; hot; impetuous; fervent;
intense; impassioned; zealous; forward.
Usage: See Earnest. -- Eager, Earnest. Eager marks an
excited state of desire or passion; thus, a child is
eager for a plaything, a hungry man is eager for food,
a covetous man is eager for gain. Eagerness is liable
to frequent abuses, and is good or bad, as the case
may be. It relates to what is praiseworthy or the
contrary. Earnest denotes a permanent state of mind,
feeling, or sentiment. It is always taken in a good
sense; as, a preacher is earnest in his appeals to the
conscience; an agent is earnest in his solicitations.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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