lair

plural lairs

1. A place inhabited by a wild animal, often a cave or a hole in the ground.

   “Would you go into the dragon's lair, my peerless Wiglaf?”

   1961, Norma Lorre Goodrich, “Beowulf”, in The Medieval Myths, New York: The New American Library, page 47

   1 more example

   O dainty dew, O morning dew / That gleamed in the world's first dawn, did you / And the sweet grass and manful oaks / Give lair and rest / To him who toadwise sits and croaks / His death-behest?

   a. 1881, Sidney Lanier, Strange Jokes

   Synonyms: burrow, den, holt

2. A shed or shelter for domestic animals.
3. figurativelyA place inhabited by a criminal or criminals, a superhero or a supervillain; a refuge, retreat, haven or hideaway.

   [H]e did a little scout work, and discovered the lair of that old woman.

   1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 41

   1 more example

   ...Van Helsing stood up and said, "Now, my dear friends, we go forth to our terrible enterprise. Are we all armed, as we were on that night when first we visited our enemy's lair. Armed against ghostly as well as carnal attack?"

   1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, Westminster [London]: Archibald Constable and Company, […], →OCLC

   Synonyms: den, hide-out

4. UKdialectalA bed or resting place.

   Then would I in Plenty's lap, For the first time take a nap; Falling back in easy lair, Sweetly slumb'ring in my chair;

   1820, John Clare, “Address to Plenty in Winter”, in Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery, page 50

   1 more example

   Wake ye, sleep ye, my hapless boy, In this homeless house of care? Lack ye the warmth of a mother's eye On the cauldrife, lonely lair?

   1843 June 28, William Thom, “Extract from a Letter to J. Robertson, Esq.”, in Rhymes and Recollections of a Hand-loom Weaver, 3rd edition, London: Smith, Elder and Co., published 1847, page 136

5. ScotlandA grave; a cemetery plot.First known use c. 1420

   This is one of the 'lairs' of the Harknesses of Holestain and Haprig.

   1849, The Edinburgh topographical, traditional and antiquarian magazine, page 114

   3 more examples

   […] but few knew the reason, and some thought it was because the deceased were strangers, and had no regular lair. I dressed the two bonny orphans in the best mourning at my own cost […]

   1821, John Galt, Annals of the parish, or, The chronicle of Dalmaling, xlix (page 205 in the 1908 edition)

   […] I would purchase a lair in the Necropolis, and have wee Johnnie removed from his humble resting-place, and laid down [there].

   1862, George Roy, Generalship; a Tale, page 58

   We appreciate that this is a sensitive issue for lair owners and would like to assure them that the maintenance of the cemetery is carried out in a sensitive and dignified manner.

   2018 August 2, BBC News, quoting Aberdeen City Council, “Dad 'will sleep by son's grave' to stop council clearing mementoes”, in BBC News

6. lifestyleA group where pickup artists meet to discuss and practise seduction techniques.

present singular third person lairs · participle present lairing · participle past laired · past laired

1. UKTo rest; to dwell.

   The lee-light that December gies Was lairing in the wast, Whan Christy wi' her oa claes, Was boun' to dree the blast.

   1822, Hew Ainslie, “The Waesome Death O' Christy Ford”, in A Pilgrimage to the Land of Burns, Deptford: W. Brown, page 42

2. UKTo lay down.
3. UKTo bury.

plural lairs

1. ScotlandA bog; a mire.

present singular third person lairs · participle present lairing · participle past laired · past laired

1. ScotlandtransitiveTo mire.
2. ScotlandintransitiveTo become mired.

plural lairs

1. AustraliaNew ZealandcolloquialA person who dresses in a showy but tasteless manner and behaves in a vulgar and conceited way; a show-off.

plural lairs

1. obsoleteObsolete form of layer.

   The walls, which are fixed direct into the ground without a plinth, are made of wattle and plastered with a thin lair of mud or cowdung.

   1912, Central Provinces (India), Central Provinces District Gazetteers, page 96

plural Lairs

1. A surname.