speir

speir

See also: Speir and spéir

Scots

Alternative forms

• speer

Etymology

From Old English spyrian, from Proto-Germanic *spurjaną. Cognate with German spüren, Swedish spörja, Danish spørge.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /spiːr/

Verb

speir (third-person singular simple present speirs, present participle speirin, simple past speirt or spure, past participle speirt)

1. to ask, inquire
   • 1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], OCLC 742335644:

     I'll gie you a bit canny advice, and ye maunna speir what for neither

   • 1789, Robert Burns, Whistle O'er The Lave O't:

     Now we're married - speir nae mair, / But whistle o'er the lave o't!

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

   • 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide

     It seems that the young Heriotside, riding by one day, stopped to speir something or other, and got a glisk of Ailie's face which caught his fancy.

Noun

speir (plural speirs)

1. inquiry, investigation
2. A person who is continually asking questions; a prying, inquisitive person