Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To voice opposition; object: demurred at the suggestion. See Synonyms at object.
- v. Law To enter a demurrer.
- v. To delay.
- n. The act of demurring.
- n. An objection.
- n. A delay.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To delay; linger; tarry.
- To hesitate; suspend proceedings; delay conclusion or action.
- To have or suggest scruples or difficulties; object irresolutely; take exception: as, they demurred to our proposals.
- In law, to interpose a demurrer.
- To put off; delay; keep in suspense.
- To doubt of; scruple concerning; hesitate about: as, “to demur obedience,”
- n. Stop; pause; hesitation as to proceeding or decision.
- n. Exception (taken); objection (urged).
Wiktionary
- v. intransitive, obsolete To linger; to stay; to tarry
- v. intransitive To delay; to pause; to suspend proceedings or judgment in view of a doubt or difficulty; to hesitate; to put off the determination or conclusion of an affair.
- v. intransitive To scruple or object; to take exception; to oppose; to balk
- v. intransitive, law To interpose a demurrer.
- v. transitive, obsolete To suspend judgment concerning; to doubt of or hesitate about
- v. transitive, obsolete To cause delay to; to put off
- n. Stop; pause; hesitation as to proceeding; suspense of decision or action; scruple.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. obsolete To linger; to stay; to tarry.
- v. To delay; to pause; to suspend proceedings or judgment in view of a doubt or difficulty; to hesitate; to put off the determination or conclusion of an affair.
- v. To scruple or object; to take exception, especailly on the basis of scruple or modesty.
- v. (Law) To interpose a demurrer. See Demurrer, 2.
- v. obsolete To suspend judgment concerning; to doubt of or hesitate about.
- v. obsolete To cause delay to; to put off.
- n. Stop; pause; hesitation as to proceeding; suspense of decision or action; scruple.
WordNet 3.0
- n. (law) a formal objection to an opponent's pleadings
- v. enter a demurrer
- v. take exception to
Etymologies
- From Anglo-Norman demorer, from Old French demorer (French demeurer), from Vulgar Latin demoro, Latin demorari ("to tarry"), from de- + morari ("to delay"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English demuren, to delay, from Anglo-Norman demurer, from Latin dēmorārī : dē-, de- + morārī, to delay (from mora, delay). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Moodie requested the use of a sofa for me during the night; but even that produced a demur from the landlord.”
“In the midst of an interesting Spiked essay on the disconcerting popularity of “denier” (as in “Holocaust denier”) as an increasingly broad descriptor for people who demur from the majority view on issues like climate change, Frank Furedi has a passing remark about how we increasingly tend to suppress overtly moral rhetoric, to conceal the normative claims we’re making:”
“They generally respond with a "demur" which is an attack on your complaint.”
“A large proportion of those who demur from indicating a formal religious affiliation believe religion is important, pray regularly, and even attend a given congregation on occasion.”
“It cost to get in, and it was home time for me, so I tried to demur, but, No. I pay.”
On Sunday morning, I woke with bleeding fingers and a pocket full of dice
“Too often we demur praise, or will not praise ourselves.”
“Let us not demur, internets, I have a record to beat!”
“How else would potential 2012 Republican presidential candidates such as Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich and -- more recently -- Donald Trump "wink" at the birthers, play coy, demur or dodge the issue; allude to the President's "Kenyan roots and connections," but never categorically discredit the birther movement?”
The Huffington Post: Dorian de Wind: Birthers: Leonard Pitts Doesn't Mince Words
“If you demur I will immediately advertise it to be sold by auction.”
“(Upward had won a prize for poetry while at Cambridge University, but when Auden advised him to give up, he did so without demur.)”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘demur’.
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sdamle1
echt
echt, apocalypse, resurgence, forthright, logorrhea, mercurial, torrid, exorcise, obscure, intrusive, morose, vindictive and 100 more...
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1100
abound, technology, branch of knowled..., prognosticate, automaton, matron, an older married ..., realm, special field of ..., kingdom, annals, historical records and 981 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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GRE Barron's 800
abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abject, abjure, abscission, abscond, abstemious, abstinence, abysmal, accretion and 787 more...
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words 1
Traduce, Ramify, precipitous, rapture, adumbrate, knell, smolder, vagary, choleric, sibylline, hypocritical, jejune and 185 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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GRE 2014
abase, abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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SAT Words
But only the ones that I don't already know.
abase, abash, abominate, abstruse, acclivity, accolade, accost, adroit, adulate, adulterate, adumbrate, affray and 241 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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Used
halcyon, ineluctable, inspissated, incarnadine, askance, demur, saltation, requisite, effusive, specious, liminality, indomitable and 114 more...
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Words For Novel (Part 2)
fable, sprite, syphilitic, anvil, wonderstruck, vertigo, bridled, tufted, fettered, savvy, tweed fedora, tryst and 255 more...
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GRE
predilection, explicit, appeal, supplication, appealing, enchanting, ovation, pertinent, apropos, opportunely, applicable, germane and 381 more...
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GRE
droll, dyspeptic, ebullient, ardor, edify, efficacy, malinger, mannered, martinet, maudlin, mendacious, mendicant and 102 more...
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DAY5_01/08/2013
kowtow, powwow, junta, imbroglio, juggernaut, schadenfreude, amuck, pariah, nabob, bwana, zeitgeist, sangfroid and 6 more...
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DAY4_01/07/2013
miserly, frugal, prevaricate, variance, histrionic, demur, demure, beatific, perfunctory, preemptive, peremptory, indigent and 16 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for demur.

sionnach I consider myself an adventurous eater, but, if offered to partake of lemur femur, I must demur. Apr 27, 2008
Prolagus Don't be surprised if I demur, for, be advised my passport's green. No glass of ours was ever raised to toast The Queen.
(Seamus Heaney) Mar 23, 2008