Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To voice opposition; object: synonym: object.
  • intransitive verb Law To enter a demurrer.
  • intransitive verb Archaic To delay.
  • noun The act of demurring.
  • noun An objection.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Stop; pause; hesitation as to proceeding or decision.
  • noun Exception (taken); objection (urged).
  • 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,”

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Stop; pause; hesitation as to proceeding; suspense of decision or action; scruple.
  • transitive verb obsolete To suspend judgment concerning; to doubt of or hesitate about.
  • transitive verb obsolete To cause delay to; to put off.
  • intransitive verb obsolete To linger; to stay; to tarry.
  • intransitive verb 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.
  • intransitive verb To scruple or object; to take exception, especailly on the basis of scruple or modesty.
  • intransitive verb (Law) To interpose a demurrer. See Demurrer, 2.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb intransitive, obsolete To linger; to stay; to tarry
  • verb 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.
  • verb intransitive To scruple or object; to take exception; to oppose; to balk
  • verb intransitive, law To interpose a demurrer.
  • verb transitive, obsolete To suspend judgment concerning; to doubt of or hesitate about
  • verb transitive, obsolete To cause delay to; to put off
  • noun Stop; pause; hesitation as to proceeding; suspense of decision or action; scruple.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun (law) a formal objection to an opponent's pleadings
  • verb enter a demurrer
  • verb take exception to

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English demuren, to delay, from Anglo-Norman demurer, from Latin dēmorārī : dē-, de- + morārī, to delay (from mora, delay).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Anglo-Norman demorer, from Old French demorer (French demeurer), from Vulgar Latin demoro, Latin demorari ("to tarry"), from de- + morari ("to delay").

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Examples

  • Moodie requested the use of a sofa for me during the night; but even that produced a demur from the landlord.

    Roughing It in the Bush 1852

  • 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:

    How Inappropriate! 2007

  • They generally respond with a "demur" which is an attack on your complaint.

    Iris Martin: Homeowners: The War Games Have Begun 2009

  • 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.

    American Grace Robert D. Putnam 2010

  • 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?

    Dorian de Wind: Birthers: Leonard Pitts Doesn't Mince Words Dorian de Wind 2011

  • 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?

    Dorian de Wind: Birthers: Leonard Pitts Doesn't Mince Words Dorian de Wind 2011

  • 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 zornhau 2009

  • 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?

    Dorian de Wind: Birthers: Leonard Pitts Doesn't Mince Words Dorian de Wind 2011

  • Too often we demur praise, or will not praise ourselves.

    I Mean You. karenhealey 2010

  • Let us not demur, internets, I have a record to beat!

    Reading For Change karenhealey 2010

Comments

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  • 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)

    March 23, 2008

  • I consider myself an adventurous eater, but, if offered to partake of lemur femur, I must demur.

    April 27, 2008

  • to object or show reluctance

    Wallace disliked the cold, so he demurred when his friends suggested they go skiing in the Alps.

    October 11, 2016

  • From the Clint Eastwood film, BIRD, about jazz musician Charlie Parker. This word, demur, is featured in a scene set in a mental hospital where Bird is taken to dry out. His indignation when using it precipitates a fight he provokes with another patient;

    I asked that...

    ...misguided, officious young woman...

    ...if she would administer

    my paraldehyde...

    ...and she demurred.

    Demurred.

    I am not a laboratory animal.

    I am in pain here.

    April 1, 2022