Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To irritate or torment persistently.
- v. To wear out; exhaust.
- v. To impede and exhaust (an enemy) by repeated attacks or raids.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To fatigue or tire out, as with annoying labor, care, importunity, enforced watchfulness, misfortune, etc.; distress by perplexity; wear out, as with toil.
- Milit.: To annoy by repeated attacks; keep constantly on the defensive.
- To lay waste or desolate; raid.
- To rub or scrape.
- Synonyms Distress, etc. (see afflict); to jade, disturb, exhaust, fag. See trouble.
- n. Harassment.
Wiktionary
- v. To fatigue or to tire with repeated and exhausting efforts.
- v. To annoy endlessly or systematically; to molest.
- v. To put excessive burdens upon; to subject to anxieties.
- n. obsolete devastation; waste
- n. obsolete worry; harassment
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To fatigue; to tire with repeated and exhausting efforts; esp., to weary by importunity, teasing, or fretting; to cause to endure excessive burdens or anxieties; -- sometimes followed by
out . - n. obsolete Devastation; waste.
- n. rare Worry; harassment.
WordNet 3.0
- v. annoy continually or chronically
- v. exhaust by attacking repeatedly
Etymologies
- From Old French harasser ("to tire out, to vex"). Origin uncertain; compare Old French harier ("harry"); see harry; compare Old French, harace ("a basket made of cords"), harace, harasse ("a very heavy and large shield; or harer to set (a dog) on"). (Wiktionary)
- French harasser, possibly from Old French harer, to set a dog on, from hare, interj. used to set a dog on, of Germanic origin. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“After the fight that we didn't get to see with Bumblebee because we were forced to see a robotic gremlin harass 2 annoying kids, Barricade disappeared from the film.”
New Transformers 2 Details Revealed at Hasbro Licensing Summit | /Film
“I might also be said to be intending to "harass" -- who knows, given how vague the term is?”
“February 10th, 2010 at 6: 09 pm by the time you’re harassing Pomona College students, the only more inoffensive and unlikely Americans left to harass is a senior citizens’ yoga group.”
“Anyway, Myles wins the thread – by the time you’re harassing Pomona College students, the only more inoffensive and unlikely Americans left to harass is a senior citizens’ yoga group.”
“Day to day, though, censorship is less about dissuading the truly motivated (though, if it can make them easy to detect and harass, that is a plus) and more about preventing the casual from becoming motivated.”
“They think our money is spent paying officers to "harass" the hunting public or pick up dead deer along the highways.”
“Would that more foreigners would "harass" people in this way in Taiwan.”
“Despite the frequency with which I use the verb "harass," I think this entry should've been entitled "Hassle Hasbro.”
“Another opposition deputy singled out by Mugabe, Mike Auret, said there was nothing that Mugabe could "harass" him for.”
“Immigration officials in the Transkei region were on a new campaign to "harass" expatriate teachers who had no work permits, a delegation of Indian nationals claimed in Umtata at the weekend.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘harass’.
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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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GRE 2014
abase, abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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A-R-A Words
It's an odd-looking pattern in English. Please add words if it makes you happy. :) K-POW! Wow @gulyasrobi!
scarab, Arawak, Sahara, Arab, pharaoh, caravan, carat, parachute, arachnid, Saran Wrap, Sarah, tarantella and 492 more...
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(1st_wk_150)-Dec_5_2012
replete, steeped, eminent, indiscriminate, voracious, automaton, prognosticate, technology, abound, matron, tinge, compound and 297 more...
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The Request Line
This is the place to add words you'd like Charles Harrington Elster to pronounce for you!
swingeing, affiant, dahlia, hydrangea, re, clematis, Nabokov, casu marzu, schadenfreudgeon, nefarious, mewl, manteion and 170 more...
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Words I Misspell
There are words suffering from a butcher.
prioprietary, definitely, a lot, bellwether, committed, daiquiri, existence, gauge, guard, guarantee, harass, lightning and 7 more...
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GRE 1100
drudgery, implore, hapless, nuance, wrest, incipient, inadvertent, tremulous, bristle, euphemism, disdain, pugnacious and 346 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6689 more...
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1100 words you need to know
GRE words
voracious, indiscriminate, replete, steeped, eminent, perceive, intrepid, compound, automaton, reticent, interminable, drudgery and 288 more...
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Revised GRE Wordlist_2013
Vocabulary building for my quest of GRE 2013
ephemeral, esoteric, rhetoric, censure, egregious, pittance, dupe, mulct, paucity, alacrity, maintain, laconic and 996 more...
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List 1
the list of vocabularies from 1100 words you need to know Barron's.
conceded, eminent, prognosticate, indiscriminate, voracious, replete, abound, badger, drudgery, interminable, perceive, tinge and 248 more...
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my dictionary
able, abnormally, abroad, absent, abstract, acceptable, acceptance, access, accessible, accession, according to, account and 4551 more...
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ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
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lesson 16
bounty, camouflage, ebb, forage, harass, insulate, lethargic, maneuver, mottled, murky, proximity, replenish and 3 more...
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H
words starting with h
habituate, hackles, hackneyed, haggard, haggle, halcyon, hale, hallowed, hallucination, halting, hap, hapless and 27 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for harass.
ruzuzu Thanks, chelster! Mar 23, 2011
ruzuzu "USAGE NOTE: Educated usage appears to be evenly divided on the pronunciation of harass. In a recent survey 50 percent of the Usage Panel preferred a pronunciation with stress on the first syllable, while 50 percent preferred stress on the second syllable. Curiously, the Panelists' comments appear to indicate that each side regards itself as an embattled minority."
--from The American Heritage Dictionary (3d ed.) Mar 21, 2011
bilby The -ass is prevalent for me. So to speak. Oct 21, 2008
kewpid "harris" or "har-rass" ? Jan 4, 2008
adm one "r" or two, in all its forms? a long-time pain for me. Dec 5, 2006