harass — ha·rass /hə ras, har əs/ vt [Middle French harasser to exhaust, fatigue, from harer to set a dog on, from Old French hare, interjection used to incite dogs]: to subject persistently and wrongfully to annoying, offensive, or troubling behavior a… … Law dictionary
harass — harass·ing; harass·ing·ly; harass·ment; harass; … English syllables
Harass — Har ass (h[a^]r as or h[.a]*r[a^]s ), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Harassed} (h[a^]r ast or h[.a]*r[a^]st ); p. pr. & vb. n. {Harassing}.] [F. harasser; cf. OF. harace a basket made of cords, harace, harasse,a very heavy and large shield; or harer to set … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
harass — UK US /ˈhærəs/, /həˈræs/ verb [T] ► to repeatedly annoy or upset someone over a period of time: »A university psychology professor has been arrested on accusations of using email to harass and torment employees at the school. be harrassed by sb… … Financial and business terms
Harass — Har ass, n. 1. Devastation; waste. [Obs.] Milton. [1913 Webster] 2. Worry; harassment. [R.] Byron. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
harass — (v.) 1610s, from Fr. harasser tire out, vex, possibly from O.Fr. harer set a dog on, and perhaps blended with O.Fr. harier to harry, draw, drag [Barnhart]. Originally to lay waste, devastate, sense of distress is from 1650s. Related: Harassed;… … Etymology dictionary
harass — harry, *worry, annoy, plague, pester, tease, tantalize Analogous words: *bait, badger, hound, ride, hector, chivy, heckle: vex, irk, bother (see ANNOY) Contrasted words: *comfort, solace, console: *relieve, assuage, alleviate … New Dictionary of Synonyms
harass — There are two pitfalls with this word meaning ‘to trouble or annoy repeatedly’ and its derivatives harassing, harassment, etc. One is the spelling, with only one r (unlike embarrass); the other is the pronunciation, which should be ha rǝs with… … Modern English usage
harass — [v] badger annoy, attack, bait, bedevil, beleaguer, bother, bug*, burn*, despoil, devil*, distress, disturb, eat*, exasperate, exhaust, fatigue, foray, get to*, give a bad time*, give a hard time*, gnaw*, harry, hassle, heckle, hound*, intimidate … New thesaurus
harass — [har′əs, hə ras′] vt. [Fr harasser < OFr harer, to set a dog on < hare, cry to incite dogs < OHG harēn, to call, cry out] 1. to trouble, worry, or torment, as with cares, debts, repeated questions, etc. 2. to trouble by repeated raids or … English World dictionary
