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)

to ask, inquire
- 1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], →OCLC:
  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 quotation)
- 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.
  (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Noun

speir (plural speirs)

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

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