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What is "dear"

Crossword clues for dear

dear
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
dear
I.interjection
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a dear friend (=a friend who is very important to you)
▪ I’d like you to meet a dear friend of mine.
dear departed
▪ his dear departed wife
oh, God/oh, dear etc
▪ Oh, God, I forgot all about it!
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
Dear Madam
▪ It is a house of harmony to my hand. Dear madam!
▪ One was considerably shorter than the other. Dear Madam, Since our extraordinary conversation I have thought of nothing else.
Dear Sir/Sirs
Elementary, my dear Watson.
close/dear to sb's heart
▪ His latest challenge is on a smaller scale, but it's much closer to his heart.
▪ I hold you near, close to my heart, There's so much for me to give, Where to begin?
▪ It is one that lies close to the heart of any study of the interaction of religion and society.
▪ One subject is obviously dear to Schofield's heart - the captaincy of Great Britain and Leeds.
▪ Other songs: Include Stainsby Girls, inspired by a Middlesbrough school close to his heart.
▪ The electrification of the network, a topic close to Lenin's heart, was discussed in the pages of Gudok.
▪ The President would go to Williamsburg, Virginia, a place close to his heart.
cost sb dear/dearly
hold sth/sb dear
my dear/darling/love etc
▪ Anabelle, my dear, you must try some.
▪ Hence my love for film and my desire to make films as a director and... actor.
▪ Oh, and give this bottle of Krug with my love to Charity when you see her.
▪ The measure of my outrage and anger was the measure of my love for you.
▪ Then, my dear Summerlee, it is that most wonderful of devices: a perpetual motion machine!
old boy/my dear boy
sb's nearest and dearest
▪ I don't deal, not for anybody, not for my nearest and dearest.
▪ It will ensure that the memory of your wedding day will remain uppermost in the minds of your nearest and dearest.
▪ Novels may have changed, but dropping hints about your will remains a sure-fire way to annoy your nearest and dearest.
▪ Or heard yourself screaming in a high pitch while arguing fruitlessly with your nearest and dearest?
▪ Sentimental visits home were punctuated by heated and bitter political arguments with my nearest and dearest.
▪ She had come to this, to a limp white heap who had forgotten the names of her nearest and dearest.
▪ Those whose nearest and dearest suffer hearing loss are offered very little assistance to meet the situation!
▪ Which I most certainly am not, as nearest and dearest, and gangs of so-called friends will confirm.
II.noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
old
▪ The poor old dear has been having a hard time of late.
▪ They were two old dears and good fun, but this one... well!
▪ This week one old dear ignored her relatives and left £25,000 to her tortoise.
▪ We were having tea at the same hotel when Mrs Harvey came in, with another old dear.
▪ One old dear was doing her knitting.
▪ Or perhaps the two old dears together.
poor
▪ I called on Janet Dare. Poor dear!
▪ When I married Martin, he paid off all my debts, poor dear, and bought me a new winter coat.
▪ The poor old dear has been having a hard time of late.
▪ Miss Selene's the housekeeper now, poor dear.
▪ You poor little dear - my heart goes out to you, waiting all this time.
▪ The most interesting fact revealed about Norma is that the poor dear is obviously deranged.
▪ Daddy fell from grace, poor dear.
▪ They knew their own taste wouldn't do, poor dears, but they weren't quite sure what would.
■ VERB
cost
▪ It was a study in how not to do something and it cost Chirac dear.
▪ In part two: Let down ... the mis-kick that cost Swindon dear.
hold
▪ Let me state a couple of fundamental principles that we hold dear.
▪ It was a private charm, something about her to hold dear.
▪ Those who hold the royal family dear could hardly wait for her downfall.
say
▪ That, my dear, she said, is why you can't look at her.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ What's your name, dear?
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Make me some cheese on toast, there's a dear.
▪ Make up your mind to please your lord, my dear.
▪ My dear, I don't in the least want to hurry you but I think you should go.
▪ Oh, Charles dear, this is an honour you so richly deserve.
▪ Sophie dear, you do manage to look so very striking with so little in the way of decoration!
▪ They were two old dears and good fun, but this one... well!
▪ We were having tea at the same hotel when Mrs Harvey came in, with another old dear.
▪ You've not hurt your head, have you, my dear?
III.adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
so
▪ He was so quick, so dear, so light.
▪ Was she also to be forbidden to see all others, even her sisters so dear to her?
▪ Going a man down cost the visitors so dear.
▪ S., the beacon of the west, the school we love so dear.
▪ It effectively conjured up the mixture of religion, fighting prowess and romanticism which the Legion held so dear.
▪ That would get back at them for their currency chicanery which cost us so dear.
▪ In this way the sports pervert the very femininity they hold so dear.
very
▪ I remember two aunts and an uncle, all very dear to me, dying within a few months.
▪ Giant tubeworms and clams were premium items, coveted by all of the science party and very dear.
▪ The list included two acquaintances and one very dear friend of mine.
▪ I have known her four years and she is a very dear friend of mine.
▪ He was a little boy called Thomas Isaac, who must have been very dear to his poor parents.
▪ I have done the first ... Very dear Siegfried.
■ NOUN
boy
▪ John's face, the dear boy.
▪ I do not need it and will set it aside for you, my dear boy, to complete your studies.
▪ It is all very agreeable but please, my dear boy, don't allow yourself to take it seriously.
▪ The servants did not want to offend their young master, and Mrs Reed could see no fault in her dear boy.
▪ I must have unnerved you, dear boy.
▪ Perish the thought, dear boy.
▪ You are always so impatient, my dear boy.
brother
▪ I said that without my dear brother I had little care where I was, and no one I wished to speak to.
▪ Your dear brother left quite a few problems behind when he failed to take that corner.
▪ Neither, hopefully, will my dear brother.
child
▪ To me, dear child, you confided your secret.
▪ I know that my happiness in this world depends on the good and noble character of my dear children.
▪ Meantime it gives us great consolation to know that you and our dear children are well.
▪ My dear child, Richard Talbot would never have left his widow alone.
▪ I am driven to seek the man who sired that dear child.
▪ One of my many dear children earned himself a creditable degree in environmental sciences a couple of years ago.
▪ The Forsaken Merman came to mind: Come, dear children, let us away, he advised his sad family.
father
▪ She would see her dear father again, and have a cousin of the same age to play with.
▪ I am the one who left my dear father and brought our children to the Pretty Country.
▪ My dear Father, you were mentioning lunch?
▪ I prayed a little and wept for my dear father, and for myself, my unhappy passion.
fellow
▪ But now, my dear fellows, let's just think about this a moment, shall we?
▪ You say the secretary merely helped her to get away, my dear fellow?
▪ Think of Cleary, the dear fellow, and Pindi and ... I could go on.
▪ My dear fellow, why look so hard?
▪ Otherwise, my dear fellow, you will soon be of no use to wife, man nor beast.
▪ You see, my dear fellow, we cam-we literally camp.
▪ Dada, dear fellow, was happy.
friend
▪ A few days later Modigliani set him straight: My dear Friend, You're a fathead who doesn't understand a joke.
▪ Him having so many dear friends and everything.
▪ By her patience and charity she eventually overcame opposition and became the advisor and dearest friend of the whole household.
▪ Well then, my dear friend, so what's all this gossip in the village about visions of Our Blessed Lady?
▪ Here a dear friend struck dead by a ball through the head or heart!
▪ He was a dear friend to many and will be greatly and sadly missed.
▪ Had she been a man, his dear friend Aspasia could have filled the bill.
girl
▪ My dear girl, it's a small fortune!
▪ My dear girl, in spite of my years, I am a man of the modern age.
▪ If Rainbow won't entertain these dear girls, then maybe I should.
heart
▪ He stole your dear heart away with his lies.
lady
▪ So forget all about vampires, dear ladies.
▪ Whatever will the dear lady think of you?
life
▪ This wasn't easy either, because she was spooked and was clinging for dear life to the poor kid's hair.
▪ The girl shut her eyes and gripped back for dear life.
▪ The playing throughout the evening was truly superb, every instrumentalist bowing and blowing and thumping as though for dear life.
▪ It turns on to its side and as I cling on for dear life I hear a startled cry from Nathan.
▪ Nora had seen him first and was already running far dear life, not caring about her bag or the bicycle.
▪ They often looked very strained to Anna, as if they were holding on to their loyalty for dear life.
▪ With difficulty, he made his way towards her, Charlotte clinging to him for dear life.
love
▪ My dearest love to all of you.
▪ I wish you were here, my dearest love.
sir
▪ The pity is that you married this lady, dear sir.
▪ My dear sir, we are Hoosiers, not Indianans.
▪ My dear sir, you must credit me with the wits of an orangutan.
▪ But, my dear sirs, when peace does come, you may call on me for anything.
▪ Think of that, dear sir.
▪ Have no fear, my dear sir.
sister
▪ Both her dear sisters lay there in the basin, cruelly murdered, and cut in pieces.
▪ A couple of weeks ago a dear sister was helping a sick brother in our fellowship, by doing his washing.
son
▪ Make Mrs. Jervis, my dear son, as happy as you can.
▪ Her dear son Aeneas was all but ruined, she said.
wife
▪ I thought about my dear wife, and for a short time I felt better.
▪ My dear wife has joined me.
▪ I returned to our room and lay on the bed next to my dear wife.
▪ We send you and your dear wife best wishes for the New Year.
wish
▪ Her dearest wish was to live another couple of years and see Neil Kinnock as prime minister.
▪ He had two small children, and it was Miss Miggs's dearest wish to see them.
▪ If, as you say, your sister will come and bring Oreste then surely you have achieved your dearest wish?
▪ She was an only child, and well aware that her father's dearest wish was to have grandsons.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
Dear Madam
▪ It is a house of harmony to my hand. Dear madam!
▪ One was considerably shorter than the other. Dear Madam, Since our extraordinary conversation I have thought of nothing else.
Dear Sir/Sirs
close/dear to sb's heart
▪ His latest challenge is on a smaller scale, but it's much closer to his heart.
▪ I hold you near, close to my heart, There's so much for me to give, Where to begin?
▪ It is one that lies close to the heart of any study of the interaction of religion and society.
▪ One subject is obviously dear to Schofield's heart - the captaincy of Great Britain and Leeds.
▪ Other songs: Include Stainsby Girls, inspired by a Middlesbrough school close to his heart.
▪ The electrification of the network, a topic close to Lenin's heart, was discussed in the pages of Gudok.
▪ The President would go to Williamsburg, Virginia, a place close to his heart.
cost sb dear/dearly
hold sth/sb dear
my dear/darling/love etc
▪ Anabelle, my dear, you must try some.
▪ Hence my love for film and my desire to make films as a director and... actor.
▪ Oh, and give this bottle of Krug with my love to Charity when you see her.
▪ The measure of my outrage and anger was the measure of my love for you.
▪ Then, my dear Summerlee, it is that most wonderful of devices: a perpetual motion machine!
old boy/my dear boy
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Mark had become a dear friend.
▪ No, you can't have an ice-cream - they're too dear.
▪ The blue jacket is slightly dearer, but it's much better material.
▪ Those strawberries look a bit dear.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Congratulations to you my dear brother on all your fine accomplishments in school.
▪ Nina had had everything in the palm of her hand and now she had given Joe back to his dear little wife.
▪ No family, he knew, had not suffered the bereavement or tragic maiming of some one near and dear.
▪ Now Lizzy had taken all that her grandmother held dear and dragged it through the dirt.
▪ Please pray for me in this, my dearest Cynthia.
▪ That's a hundred more than dear old David Beckham gets from his Ferrari 550.
▪ That was how she felt - as though those dear supporting figures of her childhood were once again hovering over her.
▪ The pity is that you married this lady, dear sir.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Dear

Dear \Dear\, n. A dear one; lover; sweetheart.

That kiss I carried from thee, dear.
--Shak.

Dear

Dear \Dear\ (d[=e]r), a. [Compar. Dearer (d[=e]r"[~e]r); superl. Dearest (d[=e]r"[e^]st).] [OE. dere, deore, AS. de['o]re; akin to OS. diuri, D. duur, OHG. tiuri, G. theuer, teuer, Icel. d[=y]rr, Dan. & Sw. dyr. Cf. Darling, Dearth.]

  1. Bearing a high price; high-priced; costly; expensive.

    The cheapest of us is ten groats too dear.
    --Shak.

  2. Marked by scarcity or dearth, and exorbitance of price; as, a dear year.

  3. Highly valued; greatly beloved; cherished; precious. ``Hear me, dear lady.''
    --Shak.

    Neither count I my life dear unto myself.
    --Acts xx. 2

  4. And the last joy was dearer than the rest. --Pope. Dear as remember'd kisses after death. --Tennyson. 4. Hence, close to the heart; heartfelt; present in mind; engaging the attention.

    1. Of agreeable things and interests.

      [I'll] leave you to attend him: some dear cause Will in concealment wrap me up awhile.
      --Shak.

      His dearest wish was to escape from the bustle and glitter of Whitehall.
      --Macaulay.

    2. Of disagreeable things and antipathies.

      In our dear peril.
      --Shak.

      Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven Or ever I had seen that day.
      --Shak.

Dear

Dear \Dear\, adv. Dearly; at a high price.

If thou attempt it, it will cost thee dear.
--Shak.

Dear

Dear \Dear\, v. t. To endear. [Obs.]
--Shelton.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
dear

Old English deore "precious, valuable, costly, loved, beloved," from Proto-Germanic *deurjaz (cognates: Old Saxon diuri, Old Norse dyrr, Old Frisian diore, Middle Dutch dure, Dutch duur, Old High German tiuri, German teuer), ultimate origin unknown. Used interjectorily since 1690s. As a polite introductory word to letters, it is attested from mid-15c. As a noun, from late 14c., perhaps short for dear one, etc.

Wiktionary
dear

Etymology 1

  1. 1 love; lovable. 2 Loving, affectionate, heartfelt 3 precious to or greatly valued by someone. 4 High in price; expensive. 5 A formal way to start (possibly after ''my'') addressing somebody at the beginning of a letter, memo etc. 6 A formal way to start (often after ''my'') addressing somebody one likes or regards kindly. adv. (context obsolete English) dearly; at a high price n. 1 A very kind, loving person. 2 A beloved person v

  2. (context obsolete English) To endear. Etymology 2

    a. Severe(ly affected), sore

Related phrases:
WordNet
dear

  1. n. a beloved person; used as terms of endearment [syn: beloved, dearest, loved one, honey, love]

  2. a sweet innocent mild-mannered person (especially a child) [syn: lamb]

dear

  1. adv. with affection; "she loved him dearly"; "he treats her affectionately" [syn: dearly, affectionately]

  2. at a great cost; "he paid dearly for the food"; "this cost him dear" [syn: dearly]

dear

  1. adj. dearly loved [syn: beloved, darling]

  2. with or in a close or intimate relationship; "a good friend"; "my sisters and brothers are near and dear" [syn: good, near]

  3. earnest; "one's dearest wish"; "devout wishes for their success"; "heartfelt condolences" [syn: devout, earnest, heartfelt]

  4. having a high price; "costly jewelry"; "high-priced merchandise"; "much too dear for my pocketbook"; "a pricey restaurant" [syn: costly, dear(p), high-priced, pricey, pricy]

Related phrases:
Wikipedia
Dear (manga)

is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Cocoa Fujiwara. It was serialized in Square Enix's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Gangan Wing between the August 2002 and January 2008 issues. Square Enix published 12 tankōbon volumes in Japan. The manga is set in the same world as Fujiwara's other work, Watashi no Ookami-san.

Dear

Dear or Dears may refer to:

  • dear (manga), a 2002 Japanese manga series by Cocoa Fujiwara
  • Dear (album), a 2008 album by Shion Miyawaki
  • "Dear" (Mika Nakashima song), 2011
  • "Dear" (Vivid song)
  • Dear (surname)
  • Dear, a salutation
  • Drop Everything And Read, a form of school-based recreational reading
  • DearS, a 2004 Japanese manga series by Peach-Pit
  • Dears (band), a Taiwanese band
  • The Dears, a band
Dear (album)

Dear is the first mini-album from Shion Miyawaki under the label Rhythm Zone. The album failed to chart on the Oricon chart. This mini-album includes a collaboration song with DJ MAKAI.

The DVD includes a PV of the song Flavor and a memorial video of the 1000 CD project which features the song You're Butterfly.

Dear (Mika Nakashima song)

"Dear" is the thirty-third single by Japanese singer Mika Nakashima, released on April 27, 2011. It peaked at number 8 in the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart, and sold over 25,000 copies. In May 2011, the song was certified Gold by the RIAJ for digital downloads of over 100,000.

Dear (Vivid song)

"Dear" is the second single released by ViViD, release a month after their debut single " Take-off". It was first released in CD+DVD only format and it features their first PV. When it sold-out, a CD version was released on February 1, 2010. The CD+DVD release is limited, having only 3,000 copies. The single reached #2 on the indies Oricon weekly chart and #44 on the over charts where it charted for a week; it has sold 2,023 copies.

Dear (surname)

Dear is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

  • Brian Dear (born 1943), English footballer
  • Cleveland Dear (1888-1950), American politician
  • Greg Dear (born 1963), Australian rules footballer
  • Jeremy Dear (21st century), British journalist
  • Jim Dear (1910-1981), British sportsperson
  • John Dear (21st century), Jesuit priest
  • Matthew Dear (born 1979), American music producer
  • Nick Dear (born 1955), British screenwriter
  • Noach Dear (21st century), American politician
  • Paul Dear (born 1966), Australian rules footballer
  • William Dear (born 1944), Canadian film director
  • William Dear (detective) (21st century), American private investigator
Related phrases:

Usage examples of "dear".

Come, grant the Trojans victory after victory till the Achaean armies pay my dear son back, building higher the honor he deserves!

A month before the wedding, during a spell of several weeks when they were unable to see one another because of illness, Adams wrote to her: Oh, my dear girl, I thank heaven that another fortnight will restore you to me--after so long a separation.

Jefferson refused to be drawn out, refused to explain himself, and Adams, accepting this, shifted his focus to other matters much on his mind or dear to his heart.

Her companions were threaded along the trunk behind her, moving easily: the widow Philas apparently indifferent to her surroundings, Farr with his eyecups wide and staring, his mouth wide open and his chest straining at the thin Air, and dear old Adda at the back, his spear clasped before him, his good eye constantly sweeping the complex darkness around them.

Palace of the Memory of the People itself, something for which your department, my dear Aedile, must take a considerable part of the blame.

I could not walk down the street, or take part in ordinary duty or pleasure without being reminded of the dear dead Jane, and of the pleasant aftertime we had dreamed of when she should be restored through my instrumentality to her old quiet home and a life of peace, in which, shielded from every evil, she might devote her days to good deeds and repentance.

Perhaps our dear Sister Claude brings us something more valuable than the good tidings of Alexandrine de Forbin.

Poor dear Aloysia and myself used to pain him by turning his pious intentions to ridicule.

Iris Judiana, I have the honor to present my heart-daughters, the demoiselles Alyce and Marie, children of my dear friend Stevana de Corwyn, the late heiress of Corwyn.

Most of the hysterical antipollution Instant Experts so dearly love their personal wheels that they forgive their dear beasts any nasty stink they may produce.

I say no doubt for I have not seen the poor, dear man since the duel, which his impatience toward Ardea and Hafner rendered in evitable.

He knew perfectly well that armies of atheists and anarchists were roaring applause in the background at his Aristotelian victory over all he held most dear.

He was a bannerless knight, named Julien de Boys-Bourredon, who not having inherited on his estate enough to make a toothpick, and knowing no other wealth than the rich nature with which his dead mother had opportunely furnished him, conceived the idea of deriving therefrom both rent and profit at court, knowing how fond ladies are of those good revenues, and value them high and dear, when they can stand being looked at between two suns.

She rang for the footman and in the transport of her fever she found strength to write the following letter, for she was mastered by one mad desire--to have certainty:-- To Madame la Baronne du Guenic: Dear Mamma,--When you come to Paris, as you allow us to hope you will, I shall thank you in person for the beautiful present by which you and my aunt Zephirine and Calyste wish to reward me for doing my duty.

To Madame la Baronne du Guenic: My dear Daughter,--Your aunt Zephirine and I are lost in conjectures about the dressing-table of which you tell us in your letter.