Eager

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Eager \Ea"ger\, a. [OE. egre sharp, sour, eager, OF. agre,
     aigre, F. aigre, fr. L. acer sharp, sour, spirited, zealous;
     akin to Gr. ? highest, extreme, Skr. a?ra point; fr. a root
     signifying to be sharp. Cf. {Acrid}, {Edge}.]
     1. Sharp; sour; acid. [Obs.] "Like eager droppings into
        milk." --Shak.


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     2. Sharp; keen; bitter; severe. [Obs.] "A nipping and an
        eager air." "Eager words." --Shak.
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     3. Excited by desire in the pursuit of any object; ardent to
        pursue, perform, or obtain; keenly desirous; hotly
        longing; earnest; zealous; impetuous; vehement; as, the
        hounds were eager in the chase.
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              And gazed for tidings in my eager eyes. --Shak.
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              How eagerly ye follow my disgraces!   --Shak.
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              When to her eager lips is brought
              Her infant's thrilling kiss.          --Keble.
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              A crowd of eager and curious schoolboys.
                                                    --Hawthorne.
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              Conceit and grief an eager combat fight. --Shak.
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     4. Brittle; inflexible; not ductile. [Obs.]
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              Gold will be sometimes so eager, as artists call it,
              that it will as little endure the hammer as glass
              itself.                               --Locke.
  
     Syn: Earnest; ardent; vehement; hot; impetuous; fervent;
          intense; impassioned; zealous; forward.
  
     Usage: See {Earnest}. -- {Eager}, {Earnest}. Eager marks an
            excited state of desire or passion; thus, a child is
            eager for a plaything, a hungry man is eager for food,
            a covetous man is eager for gain. Eagerness is liable
            to frequent abuses, and is good or bad, as the case
            may be. It relates to what is praiseworthy or the
            contrary. Earnest denotes a permanent state of mind,
            feeling, or sentiment. It is always taken in a good
            sense; as, a preacher is earnest in his appeals to the
            conscience; an agent is earnest in his solicitations.
            [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Eager \Ea"ger\, n.
     Same as {Eagre}.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  eager
       adj 1: having or showing keen interest or intense desire or
              impatient expectancy; "eager to learn"; "eager to
              travel abroad"; "eager for success"; "eager helpers";
              "an eager look" [ant: {uneager}]
       2: marked by active interest and enthusiasm; "an avid sports
          fan"; "a great walker"; "an eager beaver" [syn: {avid}, {great},
           {zealous}]
       n : a high wave (often dangerous) caused by tidal flow (as by
           colliding tidal currents or in a narrow estuary) [syn: {tidal
           bore}, {bore}, {eagre}, {aegir}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  170 Moby Thesaurus words for "eager":
     accordant, acquiescent, acquisitive, affirmative, agape, agog,
     agreeable, agreeing, alacritous, all agog, ambitious, amenable,
     animated, anticipant, anticipating, anticipative, anticipatory,
     antsy, antsy-pantsy, anxious, appetitive, approving, ardent,
     assenting, athirst, avid, awaiting, breathless, bursting to,
     certain, chafing, compliable, compliant, confident, consentient,
     consenting, content, cooperative, covetous, craving, desiderative,
     desireful, desiring, desirous, disposed, docile, dying, earnest,
     edgy, endorsing, energetic, energized, enthusiastic, excited,
     expectant, expecting, fain, favorable, favorably disposed,
     favorably inclined, fervent, fervid, forearmed, forestalling,
     forewarned, forward, fretful, fretting, full of life, game, gaping,
     gung ho, hankering, hasty, heated, honing, hopeful, hoping,
     hopped-up, hormic, hot, hungry, impatient, impetuous, in a lather,
     in a stew, in a sweat, in anticipation, in expectation,
     in the mind, in the mood, inclined, inspirited, intent, itchy,
     keen, lascivious, libidinal, libidinous, lickerish, lively,
     longing, looking for, looking forward to, lustful, minded, needing,
     not surprised, nothing loath, on edge, optative, optimistic,
     panting, passionate, permissive, pining, pliant, predisposed,
     prepared, prompt, prone, quick, raring, raring to, ratifying,
     ready, ready and willing, receptive, responsive, restive, restless,
     sanctioning, sanguine, solicitous, spirited, squirming, squirmy,
     stimulated, submissive, sure, tempted, thirsty, tractable, uneasy,
     ungrudging, unloath, unpatient, unquiet, unrefusing, unreluctant,
     unsurprised, vehement, vital, vitalized, vivacious, vivid, waiting,
     waiting for, wanting, watching for, well-disposed, well-inclined,
     willed, willing, willinghearted, wishful, wishing, yearning,
     zealous, zestful