lirt

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)t

Etymology 1

From Middle English lirten, lurten (“to cheat”), from Old English *lyrtan (found only in belyrtan (“to deceive”)), from Proto-West Germanic *lurtijan (“to deceive”), from Proto-Indo-European *lerd- (“to bend, crook”). Cognate with Scots lirt (“to cheat, deceive, delude”), Middle High German lürzen (“to deceive”), Middle High German lerz, lurz, lorz (“left, left-handed”), Old English lort, lyrt (“crooked”).

Alternative forms

• lirte (obsolete)

Verb

lirt (third-person singular simple present lirts, present participle lirting, simple past and past participle lirted)

1. (transitive, UK dialectal) To deceive; beguile.
2. (transitive, UK dialectal) To cheat; befool.

Derived terms

• belirt

Noun

lirt (plural lirts)

1. (UK dialectal) Deception; guile.
2. (UK dialectal) A cheat; a go-by.

Etymology 2

Origin obscure. Perhaps alteration of lirk (“to jerk”).

Verb

lirt (third-person singular simple present lirts, present participle lirting, simple past and past participle lirted)

1. (transitive, UK dialectal) To toss.
2. (intransitive, UK dialectal) To walk or move in a quick, lively, or pert manner.
3. (intransitive, UK dialectal) To gambol; frisk.

Anagrams

• tirl