GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 3 definitions

1.       
   Demur , v. i. [imp. & p. p. Demurred ; p. pr. & vb. n. Demurring.] [OF. demurer, demorer, demourer, to linger, stay, F. demeurer, fr. L. demorari; de- + morari to delay, tarry, stay, mora delay; prob. originally, time for thinking, reflection, and akin to memor mindful. See Memory.]
   To linger; to stay; to tarry. [Obs.]
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   Yet durst not demur nor abide upon the camp.
   Nicols.
   
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   To delay; to pause; to suspend proceedings or judgment in view of a doubt or difficulty; to hesitate; to put off the determination or conclusion of an affair.
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   Upon this rub, the English embassadors thought fit to demur.
   Hayward.
   
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   To scruple or object; to take exception, especially on the basis of scruple or modesty; as, I demur to that statement; they wanted to make him president, but he demurred.
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   From the popular assertion that he was the smartest man in the world Gell-Mann was not predisposed to demur.
   Timothy Ferris, in Coming of Age in the Milky Way (Doubleday, New York, 1989).
   
   PJC
   (Law) To interpose a demurrer. See Demurrer, 2.
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2.       
   Demur, v. t.
   To suspend judgment concerning; to doubt of or hesitate about. [Obs.]
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   The latter I demur, for in their looks
   Much reason, and in their actions, oft appears.
   Milton.
   
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   To cause delay to; to put off. [Obs.]
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   He demands a fee,
   And then demurs me with a vain delay.
   Quarles.
   
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3.       
   Demur, n. [OF. demor, demore, stay, delay. See Demur, v. i.] Stop; pause; hesitation as to proceeding; suspense of decision or action; scruple.
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   All my demurs but double his attacks;
   At last he whispers, “Do; and we go snacks.”
   Pope.
   
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