DictionaryAI

lire

noun
SayLEER-ayUS/ˈlɪɹeɪ/UK/ˈlɪəɹeɪ/

Plurallires

6 meanings of lire

Practice

  1. 1
    noun
    Plural of lira. Use this form when talking about more than one lira.

    The meal cost several thousand lire before the euro arrived.

    He counted out a few lire for the bus fare.

    Note
  2. 2
    noundialectalNorthern EnglandScotlandUKuncountable
    The soft, meaty part of a person or animal, not the bones or skin.

    Like the meat on a chicken leg, not the bone inside it.

    The lire on the old man's shoulders had wasted away over the winter.

    After months of hard work, he had strong lire on his arms.

    Similarflesh, brawn, muscle

    Note
  3. 3
    noundialectalScotlandUKcountable
    The look of a person's face or skin: its color or appearance.

    She had a pale lire after the long illness.

    His lire turned red with anger.

    Similarcomplexion, hue, color

    Note
  4. 4
    noundialectalScotlandUKcountable
    The soft side of the face, below the eye.

    The baby's round lire were pink and soft.

    A tear ran slowly down her lire.

    Similarcheek

    Note
  5. 5
    noundialectalScotlandUKuncountable
    The meaty part of a cooked bird, not a wing or a leg.

    She carved the lire from the roast chicken first.

    He always preferred the lire to the drumstick.

    Similarflesh, meat

    Note
  6. 6
    noundialectalOrkneyScotlandShetlandUKcountable
    A black-and-white seabird that nests in burrows on islands.

    At night the lire returned to their burrows on the cliff.

    A lire glided low over the waves near the shore.

    Similarshearwater

    Note

lire is a form of lira

lira, noun: The main kind of money used in Turkey. Full entry

Forms
lira also plurallire plural
Spelling
lira → lire: irregular plural (no -s)

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of lire apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 2, 5

An old English word līra, meaning a fleshy part of the body like a muscle or the calf. It goes back to very old Germanic and Indo-European roots.

Meanings 3–4

From an Old Norse word hlýr, meaning the cheeks.

Meaning 6

From the Old Norse word líri.

Meaning 1

From Italian lire.