# lour

Pronunciation: US say "LOW-ur" /ˈlaʊɚ/; UK say "LOW-uh" /ˈlaʊə/

## Verb

1. Of clouds or the sky, to appear dark, gloomy, and threatening, as before a coming storm.
   - Simple: Of the sky or clouds, to look dark and threatening before a storm.
   - _Storm clouds lour above the ridge, promising heavy rain by nightfall._
   - _The horizon loured darkly as the fishermen hurried their boats ashore._
2. To frown; to wear a sullen, angry expression.
   - Simple: To frown and look angry or unhappy.
   - _The old man would lour at the children who crossed his garden._
   - _His face loured whenever the subject of money came up._

## Noun

3. A dark, gloomy, and threatening appearance of the sky or weather.
   - Simple: A dark and threatening look in the sky before bad weather.
   - _A dull lour settled over the coast as the barometer fell._
   - _Sailors read the lour overhead and reefed their sails early._
4. A frown or scowl; an angry or sullen expression.
   - Simple: A frown or angry look on someone's face.
   - _The teacher's lour silenced the whole room at once._
   - _He met every question with the same stubborn lour._

## Origin

The verb derives from Middle English louren, lour, loure ("to frown or scowl; to be dark or overcast; to lurk"), probably from Old English *lūran, from Proto-Germanic *lūraną ("to lie in wait, lurk"). It is cognate with words like Danish lure, Dutch loeren, German lauern, and Swedish lura, and is related to 'lurk'. The noun is derived from the verb.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/lour (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).