Pa. t. and pple. worried. Forms: α. 1 wyrʓan, 4 wyryȝ(e, 4–5 wirwe, wirie, wiry(e, wyrie, wyry(e, 5 wyrwyn, wyrhy, 5–7 wirrie, wyrry, 6 Sc. wirrey, virry, 5–6, 9 Sc. wirry. β. 4 werew, Sc. ver(r)y, 4–6 wery(e, (5 were, werou-), 5–7, 9 dial. werry, 6 wearry, 6–7 wearie, weary. γ. 4–6 worow(e, (4 pa. pple. yworewid, 5 pa. t. worod, 6 3rd sing. woroeth), 5 worwyn, 6–7 worrow, 7 wurrow; 4–7 wory(e, (5 vory), worie, 6 worrye, 6–7 woorry(e, 7 woorie, worrey, whorry, worr’ (in verse), 6–8 wurry, 6– worry. [OE. wyrʓan = OFris. wergia to kill, MLG. worgen, MDu. worghen (Du. worgen, wurgen), to strangle, throttle, OHG. wurgan, wurkjan (MHG. wurgen, würgen, G. würgen), to strangle, worry, kill by violence:—OTeut. *wurgjan, related to *werg-, a strong vb. stem found in MHG. irwergen to throttle:—Indo-Eur. *wergh-.
The α- and β-forms (wirry and werry) are normal ME. developments of OE. wyrʓan: cf. the forms of MERRY a. The γ-forms apparently represent a late WS. *wurʓan, with later graphic substitution of wo- for wu-; see the note to WORM sb. The original u-sound of this form is indicated by the late spellings with woo-.]
† 1. trans. To kill (a person or animal) by compressing the throat; to strangle. Obs.
α. c. 725. Corpus Gloss., S 558. St[r]angulat, wyrʓeð uel smorað.
c. 1300. Havelok, 1921. On þe morwen, hwan it was day, Ilc on other wirwed lay, Als it were dogges þat weren henged.
1387. Trevisa, Higden, VII. 534 (MS. β). Harald … threwe hym to the grounde and had wyried [MS. γ ywyryed] hym with his hondes, nadde he be the rather delyvered out of his clowes.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 530/1. Wyrwyn’, strangulo, suffoco.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, VIII. v. 26. Tua gret serpentis … The quhilk he wyrreit wyth his handis tuay.
a. 1578. Lindesay (Pitscottie), Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.), II. 191. Thay wirrit him to the deid.
1606. Reg. Privy Counc. Scot. (1885), VII. 185. He tuike the said compleiner be the throat and thought to have wirryed her or she had awaked.
β. c. 1300. Havelok, 1915. Weren he werewed.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xxvi. (Nycholas), 994. He … weryt hyme [eum strangulavit].
1456. Sir G. Haye, Law Arms (S.T.S.), 23. The fende weryit him in his bed.
14[?]. Quatuor Serm. (Caxton, 1483), d 4. I denounce … al tho that werye or slee theyr generacions.
1483. Cath. Angl., 414/2. 10. Wery, strangulare, suffocare.
γ. 13[?]. St. Greg. Trental, 19, in Min. Poems fr. Vernon MS., 261. Anon as hire child I-boren was. Þe Nekke heo nom, þe child heo woriede [Cott. MS. wyryede].
14[?]. Promp. Parv., 532/2 (MS. K.). Worwyn, supra in wyrwyn.
1483. Cath. Angl., 423/2. To Worowe, jugulare, suffocare.
1558. Kennedy, Compend. Tractive, ii. in Wodrow Misc. (1844), I. 104. That thay abstayne … fra it that is worreit [Acts xv. 20].
1600. Hamilton, in Cath. Tractates (S.T.S.), 240/5. East Laudiane knawis the loue and fidelitie of ane of thair Ministers towards his wyf, wha worriet hir before he passit to his preaching.
† b. fig. Obs.
1387. Trevisa, Higden, VII. 465. Þese … wexe so riche þat it semede þat þe douzter passede and weried [v.rr. wyryȝede, wyryed, wyryde] þe moder [ut filia ditata matrem supergredi videretur et suffocare].
† 2. To choke (a person or animal) with a mouthful of food. Used with the food as subj., or refl. and pass. Const. on (the food); hence to be worried, or worry oneself, on = to devour greedily. Also fig. Obs.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 16929. Ai til iesus þe thrid dai had fughten gain sathan, And werid him on his aun bit, als hund es on a ban.
14[?]. Wyntoun, Chron., VII. 514 (Wemyss MS.). God lat neuer of it a crote, Till I be weryit [v.rr. wyrryd, wereyt], pass oure my throte.
c. 1520. Skelton, Magnyf., 1568. On suche a female my flesshe wolde be wroken…. weryed I wolde be on suche a bayte. Ibid. (a. 1529), P. Sparowe, 29. Gib, I saye, our cat Worrowyd her on that which I loued best.
1535. Stewart, Cron. Scot., II. 663. How Godowyn worreit himself to Deid in Presence of Edward King. Ibid. The breid … stak so fast…, it wirreit him to deid.
1536. Bellenden, Cron. Scot. (1821), II. 276. ‘God gif that breid wory me, gif evir I wes orhir art or part of Alarudis slauchter.’ And incontinent, he fel doun weryit on the breid.
1674. Ray, N. C. Words, 55. To be Worried, to be choak’t.
a. 1779. D. Graham, Collect. Writ. (1883), II. 39. She … squattles up a mutchkin at a waught, which was like to wirry her.
† b. intr. (for refl.) To be choked, to choke. Const. on (as above). Obs.
c. 1420. Wyntoun, Chron., VII. 504. Swa suddandly richt at þe burde He wereit.
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, xxxi. 24. Now quhill thair is gude wyne to sell, He that dois on dry breid virry [v.r. wirrie], I gif him to the Devill of hell.
1715. in Maidment, Old Ballads (1844), 33. He … like a fool, did eat the cow, And worried on the tail.
1756. Mrs. Calderwood, Lett. & Jrnls. (1884), v. 123. A great fat carle … so short necked that you would think he would worry [at] every word he spoke.
1721. Kelly, Scot. Prov., 385. You fasted long, and worried on a Fly.
† c. Of smoke: To suffocate (a person). Obs.
1755. Edom of Gordon, xv. in Child, Ballads, III. 434. Dear mother, gie owre your house,… For the reek it worries me.
3. trans. To seize by the throat with the teeth and tear or lacerate; to kill or injure by biting and shaking. Said e.g. of dogs or wolves attacking sheep, or of hounds when they seize their quarry.
α. c. 1380. [see b].
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. X. 226. Wolues þat wyryeþ men, wommen and children.
c. 1480. Henryson, Fox, Wolf & Cadger, 25. Mak ane suddand schow vpon ane scheip, Syne with thy wappinnis wirrie him to deid.
1549. Compl. Scotl., 156. There is ouer mony doggis in scotland that virreis there master as acteon vas virreit.
1606. Wily Beguiled, 71. My dog wirried my neighbours sow, and the sow died.
1623. Extr. Aberd. Reg. (1848), II. 383. Mastishe and cur doggis … quha … wyrries and devouris thair sheip.
β. c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, iii. (Andreas), 259. Sewine hundis com quhare he lay, and verrit hym sodanly.
c. 1400. Rom. Rose, 6264. He wolde hem wery and drinke the bloode.
c. 1400. Love, Bonavent. Mirr., xviii. 46. Þe prophete Abdo þat was weroude [v.r. wirwed] of þe lyoune.
1554. W. Prat, Aphrique, K iv b. Manye other beastes whiche the dogges do werye & kyll.
1586. Whetstone, Engl. Mirror, 44. If a Beare appeare,… they will all joyne to wearie him.
1599. Peele, David & Bethsabe, B iv. The mastiues of our land shall werry ye.
1609. Ev. Woman in Hum., V. i. in Bullen, O. Pl., IV. Acteon … was … werried to death with his own dogs.
a. 1653. Gouge, Comm. Hebr. xi. 37. When he observeth that the Wolf hath wearied some sheep.
absol. 1638. Brathwait, Barnabees Jrnl., III. (1818), 141. Farre from home old foxes werry.
γ. c. 1340. Richard Rolle of Hampole, Prick of Conscience, 1229. Lyons, libardes and wolwes kene, Þat wald worow men bylyve, And rogg þam in sonder and ryve.
13[?]. Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 1905. Ryȝt bifore þe hors fete þay fel on hym alle, And woried me þis wyly wyth a wroth noyse.
a. 1400[?]. Morte Arth., 958. ȝone warlawe wyt, he worows vs alle!
c. 1400. Laud Troy Bk., 8777. To scle the Gregais wold he not ses, As hongre lyoun bestes vories.
c. 1440. Alphabet of Tales, 421. And with þat he ran on þe selie lambe and worod itt.
1579. Gosson, Sch. Abuse (Arb.), 47. The men of Hyrcania, that keepe Mastiffes, to woorrye them selues.
1592. Bacon, Observ. Libel (end) Resuscit. (1657), 150. The persecutions of the Primitive Church…. As that, of Worrowing Priests, under the Skins of Bears, by Doggs, and the like.
1620. Quarles, Feast for Wormes, Med. iii. D 4. Alas! the rau’nous Wolues will worr’ thy Sheepe.
1639. J. Clarke, Parœm., 56. Many dogs may easily woorie one.
1680. P. Henry, Diar. & Lett. (1882), 285. Ralph Nixon had three sheep worry’d to death in one night.
1795. Life John Metcalf, 3. One of the young hounds happening to worry a couple of lambs.
1844. Stephens, Bk. Farm, II. 88. Many dogs … are in the habit of looking out for sheep to worry, at some distance from their homes.
1847. C. Brontë, Jane Eyre, xx. She bit me…. She worried me like a tigress.
1866. Augusta Wilson, St. Elmo, v. Did not he worry down and mangle one of my best Southdowns?
1867. Times, 8 May, 13/2. Defendant’s dog … seized Mrs. Miller by the leg, and bit her several times, throwing her down, and worrying her very much.
absol. 1872. Tennyson, Gareth & Lynette, 990. Such a dog am I, To worry, and not to flee.
1899. H. D. Rawnsley, Life & Nat. Eng. Lakes, 173. A dog that shows signs of worrying is ‘put down’ at once.
b. fig. (or in figurative context).
c. 1380. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 24. No warde to hem hou faste þe woluys of helle wirien cristen soulis.
1399. Langl., Rich. Redeles, III. 72. His owen kynde briddis, Þat weren … well ny yworewid with a wronge leder.
1529. More, Dyaloge, IV. xi. 114 b/2. To play ye wyly foxes & wyrry simple soules & pore lambes.
1549. [see 3 α].
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 318. That they … ouersee that other Ministers do theyr dutye, that the wolues do not worrye the flocke.
1563. Foxe, A. & M., 1442/2. My L. is it not enough for you to wery your own shepe, but ye must also meddle wt other mens shepe?
1603. Holland, Plutarch’s Mor., 238. Even so those parts of our life which are diseased, naught and ill affected,… these they seize upon, and are ready to worry and plucke in peeces.
1641. Milton, Reform., II. Wks. 1851, III. 67. To let them still hale us, and worrey us with their band-dogs, and Pursivants.
1690. C. Nesse, O. & N. Test., I. 317. Herod pretended to worship Christ when he intended to worry him.
1863. R. F. Burton, Wand. W. Africa, I. 1. White sea-dogs coursed and worried one another over Father Mersey’s breadth of mud.
c. transf. To bite at or upon (an object); to kiss or hug vehemently; to utter (one’s words) with the teeth nearly closed, as if biting or champing them.
1567. Golding, Ovid’s Met., XIII. 568. Queene Hecub ronning at a stone, with gnarring seazd theron, And wirryed it beetweene her teeth [morsibus insequitur].
1611. Shaks., Wint. T., V. ii. 58. Then againe worryes he his Daughter, with clipping her.
1678. Dryden, All for Love, IV. 54. And then he grew familiar with her hand, Squeez’d it, and worry’d it with ravenous kisses.
1905. L. J. Vance, Ter. O’Rourke, I. xiv. As the Irishman entered, Prince Felix said a word, or two, low-toned and tense—worried them between his teeth, like an ill-dispositioned cur.
1914. A. N. Lyons, Simple Simon, I. i. 13. Their sons, late of the Great School, home from India on leave and unanimously worrying small moustaches of the tooth-brush pattern.
d. intr. To pull or tear at (an object) with the teeth.
1882. Little Folks, Jan., 24/2. There was Floss, worrying at the parcel, which had only thin paper wrapped round it.
4. trans. To swallow greedily, devour. Also with up. Latterly north. and Sc.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 5902. Bot aaron wand it wex sa kene Þas oþer it wired [Gött. wirid, Trin. woryed] al bidene.
1619. A. Gil, Logon. Angl., Pref. B 3. To worrow, Voro.
1634. Sir T. Herbert, Trav., 125. They had seene him weare many [jewels] and twas them, hee had woorried in his Ostrich appetite.
1643. Horn & Robotham, Gate Lang. Unl., li. § 568. Stout feeders … do nothing else but devour (never lin wurrowing).
1728. Ramsay, Monk & Miller’s Wife, 138. Think ye … his gentle stamock’s master To worry up a pint of plaister.
1805. G. McIndoe, Poems, 65 (E.D.D.). Great claggs o’ meat they ne’er could worry.
1887. Jamieson, Suppl., Wirry, to worry, devour, eat ravenously.
5. To harass by rough or severe treatment, by repeated aggression or attack; to assail with hostile or menacing speech.
a. 1553. Udall, Royster D., III. iii. (Arb.), 46. But in spite of Custance, which hath hym weried, Let vs see his mashyp solemnely buried.
1594. Nashe, Unfort. Trav., 34. I thought verilie they woulde haue worried one another with wordes, they were so earnest and vehement.
1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, 12. Hath your nightly watchings and continuall disorder of your braines so whorried your senses.
1652. Peyton, Catastr. Ho. Stuarts, 74. I being a man can speak by experience, who hath been most justly worryed by the hand of the Almighty for sins.
1675–7. Warwick, Mem. Chas. I. (1701), 321. Cromwell … marched forwards into Scotland, and left Lambert to worry Hamilton in England.
a. 1680. Glanvill, Serm., iv. (1681), 212. No mans Life or property will be safe; mankind would worry and prey upon one another.
1725. B. Higgons, Rem. Burnet, II. (1736), 177. He cruelly worries the Memory of a Daughter of England.
1729. Gay, Polly, I. xiv. In conniving at my escape, you save me from your husband’s worrying me with threats and violence.
1852. Rock, Ch. of Fathers, III. I. 302. They vowed they would give peace to the land they were then wasting and worrying by fire and sword.
1877. Freeman, in Brit. Q. Rev., Jan., 182. He perhaps hardly brings out how thoroughly Edward the Third was worried into war by the aggression of Philip.
1885. Manch. Exam., 23 Feb., 5/3. Having found their range during daylight, they continued to worry our men all the night.
transf. a. 1699. J. Beaumont, Psyche, XXI. x. Soil … if not duly worried, digg’d and plow’d, Harrow’d and torn.
1898. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., V. 304. A repeated application to some of these drugs … by worrying the cardiac ganglia … tends to dilatation of the heart.
b. with advb. extension expressing result, as away, in, to death.
1565. Cooper, Thesaurus, s.v. Abigo, He chased or weried away his sonne to Rhodes.
1603. Dekker, Wonderful Year, E 4. First to scratch out false Cressidaes eyes, and then (which was worse) to woorry her to death with scolding.
1659. Milton, Civil Power, 74. If departed of his own accord, like that lost sheep … the true church either with her own or any borrowd force worries him not in again.
1678. Poor Robin’s True Char. Scold, 6. Thus she worries him out of his senses at home.
1711. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. V. 184. He is wurryed to death by those ungrateful nations.
c. transf. With adv. (e.g., out, down) or advb. phr.: To get or bring into a specified condition by harassing treatment, persistent aggression, or dogged effort. Similarly to worry one’s way.
1727. E. Laurence, Duty of Steward, 55. The Tenants (by neglect or oversight) have been suffer’d to … worry out the strength of the Land by sowing Rape, &c.
1806–7. J. Beresford, Miseries Hum. Life (1826), XX. xxx. 256. You at last worry out a solitary spark [from the flint].
1870. E. E. Hale, Ten Times One, iii. 61. While she ‘worried down’ the tea, and ate a slice of toast.
1890. Nature, 4 Sept., 455/2. All such points he will delight to worry out for himself.
1894. Crockett, Play-actress, iv. 52. Worrying out a knotty point in the ‘Original Hebrew.’
1898. L. Stephen, Stud. Biogr., II. ii. 48. Scott … worried his way into some understanding of the language by main force.
1920. ‘A. Hope,’ Lucinda, ii. 24. Waldo was not quick-witted, but he had a good brain. If he got hold of a problem, he would worry it to a solution.
d. To irritate (an animal) by a repetition of feigned attacks, etc.
1807–8. Syd. Smith, Plymley’s Lett., ii. Wks. 1859, II. 146/2. I admit there is a vast luxury in selecting a particular set of Christians, and in worrying them as a boy worries a puppy dog.
1840. Dickens, Old C. Shop, xxi. Hissing and worrying the animal [a chained dog] till he was nearly mad.
e. U.S. To afflict with physical fatigue or distress.
1828. Webster, Worry … 2. To fatigue; to harass with labor; a popular sense of the word.
1876. Holland, Sevenoaks, v. 66. For three steady hours he went on, the horse no more worried than if he had been standing in the stable.
f. Fencing. To worry the sword: ‘to fret one’s opponent by small movements in rapid succession which seem about to result in thrusts or feints’ (Century Dict.).
6. In lighter sense: To vex, distress or persecute by inconsiderate or importunate behavior; to plague or pester with reiterated demands, requests, or the like.
1671. Milton, Samson, 906. Witness when I was worried with thy peals.
1728. Gay, Begg. Op., II. xiii. ’Tis barbarous in you to worry a Gentleman in his Circumstances.
1788. Franklin, Autobiog., Wks. 1840, I. 196. He had continually worried the Assembly with message after message.
1840. Dickens, Old C. Shop, vii. You worry me to death with your chattering.
1846. Landor, Wks., II. 9 (Albani & Picture-dealers). I am infested and persecuted and worried to death by duns. They belabor and martellate my ears.
1882. Miss Braddon, Mt. Royal, II. v. 103. She will worry you till you give your consent.
1885. Manch. Exam., 15 July, 5/3. The supply of ignorant ciceroni to worry visitors with their foolish babblement.
1889. Jessopp, Coming of Friars, vi. 281. The scholars were not to be worried with everlasting ritual observances.
1927. J. B. Priestley, Adam in Moonshine, x. 203. They won’t really do anything but worry you with questions.
b. with advb. extension as out, out of (something).
1729. Swift, Grand Question debated (1732), 8. But, Madam, I beg, you’ll contrive and invent, And worry him out, till he gives his Consent.
1853. Whyte-Melville, Digby Grand, I. x. 269. Addressing ‘dear Angelina’ in an affectionate whisper that would never have led one to suppose she worried the poor girl’s life out at home.
1876. Holland, Sevenoaks, xv. 209. She … had worried him out of his life, and he had gone and left her childless.
1898. Times, 18 Oct., 9/3. If by chance it [the French Government] imagines that this country is going to be worried out of the position taken up by Lord Salisbury, it is making a very grave mistake.
7. To cause distress of mind to; to afflict with mental trouble or agitation; to make anxious and ill at ease. Chiefly of a cause or circumstance, or refl. or pass.
1822. Hazlitt, Table-Talk, xxiii. (On great and little Things). Small pains are … more within our reach; we can fret and worry ourselves about them.
1822. W. Irving, Bracebr. Hall, Bachelor’s Conf. He had settled the point which had been worrying his mind.
1848. Dickens, Dombey, v. I quite fret and worry myself about her.
1866. Geo. Eliot, F. Holt, i. (1868), 21. Increasing anxieties about money had worried her.
1867. Trollope, Last Chron. Barset, II. lvi. 121. Men when they are worried by fears … become suspicious.
1874. L. Stephen, Hours in Library (1892), II. iii. 95. This self-plagiarism sometimes worries us.
1875. Mrs. Randolph, Wild Hyacinth, I. 74. Don’t worry yourself about it, my love.
1889. ‘J. S. Winter,’ Mrs. Bob, xxi. (1891), 238. It puzzles me and worries me to guess why Miss Lavinia always wanted to drop the subject.
b. in pa. pple., denoting a state of mind.
1863. Princess Alice, Mem. (1884), 60. I am sure, dear Mama, you are worried to death about it.
1867. Trollope, Last Chron. Barset, I. xxi. 179. The subject … was a sore one, and he was worried a little.
1871. Geo. Eliot, Middlemarch, xxiii. II. 25. He felt a little worried and wearied, perhaps with mental debate.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VIII. 602. Some patients are attacked [by lichen] when worried or in low condition.
c. intr. (for refl.) To give way to anxiety or mental disquietude.
1860. Worcester, Worry, v.n., to indulge in idle complaining; to fret; to be troubled. (Colloquial.) Roget.
1861. Holland, Lessons in Life, xiii. 181. When she can find nothing to do, then she worries.
1874. Ld. Coleridge, in Life (1904), II. ix. 244. ‘Don’t coddle and don’t worry’ is his recipe for longevity.
1879. H. George, Progr. & Pov., IX. iv. (1881), 414. Men would no more worry about finding employment than they worry about finding air to breathe.
1901. Aldridge, Sherbro, xx. 205. My head-man … begged me not to worry.
8. intr. with advb. extension (cf. the transf. uses 5 b, c, 6 b above): a. To advance or progress by a harassing or dogged effort; to force or work one’s way through. Of the wind: To go on blowing in a harassing way.
a. 1699. J. Beaumont, Psyche, IV. xcvii. Yet worying among the waves they spy’d A wracked Mortal. Ibid., XIII. iv. Winter … worries forward at his due Determin’d season, spight of all the Ice Which clogs his heels.
1820. W. Irving, Sk. Bk., Spectre Bridegroom, ¶ 11. He was naturally a fuming, bustling little man, and could not remain passive…. He worried from top to bottom of the castle with an air of infinite anxiety.
1883. Symonds, Ital. Byways, i. 13. For the next three days the wind went worrying on.
1901. Daily Express, 21 March, 7/1. In the end we worried through and … anchored.
1903. Kipling, 5 Nations, 211. When the wind worries through the ’ills.
b. To get through (a business, piece of work) by persistent effort or struggle; so with through adv. To worry along: to contrive to live, ‘keep going,’ in the teeth of trials or difficulties (U.S.).
1873. Howells, Chance Acquaint. (1882), 299. She must … try to worry along without him.
1876. Besant & Rice, Gold. Butterfly, xx. I worried through that war without a scratch. Ibid. (1878), Celia’s Arb., xii. Often on Saturday night I wonder how I have managed to worry through the work of the week.
1885. Howells, Silas Lapham (1891), I. 269. I think I can manage to worry along.
1899. Westm. Gaz., 7 Oct., 2/2. The British farmer has … much to contend with, but on the whole he worries through a great deal more successfully than could be expected.
9. Comb.: † worry pear (tree) = CHOKE-PEAR.
1562. Turner, Herbal, II. 108. The wyld Pere tre or chouke Pere tre or worry Pear tre.
