n. [ Pref. bel- + sire. Cf. Beldam. ] A grandfather, or ancestor. “His great belsire Brute.” [ Obs. ] Drayton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Desired p. pr. & vb. n. Desiring. ] [ F. désirer, L. desiderare, origin uncertain, perh. fr. de- + sidus star, constellation, and hence orig., to turn the eyes from the stars. Cf. Consider, and Desiderate, and see Sidereal. ] 1. To long for; to wish for earnestly; to covet. [ 1913 Webster ]

Neither shall any man desire thy land. Ex. xxxiv. 24. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ye desire your child to live. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To express a wish for; to entreat; to request. [ 1913 Webster ]

Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? 2 Kings iv. 28. [ 1913 Webster ]

Desire him to go in; trouble him no more. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To require; to demand; to claim. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A doleful case desires a doleful song. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To miss; to regret. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

She shall be pleasant while she lives, and desired when she dies. Jer. Taylor.

Syn. -- To long for; hanker after; covet; wish; ask; request; solicit; entreat; beg. -- To Desire, Wish. In desire the feeling is usually more eager than in wish. “I wish you to do this” is a milder form of command than “I desire you to do this, ” though the feeling prompting the injunction may be the same. C. J. Smith. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. désir, fr. désirer. See Desire, v. t. ] 1. The natural longing that is excited by the enjoyment or the thought of any good, and impels to action or effort its continuance or possession; an eager wish to obtain or enjoy. [ 1913 Webster ]

Unspeakable desire to see and know. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An expressed wish; a request; petition. [ 1913 Webster ]

And slowly was my mother brought
To yield consent to my desire. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Anything which is desired; an object of longing. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Desire of all nations shall come. Hag. ii. 7. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Excessive or morbid longing; lust; appetite. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Grief; regret. [ Obs. ] Chapman.

Syn. -- Wish; appetency; craving; inclination; eagerness; aspiration; longing. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Filled with desire; eager. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The desireful troops. Godfrey (1594). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being desireful; eagerness to obtain and possess. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The desirefulness of our minds much augmenteth and increaseth our pleasure. Udall. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Free from desire. Donne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who desires, asks, or wishes. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ F. gibecière a game pouch or game pocket. Cf. Gibbier. ] A kind of pouch formerly worn at the girdle. Ld. Lytton. [ 1913 Webster ]

A gipser all of silk,
Hung at his girdle, white as morné milk. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. grantsire. See Grand, and Sire. ] Specifically, a grandfather; more generally, any ancestor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. lepi`s -i`dos, a scale + seirh`n a siren. ] (Zool.) An eel-shaped ganoid fish of the order Dipnoi, having both gills and lungs. It inhabits the rivers of South America. The name is also applied to a related African species (Protopterus annectens). The lepidosirens grow to a length of from four to six feet. Called also doko. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir. ] 1. A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Pain and distress, sickness and ire,
And melancholy that angry sire,
Be of her palace senators. Rom. of R. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A tittle of respect formerly used in speaking to elders and superiors, but now only in addressing a sovereign. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A father; the head of a family; the husband. [ 1913 Webster ]

Jankin thet was our sire [ i.e., husband ]. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

And raise his issue, like a loving sire. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A creator; a maker; an author; an originator. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ He ] was the sire of an immortal strain. Shelley. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. The male parent of a beast; -- applied especially to horses; as, the horse had a good sire. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Sire is often used in composition; as in grandsire, grandfather; great-grandsire, great-grandfather. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Sired p. pr. & vb. n. Siring. ] To beget; to procreate; -- used of beasts, and especially of stallions. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ NL., from Gr. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_; a siren. ] (Zool.) The larval form of any salamander while it still has external gills; especially, one of those which, like the axolotl (Amblystoma Mexicanum), sometimes lay eggs while in this larval state, but which under more favorable conditions lose their gills and become normal salamanders. See also Axolotl. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L., fr. Gr. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;: cf. F. sirène. ] 1. (Class. Myth.) One of three sea nymphs, -- or, according to some writers, of two, -- said to frequent an island near the coast of Italy, and to sing with such sweetness that they lured mariners to destruction. [ 1913 Webster ]

Next where the sirens dwell you plow the seas;
Their song is death, and makes destruction please. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An enticing, dangerous woman. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Something which is insidious or deceptive. [ 1913 Webster ]

Consumption is a siren. W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A mermaid. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Zool.) Any long, slender amphibian of the genus Siren or family Sirenidae, destitute of hind legs and pelvis, and having permanent external gills as well as lungs. They inhabit the swamps, lagoons, and ditches of the Southern United States. The more common species (Siren lacertina) is dull lead-gray in color, and becames two feet long. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. [ F. sirène, properly, a siren in sense 1. ] (Acoustics) An instrument for producing musical tones and for ascertaining the number of sound waves or vibrations per second which produce a note of a given pitch. The sounds are produced by a perforated rotating disk or disks. A form with two disks operated by steam or highly compressed air is used sounding an alarm to vessels in fog. [ Written also sirene, and syren. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to a siren; bewitching, like a siren; fascinating; alluring; as, a siren song. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Siren, 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. [ NL. ] (Zool.) An order of large aquatic herbivorous mammals, including the manatee, dugong, rytina, and several fossil genera. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The hind limbs are either rudimentary or wanting, and the front ones are changed to paddles. They have horny plates on the front part of the jaws, and usually flat-crowned molar teeth. The stomach is complex and the intestine long, as in other herbivorous mammals. See Cetacea (b). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) Any species of Sirenia. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Like, or appropriate to, a siren; fascinating; deceptive. [ 1913 Webster ]

Here's couple of sirenical rascals shall enchant ye. Marton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To use the enticements of a siren; to act as a siren; to fascinate. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ L. transire to pass through or across, to pass. ] (End. Law) A customhouse clearance for a coasting vessel; a permit. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ The native name: cf. F. vansire. ] (Zool.) An ichneumon (Herpestes galera) native of Southern Africa and Madagascar. It is reddish brown or dark brown, grizzled with white. Called also vondsira, and marsh ichneumon. [ 1913 Webster ]