harass

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To annoy or trouble someone repeatedly, often in a threatening or aggressive way.

   She reported a colleague who had been harassing her for weeks.

2. 2
   verb

   To make repeated small attacks on an enemy in order to wear them down.

   Light cavalry harassed the retreating troops throughout the night.

The verb is derived from Middle French, Old French harasser (“to exhaust, tire out, wear out; to harry, torment, vex”) (modern French harasser (“to exhaust, tire out, wear out”)), possibly from Old French harer (“to set a dog on”), from Frankish *hara (“here, hither”) (a command for a dog to attack), from Proto-Germanic *hē₂r (“here, in this place”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe (“here; this”) + *ís (“the (person or thing just named)”) + *-r. The noun is derived from the verb.

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