harass

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   exhaust by attacking repeatedly

   harass the enemy

2. 2
   verb

   To annoy (someone) frequently or systematically; to pester.

   For it is a stout calf, ripe for the temples and altar [to be sacrificed], and to be sprinkled with wine; who is now ashamed to draw the dugs of his mother, and who harasseth the oaks with his budding horn.

3. 3
   verb

   To put excessive burdens upon (someone); to subject (someone) to anxieties.

   To harass good people is no different than speaking ill of them.

4. 4
   verb

   To trouble (someone, or a group of people) through repeated military-style attacks.

   But meanevvhile, to harraſſe and vvearie the Engliſh, they [the French] did vpon all aduantages ſet vpon them vvith their Light-Horſe; vvherein neuertheleſſe they receiued commonly loſſe, eſpecially by meanes of the Engliſh-Archers.

5. 5
   verb

   Often followed by out: to fatigue or tire (someone) with exhausting and repeated efforts.

   VVhich Troupes came to the Army but the day before, harraſed vvith a long and vveariſome march: and (as it is left for a memorable circumſtance in all Stories,) the Souldiers, being more ſenſible of a little Heat of the Sunne, than of any cold Feare of Death, caſt avvay their Armour, and Garments from them, and fought in their Shirts: […]

6. 6
   noun

   Harassment; pestering.

   Mean while the men of Judah to prevent / The harraſs of thir Land, beſet me round; […]

7. 7
   verb

   annoy continually or chronically

Etymology

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.