Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- To talk idly or foolishly. Also spelled havrel, havril.
- noun One who talks foolishly or idly; a silly chattering person.
- Silly; half-witted.
- Also spelled havrel, haveril.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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You're kindly welcome to Monk Grange, but you're only a haverel to look at.
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 17, No. 102, June, 1876 Various
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"It's true, I am a puir, kintra haverel, but I hae a douce and feekfu 'heart, and ane that's true to you."
Alamance; Or, the Great and Final Experiment viii, 9-151, [1] p. 1847
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He took it into his head at one time that he ought to be married, and having got the consent of a haverel wench to yoke with him in the silken bonds of matrimony, went to the minister several times, and asked him to perform the ceremony.
Spare Hours John Brown 1846
qms commented on the word haverel
I reside in the city of Haverhill, Massachusetts. Lately I have been learning a lot about the origin of this name. A little over a week ago the Word of the Day was haverbread (see comments there), and today’s WotD, haverel, is a near homonym of the city name. The name of the city is pronounced in these parts as a two syllable word to rhyme with “cave thrill,” whereas the middle syllable in “haverel” gets some slight acknowledgment. I learned haver can mean oats/oatmeal or to talk foolishly. I have seen little of the former locally and find the latter no more abundant here than elsewhere. Of course, the American city is named after an English town. If anyone can testify to that town’s reputation for either oats or foolishness I would be glad to read it.
In these troubled times the braver will
Indulge in expressions most flavorful.
A colorful word
Is more likely heard
When discourse is noisy and haverel.
December 3, 2017