DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan
Dear a. [Compar. Dearer superl. Dearest ]
1. Bearing a high price; high-priced; costly; expensive.
The cheapest of us is ten groats too dear. --Shak.
2. Marked by scarcity or dearth, and exorbitance of price; as, a dear year.
3. Highly valued; greatly beloved; cherished; precious. “Hear me, dear lady.”
Neither count I my life dear unto myself. --Acts xx. 24.
And the last joy was dearer than the rest. --Pope.
Dear as remember'd kisses after death. --Tennyson.
4. Hence, close to the heart; heartfelt; present in mind; engaging the attention. (a) Of agreeable things and interests.
[I'll] leave you to attend him: some dear cause
Will in concealment wrap me up awhile. --Shak.
His dearest wish was to escape from the bustle and glitter of Whitehall. --Macaulay.
(b) Of disagreeable things and antipathies.
In our dear peril. --Shak.
Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven
Or ever I had seen that day. --Shak.