Meaning
To delay; to be late or tardy in beginning or doing anything.
Etymology
Origin: Old English
From Middle English tarien, terien (“to vex, harass, cause to hesitate, delay”), from Old English tirian, tirġan, terġan (“to worry, exasperate, pain, provoke, excite”), from Proto-Germanic *terganą, *targijaną (“to pull, tease, irritate”), from Proto-Indo-European *derHgʰ- (“to pull, tug, irritate”). Cognate with Dutch tergen (“to provoke”), German zergen (“to vex, irritate, provoke”), Norwegian Bokmål terge (“to irritate, provoke”), Russian дёргать (djórgatʹ, “to pull, yank, jerk, pester”). Compare also Walloon tårdjî (“to be late, to be slow, to wait”). Compare typologically Czech meškat, Russian ме́шкать (méškatʹ) (akin to меша́ть (mešátʹ)), копа́ться (kopátʹsja) (akin to копа́ть (kopátʹ)).
Synonyms & Antonyms
Antonyms
NYT Puzzle Appearances
Accepted in 21 recorded puzzles:
- 2026-08-27TAMORWY
- 2026-04-26RATICNY
- 2026-02-07YATROIP
- 2026-01-17YATROLP
- 2025-10-07AFGIRTY
- 2025-09-10RAIPUTY
- 2025-03-25RAVYTLI
- 2025-03-01TAYRHDN
- 2024-12-26AIURMTY
- 2024-12-13TAWKCRY
- 2024-09-27AHYWTRO
- 2024-08-16TYARLBO
+9 earlier appearances in the archive.