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MISER
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
Irregular inflected form: miser
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A stingy hoarder of money and possessions (often living miserably)
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("miser" is a kind of...):
hoarder (a person who accumulates things and hides them away for future use)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "miser"):
cheapskate; tightwad (a miserly person)
Derivation:
miserly ((used of persons or behavior) characterized by or indicative of lack of generosity)
Context examples:
Even in his chastened frame of mind, the noble miser could give us no information which could help us, for he knew little of the private life of his nephew.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Some few times, however, at long intervals, I was allowed to go there; and then I found out that Mr. Barkis was something of a miser, or as Peggotty dutifully expressed it, was a little near, and kept a heap of money in a box under his bed, which he pretended was only full of coats and trousers.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
The miser began to tell his tale, and said he had been robbed of his money.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
Then the miser said, “Bind me fast, bind me fast, for pity’s sake.”
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
The miser cried out, “Oh, no! no! for heaven’s sake don’t listen to him! don’t listen to him!”
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
The farmer was a sad miser, and knew that his man was very simple-hearted; so he took out threepence, and gave him for every year’s service a penny.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
He had not gone far before he met an old miser: close by them stood a tree, and on the topmost twig sat a thrush singing away most joyfully.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
Oh, for heaven’s sake! cried the miser, Master! master! pray let the fiddle alone.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
Then the countryman stopped his fiddle, and left the miser to take his place at the gallows.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
But the countryman seized his fiddle, and struck up a tune, and at the first note judge, clerks, and jailer were in motion; all began capering, and no one could hold the miser.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
