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arrah. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
arrah, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
arrah in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
arrah you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Interjection
arrah
- (archaic, slang, chiefly in Ireland) An expletive.
1913, anonymous author, chapter VI, in Live to be Useful or, The Story of Annie Lee and Her Irish Nurse:"Whisht! whisht! Of what are ye thinking, ye silly gossoons? Will ye bring down the peace officers upon ye, and take out the bit o' the night in the prison, instead o' drinking me health, as ye may, and me helping to do that same? Arrah! Why should ye glower and snarl at each other, like a kennel o' mad puppies, when it's the brave frolic ye may have together?
- c. 1850s, Anonymous, Finnegan's Wake (folk song)
- "Such a nice clean corpse, did you ever see?
"Arrah, Tim, mavourneen, why did you die?"
References
- [Francis] Grose [et al.] (1811) “Arrah”, in Lexicon Balatronicum. A Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence. , London: C. Chappell, , →OCLC.
Anagrams