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Ere; before. [Obs.] Sylvester.

An herb; a plant.

See 1st & 2d Yard. [Obs.] Chaucer.

a sudden, smart movement; to kick or strike suddenly; to jerk. Their wounded steeds . . . Yerk out their armed heels at their dead masters. Shak.

Eager; brisk; quick; active. [Obs.] "Her song . . . loud and yern." Chaucer.

Eagerly; briskly; quickly. [Obs.] Piers Plowman. My hands and my tongue go so yerne. Chaucer.

An earthnut, or groundnut. See Groundnut (d). [Written also yarnut.]

See Erst. [Obs.] Sylvester.

See Avoyer. [Obs.]

One engaged in an affray.

One who, or that which, allays.

One who, or that which, annoys.

One who arrays. In some early English statutes, applied to an officer who had care of the soldiers' armor, and who saw them duly accoutered.

One who assays. Specifically: One who examines metallic ores or compounds, for the purpose of determining the amount of any particular metal in the same, especially of gold or silver.

A chief magistrate of a free imperial city or canton of Switzerland. [Obs.]

One who, or that which, betrays.

One who, or that which, bewrays; a revealer. [Obs. or Archaic] Addison.

The prayer for the souls of benefactors, said before the sermon.

An archer; one who uses bow.

A Flemish sloop with a castle at each end. Sir W. Raleigh.