Arrear
[ә'riә]
Definition
(adv.) To or in the rear; behind; backwards.
(n.) That which is behind in payment, or which remains unpaid, though due; esp. a remainder, or balance which remains due when some part has been paid; arrearage; -- commonly used in the plural, as, arrears of rent, wages, or taxes.
Typed by Harley
Definition
n. that which is in the rear or behind: that which remains unpaid or undone (used mostly in pl.).—adv. Arrear′ backward behind.—n. Arrear′age (Shak.) arrears.
Editor: Tamara
Examples
- Say, Plornish, though six weeks in arrear to my proprietor, declines. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- My mother glances submissively at them, shuts the book, and lays it by as an arrear to be worked out when my other tasks are done. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- The bills of the little household, which had been settled weekly, first fell into arrear. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Knowing how sadly dear Mr. Godfrey's charitable work was in arrear, I thought it odd that he should be going out driving, like an idle man. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- You'll sell me up at last, I suppose, when I am a day in arrear. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- Molly, the housemaid, blubbered in the passage when he went away--Molly kind and faithful in spite of a long arrear of unpaid wages. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
Editor: Tamara