"queer" Definition

Definitions for the word "queer" from multiple English dictionaries.

1. adj.
1 strange, odd, eccentric. 2 shady, suspect, of questionable character. 3 slightly ill; faint. 4 slang offens. (esp. Of a man) homosexual. n. Slang offens. Homosexual. v. Slang spoil, put out of order. in queer street slang in difficulty, esp. In debt. Queer a person''s pitch colloq. Spoil a person''s chances. [origin uncertain]
Source: Oxford English Dictionary, 1884
2. slang
an old cant word, once in continual use as a prefix, signifying base, roguish, or worthless,—the opposite of RUM, which signified good and genuine. QUEER, in all probability, is immediately derived from the cant language. It has been mooted that it came into use from a _quære_ (?) being set before a man’s name; but it is more than probable that it was brought into this country, by the gipsies, from Germany, where QUER signifies “cross” or “crooked.” At all events it is believed to have been first used in England as a cant word.
Source: The Slang Dictionary, 1864
3. slang
“to QUEER a flat,” to puzzle or confound a “gull,” or silly fellow. “Who in a row like Tom could lead the van, Booze in the ken, or at the spellken hustle? Who QUEER a flat,” &c.—_Don Juan_, xi. 19.
Source: The Slang Dictionary, 1864

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