eager

eager
    adj 1: having or showing keen interest or intense desire or
           impatient expectancy; "eager to learn"; "eager to travel
           abroad"; "eager for success"; "eager helpers"; "an eager
           look" [ant: {uneager}]
    n 1: a high wave (often dangerous) caused by tidal flow (as by
         colliding tidal currents or in a narrow estuary) [syn:
         {tidal bore}, {bore}, {eagre}, {aegir}, {eager}]
    

Eager \Ea"ger\, a. [OE. egre sharp, sour, eager, OF. agre,
   aigre, F. aigre, fr. L. acer sharp, sour, spirited, zealous;
   akin to Gr. ? highest, extreme, Skr. a?ra point; fr. a root
   signifying to be sharp. Cf. {Acrid}, {Edge}.]
   1. Sharp; sour; acid. [Obs.] "Like eager droppings into
      milk." --Shak.
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   2. Sharp; keen; bitter; severe. [Obs.] "A nipping and an
      eager air." "Eager words." --Shak.
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   3. Excited by desire in the pursuit of any object; ardent to
      pursue, perform, or obtain; keenly desirous; hotly
      longing; earnest; zealous; impetuous; vehement; as, the
      hounds were eager in the chase.
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            And gazed for tidings in my eager eyes. --Shak.
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            How eagerly ye follow my disgraces!   --Shak.
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            When to her eager lips is brought
            Her infant's thrilling kiss.          --Keble.
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            A crowd of eager and curious schoolboys.
                                                  --Hawthorne.
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            Conceit and grief an eager combat fight. --Shak.
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   4. Brittle; inflexible; not ductile. [Obs.]
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            Gold will be sometimes so eager, as artists call it,
            that it will as little endure the hammer as glass
            itself.                               --Locke.

   Syn: Earnest; ardent; vehement; hot; impetuous; fervent;
        intense; impassioned; zealous; forward.

   Usage: See {Earnest}. -- {Eager}, {Earnest}. Eager marks an
          excited state of desire or passion; thus, a child is
          eager for a plaything, a hungry man is eager for food,
          a covetous man is eager for gain. Eagerness is liable
          to frequent abuses, and is good or bad, as the case
          may be. It relates to what is praiseworthy or the
          contrary. Earnest denotes a permanent state of mind,
          feeling, or sentiment. It is always taken in a good
          sense; as, a preacher is earnest in his appeals to the
          conscience; an agent is earnest in his solicitations.
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Eager \Ea"ger\, n.
   Same as {Eagre}.
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170 Moby Thesaurus words for "eager":
      accordant, acquiescent, acquisitive, affirmative, agape, agog,
      agreeable, agreeing, alacritous, all agog, ambitious, amenable,
      animated, anticipant, anticipating, anticipative, anticipatory,
      antsy, antsy-pantsy, anxious, appetitive, approving, ardent,
      assenting, athirst, avid, awaiting, breathless, bursting to,
      certain, chafing, compliable, compliant, confident, consentient,
      consenting, content, cooperative, covetous, craving, desiderative,
      desireful, desiring, desirous, disposed, docile, dying, earnest,
      edgy, endorsing, energetic, energized, enthusiastic, excited,
      expectant, expecting, fain, favorable, favorably disposed,
      favorably inclined, fervent, fervid, forearmed, forestalling,
      forewarned, forward, fretful, fretting, full of life, game, gaping,
      gung ho, hankering, hasty, heated, honing, hopeful, hoping,
      hopped-up, hormic, hot, hungry, impatient, impetuous, in a lather,
      in a stew, in a sweat, in anticipation, in expectation,
      in the mind, in the mood, inclined, inspirited, intent, itchy,
      keen, lascivious, libidinal, libidinous, lickerish, lively,
      longing, looking for, looking forward to, lustful, minded, needing,
      not surprised, nothing loath, on edge, optative, optimistic,
      panting, passionate, permissive, pining, pliant, predisposed,
      prepared, prompt, prone, quick, raring, raring to, ratifying,
      ready, ready and willing, receptive, responsive, restive, restless,
      sanctioning, sanguine, solicitous, spirited, squirming, squirmy,
      stimulated, submissive, sure, tempted, thirsty, tractable, uneasy,
      ungrudging, unloath, unpatient, unquiet, unrefusing, unreluctant,
      unsurprised, vehement, vital, vitalized, vivacious, vivid, waiting,
      waiting for, wanting, watching for, well-disposed, well-inclined,
      willed, willing, willinghearted, wishful, wishing, yearning,
      zealous, zestful