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Definition of dear adverb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

dear

adverb
 
/dɪə(r)/
 
/dɪr/
(British English)Idioms
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  1. at a high price
    • to buy cheap and sell dear
    Word OriginOld English dēore, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch dier ‘beloved’, also to Dutch duur and German teuer ‘expensive’.
Idioms
cost somebody dear
  1. to cost somebody a lot of money
    • The campaign for the presidency has cost her dear.
  2. to make somebody suffer a lot
    • That one mistake has cost him dear over the years.
See dear in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
previously
adverb
 
 
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