Ēa'ger1, a.
(ē'ger), a. [O. Eng. egre, O. Fr. egre, eigre, aigre, N. Fr. aigre, Pr. & O. Sp. agre, N. Sp. agrio, It. & Pg. agro, from Lat. acer, sharp, sour, violent, spirited, zealous.]
Sense 1. Sharp; sour; acid. [Obs.] “Eager droppings into milk.” Shak.
Sense 2. Sharp; keen; biting; severe. [Rare.] “A nipping and an eager air.” Shak.
Sense 3. Excited by desire in the pursuit of any object; ardent to pursue, perform, or obtain; earnest.
Sense 4. Brittle; inflexible; not ductile.
Gold will be sometimes so eager . . . that it will as little endure the hammer as glass. Locke.
Synonyms—Earnest; ardent; vehement; hot; impetuous; fervent; zealous; forward. 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. Crabb expresses himself too strongly, however, in saying, “Eagerness is mostly faulty: it can not be too early restrained.” He might more properly have said, “It is liable to frequent abuses, and is good or bad, as the case may be.” 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.
Of actions eager, and intent of thought, The chiefs your honorable danger sought. Dryden.
On that prospect strange. Their earnest eyes they fixed; imagining, For one forbidden tree, a multitude Now risen, to work them further woe or shame. Milton.