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Lurk vs Shy - What's the difference?

lurk | shy |

As verbs the difference between lurk and shy

is that lurk is to remain concealed in order to ambush while shy is to avoid due to timidness or caution.

As nouns the difference between lurk and shy

is that lurk is the act of lurking while shy is an act of throwing.

As an adjective shy is

easily frightened; timid.

lurk

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To remain concealed in order to ambush.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=55, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Travels and travails , passage=Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.}}
  • To remain unobserved.
  • * 1898 , , (Moonfleet) Chapter 4
    • Thus my plight was evil indeed, for I had nothing now to burn to give me light, and knew that 'twas no use setting to grout till I could see to go about it. Moreover, the darkness was of that black kind that is never found beneath the open sky, no, not even on the darkest night, but lurks in close and covered places and strains the eyes in trying to see into it.
  • To hang out or wait around a location, preferably without drawing attention to oneself.
  • * 2005 , (Plato), Sophist . Translation by Lesley Brown. .
    • if we find the sophist lurking , we must round him up by royal command of the argument
  • (Internet) To view an internet forum without posting comments.

    • Derived terms

    * lurker

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act of lurking.
  • * 1921 : George Colby Borley, The Lost Horizon
    • There were enemies on the lurk and time was against him.
  • * 1955 : John Maxwell Edmonds Longus, Daphnis et Chloe
    • ... barked furiously and made at him as at a wolf, and before he could wholly rise from the lurk because of the sudden consternation, ...
  • * 2004 : Charles Reade, A Simpleton
    • At two PM a man had called on him, and had produced one of his advertisements, and had asked him if that was all square—no bobbies on the lurk .

    shy

    English

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Easily frightened; timid.
  • * Jonathan Swift
    • The horses of the army were no longer shy , but would come up to my very feet without starting.
  • Reserved; disinclined to familiar approach.
    • He is very shy with strangers.
  • * Arbuthnot
    • What makes you so shy , my good friend? There's nobody loves you better than I.
  • Cautious; wary; suspicious.
  • * Boyle
    • I am very shy of using corrosive liquors in the preparation of medicines.
  • * Sir H. Wotton
    • Princes are, by wisdom of state, somewhat shy of their successors.
  • Short, insufficient or less than.
    • By our count your shipment came up two shy of the bill of lading amount.
    It is just shy of a mile from here to their house.
  • Embarrassed.

    • See also

    * bashful * reserved * timid * demure * coy

    Usage notes

    * Often used in combination with a noun to produce an adjective or adjectival phrase. * Adjectives are usually applicable to animals (leash-shy'' "shy of leashes" or ''head shy "shy of contact around the head" (of horses)) or to children.

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Antonyms

    * brazen * bold * audacious

    Derived terms

    (terms derived using shy as suffix) * -shy * bird-shy * boy-shy * car-shy * cat-shy * camera-shy * cover-shy * girl-shy * gun-shy * hand-shy * man-shy * mouse-shy * noise-shy * people-shy * water-shy * woman-shy * work-shy

    Verb

  • To avoid due to timidness or caution.
    • I shy away from investment opportunities I don't understand.
  • To jump back in fear.
    • The horse shied''' away from the rider, which startled him so much he '''shied away from the horse.
  • to throw sideways with a jerk; to fling
    • to shy''' a stone; to '''shy a slipper

    Noun

    (shies)
  • An act of throwing.
    • (Thackeray)
  • * Punch
    • If Lord Brougham gets a stone in his hand, he must, it seems, have a shy at somebody.
  • * 2008 , (James Kelman), Kieron Smith, Boy , Penguin 2009, p. 55:
    • The game had started. A man was chasing the ball, it went out for a shy .
  • A place for throwing.
    • coconut shy
  • A sudden start aside, as by a horse.
  • In the Eton College wall game, a point scored by lifting the ball against the wall in the calx.

    • Derived terms

    * coconut shy