demur

verb

1. (intransitive)Chiefly followed by to, and sometimes by at or on: to object or be reluctant; to balk, to take exception.

   “I demur to that statement.”

   “The personnel demurred at the management’s new scheme.”

   “The Sultan […] deſiring him novv to ratifie them, and in demonſtration thereof to give his hand to the Kings Embaſſadours. The Caliph demurred hereat, as counting ſuch a geſture a diminution to his State; […]”

   “My proceſs vvas alvvays very ſimple—in their younger days, 'tvvas 'Jack, do this;'—if he demur'd—I knock'd him dovvn—and if he grumbled at that—I alvvays ſent him out of the room.”

   “What! thou demurrest? I tell thee I'll be his surety, and thou hast my warrant.”

2. (intransitive)To submit a demurrer (“motion by a party to a legal action for the immediate or summary judgment of the court on the question of whether, assuming the truth of the matter alleged by the opposite party, it is sufficient in law to sustain the action or defence, and hence whether the party bringing the motion is required to answer or proceed further”).

   “He that demurreth in Law confeſſeth all ſuch matters of fact as are well and ſufficiently pleaded.”

   “The plaintiff demurred, that is to say, admitted Sir Edward [Hales]'s plea to be true in fact, but denied that it was a sufficient answer.”

3. (intransitive, obsolete)To endure, to last.
4. (intransitive, obsolete)To linger, to tarry.

   “The Eele is here, and in this hollow cave / You'll finde, if that our looks on it demurre, / A great wast in the bottome of his furre.”

5. (intransitive, obsolete)To remain, to stay.
6. (intransitive, obsolete)To suspend judgment or proceedings because of a difficulty or doubt; to put off the conclusion or determination of a matter; to delay, to hesitate, to pause.

   “The doore of grace turnes upon ſmooth hinges vvide opening to ſend out, but ſoon ſhutting to recall the precious offers of mercy to a nation:[…]. This is all vve get by demurring in Gods ſervice.”

   “VVell, the VVeſt-Saxon King vvas quickly overcome, and all his Complices either killed, or conquered, and yet King Edvvine demurred to embrace Chriſtianity.”

   “[T]he Tyrant ſent the Bull for a Preſent to Delphi; and the Delphians demurring, vvhether they ſhould accept it or no, he makes tvvo Orations in Phalaris’s Name to perſuade them to receive it: […]”

   “I aſſure you, Ma'am, you are the firſt lady vvho ever made me even demur upon this ſubject; […]”

7. (intransitive, obsolete, rare)To have doubts; to be doubtful.
8. (figuratively, intransitive, obsolete)Followed by upon: to be captivated or fixated; to dwell on, to linger.
9. (rare, transitive)To object or take exception to (something).

   “I demur the inference from these facts that Homer must have lived at some far later period, when he could have seen such works. Even if he had never seen any representations of life, his imagination might have conceived them.”

10. (obsolete, transitive)To cause delay to (someone or something); to put off.

    “[The Jews believe that God] ſitteth in iudgement, and out of the books taketh reckoning of eurie mans life, and pronounceth ſentence accordingly. […] [T]he third, of the meane ſort, vvhoſe iudgement is demurred vntill the day of Reconciliation, (the tenth of Tiſri,) that if in the meane time they ſeriouſly repent them ſo, that their good may exceed their euill, then are they entred into the Booke of life; if othervviſe, they are recorded in the Blacke Bill of Death.”

    “I ask'd the Lavvyer; He demands a Fee, / And then demurres me vvith a vaine delay: […]”

    “[…] I ſvvear by yonder pole, / Nay by my fathers Rurall ſoul, / Henceforth to take a rougher courſe, / And, vvhat you vvould demur, to force.”

11. (obsolete, transitive)To have doubts or hesitate about (something).

    “VVhat may this mean? Language of Man pronounc't / By Tongue of Brute, and human ſenſe expreſt? / The firſt at leſt of theſe I thought deni'd / To Beaſts, vvhom God on thir Creation-Day / Created mute to all articulat ſound; / The latter I demurre, for in thir looks / Much reaſon, and in thir actions oft appeers.”

noun

1. An act of objecting or taking exception; a scruple; also, an exception taken or objection to something.

   “If publique Aſſemblies of Divines cannot agree upon a right vvay, private Conventicles of illeterate men, vvill ſoon finde a vvrong. Bivious demurres breed devious reſolutions. Paſſengers to heaven are in haſte, and vvill vvalk one vvay or other.”

   “All my demurrs but double his attacks; / At laſt he vvhiſpers, "Do; and vve go ſnacks."”

   “Nicholas was not much disposed to sleep, being in truth too anxious, so after a little demur he accepted the offer, […]”

   “Most geologists today would accept such evidence without demur, but it was still 'fringe' science when [Alexander] du Toit was publishing.”

2. (obsolete)An act of continuing; a continuance.

   “[G]ood People, living vvithin the Limits of true and lavvful Matrimony, ſhall not by Malice or ill VVill, be ſo long detained and interrupted from their Right, as in times paſt they have been: Neither unjuſt Matrymony ſhall have his unjuſt and inceſtuous demoure and continuance, as by delayes to Rome it is vvont to have.”

3. (obsolete)An act of lingering or tarrying.

   “[A]lbeit his Highneſs had cauſe, as the ſame vvrote, to marvel of your long demor, and lack of expedition of one or other of the things committed to your charge; yet did his Highneſs right vvell perſuade unto himſelf the default not to be in you, but in ſome other cauſe, […]”

4. (obsolete)An act of remaining or staying; a residence, a stay.

   “VVe ſavv this tovvn only in tranſitu, but it merited a little demurr.”

5. (obsolete)A state of having doubts; a hesitation, a pause.

   “The King told me, […] That I ſhould have the Character of Ambaſſador Extraordinary, and the ſame Allovvance I ſhou'd have had in Spain: Upon this Offer I made no Demurr, but immediately accepted it, and ſo my Ambaſſy vvas declar'd in May 1674.”

6. (obsolete)Synonym of demurrer (“a motion by a party to a legal action for the immediate or summary judgment of the court on the question of whether, assuming the truth of the matter alleged by the opposite party, it is sufficient in law to sustain the action or defence, and hence whether the party bringing the motion is required to answer or proceed further”).

   “[W]ith Rejoinders and Replies, / Long Bills, and Anſvvers, ſtuft vvith Lies, / Demurr, Imparlance, and Eſſoign, / The Parties ne'er could Iſſue join: / For Sixteen Years the Cauſe vvas ſpun, / And then ſtood vvhere it firſt begun.”