Leerness

[f. LEER a.¹ + -NESS.] Emptiness.

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c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., II. 60. Se micla ʓeoxa … cymð … of to micelre fylle, oððe of to micelre lærnesse.

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1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XIV. ii. (Tollem. MS.). Mounteynes ben sumtyme withinne ful of holownesse, and of dennes; and so by cause of voydenesse and of lerenesse it draweþ and soukeþ in water. Ibid., VII. xliv. (1495), 257. Appetite of the stomak comyth by cause of lerenes and voydnes.

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1656. Ridgley, Pract. Physick, 25. Arthrite … often causeth learness with weaknesse of the joynts.

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1893. S. Gee, Auscult. & Percuss., iii. (ed. 4), 62. The prime property assigned by Skoda to a percussion-sound, its fulness or its leerness … is in fact a compound perception.

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