[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

eager \ea"ger\, a. oe. egre sharp, sour, eager, of. agre,
   aigre, f. aigre, fr. l. acer sharp, sour, spirited, zealous;
   akin to gr. ? highest, extreme, skr. a?ra point; fr. a root
   signifying to be sharp. cf. acrid, edge.
   1. sharp; sour; acid. obs. "like eager droppings into
      milk." --shak.
      1913 webster

   2. sharp; keen; bitter; severe. obs. "a nipping and an
      eager air." "eager words." --shak.
      1913 webster

   3. excited by desire in the pursuit of any object; ardent to
      pursue, perform, or obtain; keenly desirous; hotly
      longing; earnest; zealous; impetuous; vehement; as, the
      hounds were eager in the chase.
      1913 webster

            and gazed for tidings in my eager eyes. --shak.
      1913 webster

            how eagerly ye follow my disgraces   --shak.
      1913 webster

            when to her eager lips is brought
            her infant's thrilling kiss.          --keble.
      1913 webster

            a crowd of eager and curious schoolboys.
                                                  --hawthorne.
      1913 webster

            conceit and grief an eager combat fight. --shak.
      1913 webster

   4. brittle; inflexible; not ductile. obs.
      1913 webster

            gold will be sometimes so eager, as artists call it,
            that it will as little endure the hammer as glass
            itself.                               --locke.

   syn: earnest; ardent; vehement; hot; impetuous; fervent;
        intense; impassioned; zealous; forward.

   usage: 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. eagerness is liable
          to frequent abuses, and is good or bad, as the case
          may be. it relates to what is praiseworthy or the
          contrary. 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.
          1913 webster
see also:
acrid edge earnest eager 

[2] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

eager \ea"ger\, n.
   same as eagre.
   1913 webster
see also:
eagre 

[3] : WordNet (r) 2.0

eager
     adj 1: having or showing keen interest or intense desire or
            impatient expectancy; "eager to learn"; "eager to
            travel abroad"; "eager for success"; "eager helpers";
            "an eager look" ant: uneager
     2: marked by active interest and enthusiasm; "an avid sports
        fan"; "a great walker"; "an eager beaver" syn: avid, great,
         zealous
     n : a high wave often dangerous caused by tidal flow as by
         colliding tidal currents or in a narrow estuary syn: tidal
         bore, bore, eagre, aegir
see also:
uneager avid great zealous tidal bore bore 
eagre aegir 

[4] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

170 moby thesaurus words for "eager":
   accordant, acquiescent, acquisitive, affirmative, agape, agog,
   agreeable, agreeing, alacritous, all agog, ambitious, amenable,
   animated, anticipant, anticipating, anticipative, anticipatory,
   antsy, antsy-pantsy, anxious, appetitive, approving, ardent,
   assenting, athirst, avid, awaiting, breathless, bursting to,
   certain, chafing, compliable, compliant, confident, consentient,
   consenting, content, cooperative, covetous, craving, desiderative,
   desireful, desiring, desirous, disposed, docile, dying, earnest,
   edgy, endorsing, energetic, energized, enthusiastic, excited,
   expectant, expecting, fain, favorable, favorably disposed,
   favorably inclined, fervent, fervid, forearmed, forestalling,
   forewarned, forward, fretful, fretting, full of life, game, gaping,
   gung ho, hankering, hasty, heated, honing, hopeful, hoping,
   hopped-up, hormic, hot, hungry, impatient, impetuous, in a lather,
   in a stew, in a sweat, in anticipation, in expectation,
   in the mind, in the mood, inclined, inspirited, intent, itchy,
   keen, lascivious, libidinal, libidinous, lickerish, lively,
   longing, looking for, looking forward to, lustful, minded, needing,
   not surprised, nothing loath, on edge, optative, optimistic,
   panting, passionate, permissive, pining, pliant, predisposed,
   prepared, prompt, prone, quick, raring, raring to, ratifying,
   ready, ready and willing, receptive, responsive, restive, restless,
   sanctioning, sanguine, solicitous, spirited, squirming, squirmy,
   stimulated, submissive, sure, tempted, thirsty, tractable, uneasy,
   ungrudging, unloath, unpatient, unquiet, unrefusing, unreluctant,
   unsurprised, vehement, vital, vitalized, vivacious, vivid, waiting,
   waiting for, wanting, watching for, well-disposed, well-inclined,
   willed, willing, willinghearted, wishful, wishing, yearning,
   zealous, zestful

Eager >> E Words
Eager, definition of term: Eager
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