عثر

عَاثُورٌ ذ A pit dug for a lion or other [ animal ], (S, A, O,) that he may fall into it, (A,) in order that he may be taken: (S, O:) this is the primary signification: (A:) or a thing that is prepared for one to fall into it: (K:) or, as also عثار [i. e. ↓ عَثَارٌ or ↓ عِثَارٌ (see what follows)], a thing by which one is made to stumble and fall; expl. by بِهِ ↓ مَا عُثِرَ: (TA:) the pl. is عَوَاثِيرُ; whence, perhaps, عَوَاثِرُ, by suppression of the ى. (O, TA. [See عَاثرٌ.]) ― -b2- [Hence,] (assumed tropical:) A place of perdition: (TA voce حَاجُورٌ:) or (tropical:) a cause, or place, of perdition or of death: (A, K:) applied to a land. (K.) You say, وَقَعَ فِى عَاثُورٍ (tropical:) He fell into a cause, or place, of perdition or of death. (A, TA.) And فُلَانٌ يَقِى صَاحِبَهُ العَوَاثِرَ (tropical:) [ Such a one preserves his companion from the causes, or places, of perdition or of death ]. (A.) And it is said in a trad., اـِنَّ قُرَيْشًا أَهْلُ أَمَانَةٍ مَنْ بَغَاهَا العَوَاثِيرَ كَبَّهُ ا@للّٰهُ لِمَنْخِرَيْهِ (assumed tropical:) [ Verily the tribe of Kureysh are people of fidelity: whoso seeks for them the causes, or places, of perdition or of death, may God lay him prostrate upon his nostrils ]: or, accord. to one relation, عَوَاثِرَ. (O, TA.) ― -b3- And [hence,] (tropical:) Difficulty, or distress; as also عَاثُورُ شَرٍّ: (S, O:) and evil; (K, TA;) like عَاذُورٌ, which is a dial. var. thereof, or an instance of mispronunciation; (S and O in art. عذر;) as also ↓ عَثَارٌ, (accord. to some copies of the K,) or ↓ عِثَارٌ: (thus in other copies of the K and in the TA [in the latter of which it is said to be with kesr; and this I think to be the more probably correct; originally an inf. n.]:) and شَرٍّ ↓ عِثَارُ is said by Fr to signify the same as عَاثُورُ شَرٍّ. (TA.) You say, لَقِيتُ مِنْهُ عَاثُورًا, (As, S, O, TA,) and ↓ عِثَارًا, (TA,) (tropical:) I experienced from him, or it, difficulty, or distress. (As, S, O, TA.) And وَقَعُوا فِى عَاثُورِ شَرٍّ, (As, S, O, TA,) and عَافُورِ شَرٍّ, (S, O,) (tropical:) They fell into difficulty, or distress: (As, S, O:) or into a confusion of evil and difficulty or distress. (TA.) It is the opinion of Yaakoob that the ف in عَافُور is a substitute for the ث in عَاثُور: but Az observes that this is not necessarily the case, as the meaning of difficulty is implied in the root عفر. (TA.) ― -b4- It is said to signify also A kind of snare (مِصْيَدَة) made of bark. (O.) ― -b5- And A channel that is dug for the purpose of irrigating thereby a palm-tree such as is termed بَعْلٌ. (O.) ― -b6- And A well. (K.) -A2- And it may also be used as an epithet [app. meaning Perilous, or destructive ]. (ISd, TA.)