Word.ws English Dictionary

laws-a-mercy

laws-a-mercy interjection: a minced oath for "Lord have mercy".

Interjection

  1. (Appalachia, Southern US, dated, possibly) A minced oath for "Lord have mercy".
    • "Laws-a-mercy!" exclaimed the old lady," I wonder if you kin tell true?" "The science never fails," replied a voice we had heard before. "Will you choose clairvoyance or the cards?" "It does not matter a mite to me."1856, Invisible Green, William G.] [Crippen, Green Peas: Picked from the Patch of Invisible Green, Esq. ..., page 160
    • "Laws-a-mercy! I gets eight pounds, and Mrs. Jones, thirty pounds and perquisites; and you, a young lady, that knows so much. Laws-a-mercy! what a shame."1859, F Claudius Armstrong, The Lily of Devon, page 172

Questions about laws-a-mercy

What does laws-a-mercy mean?
Laws-a-mercy means a minced oath for "Lord have mercy".
What part of speech is laws-a-mercy?
Laws-a-mercy is an interjection.

Words near laws-a-mercy in the dictionary

  1. laws of diminishing marginal utility
  2. laws of majestas
  3. laws of nature
  4. laws of war
  5. laws unto themselves
  6. laws-a-mercy
  7. lawscape
  8. lawscapes
  9. LAWSes
  10. Lawshall
  11. lawsome

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: laws-a-mercy (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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