From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishheirheir /eə $ er/ ●○○ noun [countable] 1 SCLFAMILYthe person who has the legal right to receive the property or title of another person when they dieheir to John was the sole heir to a vast estate.heir to the throne (=the person who will become king or queen)2 PBthe person who will take over a position or job after you, or who does things or thinks in a similar way to you Jonson was his political heir as leader of the Nationalist Party.
Examples from the Corpus
heir• Why was it that the men in her life seemed to have found some other woman to give them an heir?• In this sense, Mr Major is child and heir of Thatcherism, smile and smile as he may.• Henry died a year ago, and his heirs sold the ranch.• In all three cases the Church seems to have been trying to prevent lords from siting legitimate heirs.• Richard was now heir to the throne of the Angevin Empire.• Reagan's political heirs• Lieutenant Denholm is the heir to an earldom.• They want to repeal a tax the heirs of millionaires pay.• And this was especially true for the neoconservatives who considered themselves the heirs of an abandoned tradition of postwar liberalism.heir to the throne• But could they ever secure a conviction on that basis against an heir to the throne?• His duty was to marry and produce an heir to the throne.• After William III's death in 1702 and Anne's succession Sophia became the immediate heir to the throne.• Richard was now heir to the throne of the Angevin Empire.• It was none other than the heir to the throne, blissfully unaware, and convulsed with mirth.From Longman Business Dictionaryheirheir /eəer/ noun [countable] LAWthe person who has the legal right to receive another person’s money, property, or business after that person has diedheir toTaki is heir to a Greek shipping fortune.Origin heir (1300-1400) Old French Latin heres 