FluentPlex

heir

/ˈɛɚ/ noun C1
  1. Someone who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another. · My brother is the heir to our childhood house and yet has no interest in it.
  2. One who inherits, or has been designated to inherit, a hereditary title or office. · As the heir to the British throne, the Prince of Wales is a very public figure.
  3. A successor in a role, representing continuity with the predecessor.

Plural heirs

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From the library

Bennet’s property consisted almost entirely in an estate of two thousand a year, which, unfortunately for his daughters, was entailed, in default of heirs male, on a distant relation; and their mother’s fortune, though ample for her situation in life, could but ill supply the deficiency of his.
Pride and Prejudice, p. 29 · B2
Holmes: that so far as we know, none of the papers were removed, and that the prisoner is the one man in the world who had no reason for removing them, since he was heir-at-law, and would come into them in any case.”
The Return of Sherlock Holmes, p. 47 · C1
But it is evident to me that the logical way to approach the case is to begin by trying to throw some light upon the first incident—the curious will, so suddenly made, and to so unexpected an heir.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes, p. 48 · C1
“Yes, he was his heir, and the old boy is nearly eighty—cram full of gout, too.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes, p. 103 · C1

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Words, meanings, pronunciations and translations from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); how common each word is from wordfreq. Made into this dictionary by FluentPlex.