walk

From Middle English walk, walke, walc, from Old English *wealc (as in Old English wealcspinl) and ġewealc (“a rolling motion, attack”), from Proto-Germanic *walką. Cognate with Icelandic válk (“a rolling around, a tossing to and fro, trouble, distress”).

cog

(UK, finance, slang, dated) A cheque drawn on a bank that was not a member of the London Clearing and whose sort code was allocated on a one-off basis; they had to be "walked" (hand-delivered by messengers).


squeeze

From earlier squize, squise (whence also dialectal English squizzen and squeege), first attested around 1600, further origin uncertain; probably an alteration of quease (which is attested since 1550), from Middle English queisen (“to squeeze”), from Old English cwȳsan (“to crush, squeeze”), itself also of unknown origin, perhaps imitative (compare Swedish qväsa, kväsa (“to squeeze, bruise, crush; quell”), Dutch kwetsen (“to injure, hurt”), German quetschen (“to squeeze”)). Or, a blend of obsolete squiss (“to squeeze”) (whence also squash and squish) with quease. Compare also French esquicher from Old Occitan esquichar (“to press, squeeze”).
The slang expression "to put the squeeze on (someone or something)", meaning "to exert influence", is from 1711. The baseball term "squeeze play" is first recorded 1905. "Main squeeze" ("most important person") is attested from 1896, the specific meaning "one's sweetheart, lover" is attested in 1970s.
The nonstandard strong forms squoze and squozen, attested dialectally since at least the mid-19th century, are by analogy with freeze.

cog

"Got his description putty close: Short black 'air, black whiskers, with a crips^([sic]) curl at the hedges; a white choker, tight round his squeeze; dressed in black, and orful hugly," remarked the policeman.


rub

Inherited from Middle English rubben, of unknown origin; possibly ultimately from Proto-Germanic *rubbōną, related to *reufaną (“to tear”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian rubje (“to rub, scrape”), German Low German rubben (“to rub”), Low German rubblig (“rough, uneven”), Dutch robben, rubben (“to rub smooth; scrape; scrub”), Danish rubbe (“to rub, scrub”), Icelandic and Norwegian rubba (“to scrape”).
More at reave.

растира́ние

any substance designed to be applied by rubbing


wipe

en-verb

wipe (third-person singular simple present wipes, present participle wiping, simple past and past participle wiped)

wipes (present singular third-person)
wiping (participle present)
wiped (participle past)
wiped (past)

From Middle English wipen, from Old English wīpian (“to wipe, rub, cleanse”), from Proto-West Germanic *wīpōn (“to wipe”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyp- (“to twist, wind around”). Cognate with German wippen (“to bob”), Swedish veva (“to turn, wind, crank”), Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍀𐌰𐌽 (weipan, “to wreathe, crown”), Old English swīfan (“to revolve, sweep, wend, intervene”), Sanskrit वेपते (vépate, “to tremble”). More at swivel, swift.


wipe

"Now, my kiveys, shy up your castors, tie your bird's-eye wipes to the stakes, and go to work."

1883, London Society, volume 43, page 101:

All fighting coves you too must know, / Ben Caunt as well as Bendigo, / And to each mill be sure to go, / […] And you must sport a blue billy, / Or a yellow wipe […]

1859, Ducange Anglicus, The Vulgar Tongue, page 54:

He rode close up to a French officer, and so much in advance of his men that the Frenchman thought he was going to surrender, and dropped his sword, when Penrice gave him a wipe over his head.

1894, William Tomkinson, James Tomkinson, The Diary of a Cavalry Officer in the Peninsular and Waterloo Campaigns 1809-1815, page 48:

(UK, slang, obsolete) A blow or swipe; the act of striking somebody or something.


carriage

en-noun

carriage (countable and uncountable, plural carriages)

From Middle English cariage, from Old Northern French cariage, from carier (“to carry”).

When the long, hot journey drew to its end and the train slowed down for the last time, there was a stir in Jessamy’s carriage. People began to shake crumbs from their laps and tidy themselves up a little.

1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 7:

(rail transport, British, Abbreviation of railway carriage) A railroad car.


detonator

Warning messages were relayed to the signalmen at Slough East and Dolphin Junction boxes with such celerity that the up main signals were replaced to danger in front of the express before it finally stopped. The signalman at Dolphin Junction just had time to replace the down main signals and pull the emergency lever to lay detonators in front of the fast approaching 7 p.m. Paddington-Reading train.

1960 March, “Talking of Trains: The Slough Derailment”, in Trains Illustrated, page 132:

(rail transport, UK) A small explosive device attached to the railhead to provide an audible warning when a train passes over it.

響墩 /响墩

rail transport: small explosive warning device


snog

en-verb

snog (third-person singular simple present snogs, present participle snogging, simple past and past participle snogged)

snogs (present singular third-person)
snogging (participle present)
snogged (participle past)
snogged (past)

2016 Alya, "Gamer", Miraculous
This is about stepping up and representing, not snuggling up and snogging. This is serious business.

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, colloquial) To kiss passionately.


snog

And that was that. Where had I gone wrong? First night: park, fag, snog. Second night: ditto.

1995, Nick Hornby, High Fidelity, London: Victor Gollancz, →ISBN, page 13:

(British, Australia, colloquial) A passionate kiss.


crack

en-noun

crack (countable and uncountable, plural cracks)

→ Finnish: crack

→ Swedish: crack

From Middle English crakken, craken, from Old English cracian (“to resound, crack”), from Proto-West Germanic *krakōn, from Proto-Germanic *krakōną (“to crack, crackle, shriek”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gerh₂- (“to resound, cry hoarsely”).
Cognate with Scots crak (“to crack”), West Frisian kreakje (“to crack”), Dutch kraken (“to crunch, creak, squeak”), Low German kraken (“to crack”), German krachen (“to crash, crack, creak”), Lithuanian gi̇̀rgžděti (“to creak, squeak”), Old Armenian կարկաչ (karkačʻ), Sanskrit गर्जति (gárjati, “to roar, hum”).
Compare typologically English crevice derived from Latin crepō, Bulgarian пукнатина (puknatina) akin to пу́кам (púkam), Russian тре́щина (tréščina) akin to треск (tresk), щель (ščelʹ) akin to щёлкать (ščólkatʹ).

cog

I'll be with you in a crack.

(slang, dated, UK) A brief time; an instant; a jiffy.


cup

→ Farefare: kɔpɩ

→ Hebrew: קאפ (kap)

→ Japanese: カップ (kappu)

desc

→ Kashubian: kopsa (Canada, United States)

→ Korean: 컵 (keop)

→ Maori: kapu

Inherited from Middle English cuppe, coppe, from the merger of Old English cuppe (“cup”) and Old English copp (“cup, vessel”).
Old English cuppe is a borrowing from Late Latin cuppa, itself of obscure origin, but probably from earlier Latin cūpa (“tub, cask”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewp- (“a hollow”). Old English copp, however, is from Proto-West Germanic *kopp (“round object, bowl, vessel, knoll, summit, crown of the head”), from Proto-Germanic *kuppaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to bend, curve, arch”) (whence also obsolete English cop (“top, summit, crown of the head”), German Kopf (“top, head”)).
The Middle English word was further reinforced by Anglo-Norman cupe and Old French cope, coupe, from Latin cuppa. Compare also Saterland Frisian Kop (“cup”), West Frisian kop (“cup”), Dutch kop (“cup”), German Low German Koppke, Köppke (“cup”), Danish kop (“cup”), Swedish kopp (“cup”). Doublet of coupe, hive, and keeve.

unk

obscure

cog

that and a dollar will get you a cup of coffee

that and a nickel will buy you a cup of coffee

that and twenty-five cents will get you a cup of coffee

there's many a slip between the cup and the lip

there's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip

(UK, dated) A British unit of measure equal to ¹⁄₂ imperial pint (10 imperial ounces; 284 mL) or 300 mL.


joey

Unknown. Older and more general sources state that joey comes from an Australian aboriginal language (cited as joè), but newer sources that focus on Australian English and aboriginal languages say the origin is unknown. The Australian National Dictionary includes a sense of “young possum” with citations predating the earliest “young kangaroo” citations.

"Visit in two days though," said Tommo. "Hang in there mate, got a joey coming, we'll be sweet then."

2012, John Hoskison, Inside: One Man's Experience of Prison:

(UK, Ireland, prison slang) A parcel smuggled in to an inmate.


joey

(UK, military, slang) A member of the Royal Marines.


joey

From British TV personality Joey Deacon (1920–1981), who was the focus of Blue Peter's 1981 charity campaign. The programme was aimed at children, who then picked the term up and used it as an insult.

(dated, slang, derogatory, offensive in British) A person with cerebral palsy.

(dated, slang, derogatory, offensive in British) A stupid person.


joey

Said to have been named after Scottish politician Joseph Hume (1777–1855).

a joey of brandy

(UK, slang, obsolete) A fourpenny piece, or its value; fourpence worth.


pee

Spelling of the abbreviation p of pence.

I bought these carrots for fifty pee.

I can't afford that — I'm one pee short.

(British, Ireland, colloquial) Pence; penny (a quantity of money)


sauce

en-noun

sauce (countable and uncountable, plural sauces)

sauces (plural)
sawce (alternative obsolete)

→ Japanese: ソース

→ Scottish Gaelic: sabhs

PIE word
 *séh₂ls
From Middle English sauce, from Old French sause, from Vulgar Latin *salsa, noun use of the feminine of Latin salsus (“salted”), past participle of saliō (“I salt”), from sal. Doublet of salsa.
For the meaning development compare Ancient Greek ἥδυσμα (hḗdusma) ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swéh₂dus (whence also English sweet).

source (non-rhotic, horse–hoarse merger)

what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander

[meat] pie and [tomato] sauce

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, India) Tomato sauce (similar to US tomato ketchup), as in:

Roots, herbs, vine fruits, and salad flowers […] they dish up various ways, and find them very delicious sauce to their meats, both roasted and boiled, fresh and salt.

1705, Robert Beverley, The History of Virginia:

The first night of our expedition, we boiled our meat; and I asked the landlady for a little sauce, she told me to go to the garden and take as much cabbage as I pleased, and that, boiled with the meat, was all we could eat.

1830, Joseph Plumb Martin, “Ch. VIII”, in A Narrative of Some of the Adventures, Dangers and Sufferings of a Revolutionary Soldier:

(obsolete, UK, US, dialect) Any garden vegetables eaten with meat.


peg

From Middle English pegge, from Middle Dutch pegge (“pin, peg”), from Old Dutch *pigg-, *pegg-, from Proto-Germanic *pig-, *pag- (“peg, stake”), from Proto-Indo-European *bak-, *baḱ- (“club, pointed stick, peg”). Cognate with Dutch dialectal peg (“pin”), Low German pig, pigge (“peg, stick with a point”), Low German pegel (“post, stake”), Swedish pigg (“tooth, spike”), Danish pig (“spike”), Norwegian Bokmål pigg (“spike”), Irish bac (“stick, crook”), Latin baculum (“staff”), Latvian bakstît (“to poke”), Ancient Greek βάκτρον (báktron, “staff, walking stick”). Related to beak.
This is one of the very few English words that begin with a p and come from Proto-Germanic. Proto-Germanic *p, when not in a consonant cluster beginning with *s, developed by Grimm's law from the Proto-Indo-European consonant *b, which was very rare.
(To indicate or ascribe an attribute to):: Assumed to originate from the use of pegs or pins as markers on a bulletin board or a list.

sense

This over, the club will be visited for a "peg," Anglice drink.

1898, unknown author, Harper's Magazine:

The name had come to mean any aromatic essence of herbs by the time the first thirsty colonial poured a peg of Who-shot-John into his mint water.

1953, S. S. Field, The American drink book, page 65:

(UK) A small quantity of a strong alcoholic beverage.

didalet

a small quantity of a strong alcoholic beverage

The price of a case (five shillings piece bad) from the smasher is about one shilling; an alderman (two and sixpence) about sixpence; a peg (shilling) about threepence; a downer or sprat (sixpence) about twopence.

1859, Snowden's magistrates assistant, page 90:


peg

en-verb

peg (third-person singular simple present pegs, present participle pegging, simple past and past participle pegged)

pegs (present singular third-person)
pegging (participle present)
pegged (participle past)
pegged (past)

I was pegging a hack when the horse started limping. I got down to see if he'd picked up a stone and he lashed out at me.

2014, Robert Newman, The Case of the Somerville Secret:

(UK, slang, obsolete, transitive) To drive (a hackney carriage).


geography

en-noun

geography (countable and uncountable, plural geographies)

⇒ Malay: geografi

/dʒiˈɒɡɹəfi/

/d͡ʒiˈɑɡɹəfi/

From Middle French géographie, from Latin geōgraphia, from Ancient Greek γεωγραφία (geōgraphía, “a description of the earth”), from γῆ (gê, “earth”) + γράφω (gráphō, “write”).
Use in reference to lavatories derives from the mid-20th century euphemism "show one the geography of the house" in reference to pointing out the toilets.

uder

The physical arrangement of any place, particularly (UK, slang) a house.

The Business Man Jocular: ‘I say, where's the geography, old son?’

1967 December 21, The Listener, page 802:

(chiefly upper-class UK, euphemistic) The lavatory: a room used for urination and defecation.


gig

The noun is derived from Middle English gigg, gigge, gygge (“spinning object; a top”); further origin uncertain, possibly:
* from Old Norse [Term?] (compare Danish gig (“a top”), dialectal Norwegian giga (“to shake about”)), from Proto-Germanic *gīganą (“to move, wish, desire”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeyǵʰ-, *gʰeygʰ- (“to yawn, gape, long for, desire”); or
* ultimately onomatopoeic.
Senses 2–4 are thought to derive from sense 1 (“whipping-top”), but their exact relationship is unclear.
The verb is derived from the noun.

(chiefly British, school slang (Eton College), archaic or dialectal) A person with an odd appearance; also, a foolish person.

Such was his toil, when one night coming home, / Such swell uncivil, who'd been out to roam / In search of lark, or some delicious gig / The mind delights in, when 'tis in prime twig,—

1820, Richard Ranger, “Randall; a Fragment. With Notes”, in Jack Randall’s Diary of Proceedings at the House of Call for Genius. […], London: […] [J. Brettell] for W[illiam] Simpkin and R[ichard] Marshall, […], →OCLC, page 62:

(slang, archaic or British, dialectal) Fun; frolics.

Senses relating to enjoyment.
Fun; frolics.


leer

leers (plural)
lyre (alternative)
lire (alternative)
lere (alternative)

From Middle English ler, leor (“face, cheek”), from Old English hlēor (“face, cheek, profile”), from Proto-West Germanic *hleuʀ, from Proto-Germanic *hleuzą (“ear, cheek”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlews- (“temple of the forehead, cheek”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlew- (“to hear”). Cognate with Scots lire, lere (“face, appearance, complexion”), Dutch lier (“cheek”), Swedish lyra (“pout”), Norwegian lia (“hillside”), Icelandic hlýr (“the face, cheek, countenance”). Related to Old English hlyst (“sense of hearing, listening”) and hlysnan (“to listen”). More at list, listen.


leer

en-adj

leer (comparative more leer, superlative most leer)

more leer (comparative)
most leer (superlative)
lear (alternative)

From Middle English lere, from Old English ġelǣr, *lǣre (“empty, void, empty-handed”), from Proto-Germanic *lēziz, *lēzijaz (“empty”), from Proto-Indo-European *les- (“to collect, pick”). Cognate with Dutch laar (“a clearing in the woods”), German leer (“empty”). Related to Old English lesan (“to gather, collect”). More at lease.


leger

en-verb

leger (third-person singular simple present legers, present participle legering, simple past and past participle legered)

legers (present singular third-person)
legering (participle present)
legered (participle past)
legered (past)

/ˈlɛd͡ʒə(ɹ)/

Night-lines are made of water-cord, with the hooks about half-a-yard apart, baited with worms, loach, gudgeons, &c.; a brick is fastened to each end of the line to sink it, or a peg at one end and a brick at the other, and laid obliquely across the stream. They are also often taken when Legering for Barbel, […]

1864, “Otter” [pseudonym; H. Jervis Alfred], “Eel, Lamprey and Lampern”, in The Modern Angler, Containing Instructions in the Art of Fly-fishing, Spining and Bottom-fishing, […], London: Alfred & Son, […], →OCLC, part I, page 68:

Messrs. E. Frost and Tomkins, at Monkey Island, in two days, caught 80 lbs. weight of chub, dace, and roach with the fly and cheese paste, and in legering a trout of 2¼ lbs.

1878, “The Fishing Season”, in Once a Week, volume VIII (Fourth Series), London: Published at the offices, 19, Tavistock Street, W.C., →OCLC, page 95, column 1:

The added advantage of legering a small bait rather than freelining one is that you can tighten up harder to the bait and so spot runs earlier.

1997, Paul Gustafson, “Rigs”, in How to Catch Bigger Pike from Rivers, Lochs and Lakes, London: Collins Willow, HarperCollins Publishers, →ISBN; republished as How to Catch Big Pike: All the Insight and Technique You Need to Catch Bigger Pike, whatever the Location, London: Robinson, an imprint of Little, Brown Book Group, 2016, →ISBN, page 160:

The flounder spends its life between the tideline and the 25 to 30 fathoms mark, but they are often caught several miles upstream in freshwater rivers by anglers legering worms or gentles.

1998, Martin James, “Flounder”, in Paul Morgan, editor, Saltwater Flyfishing: Britain and Northern Europe, Machynlleth, Powys: Coch-y-Bonddu Books, published 2006, →ISBN, page 156:

(ambitransitive, British, fishing) Alternative form of ledger (“to use (a certain type of bait) in bottom fishing; to engage in bottom fishing”).


gel

Imitative of upper-class British pronunciation of girl.

"Now pray don't be troublesome, my dear gel," said Uncle Andrew.

1955, C[live] S[taples] Lewis, The Magician’s Nephew, London: The Bodley Head, →OCLC:


jam

en-noun

jam (countable and uncountable, plural jams)

→ Armenian: ջեմ (ǰem)

→ Azerbaijani: cem

→ Belarusian: джэм (džem)

→ Bengali: জ্যাম (jêm)

→ Bulgarian: джем (džem)

→ Cantonese: 占 (zim1, zem1)

→ Czech: džem

→ Dutch: jam

→ Estonian: džemm

→ Finnish: jamit

→ French: jam

→ Georgian: ჯემი (ǯemi)

→ Hindi: जाम (jām)

→ Japanese: ジャム (jamu)

→ Kazakh: джем (djem)

→ Korean: 잼 (jaem)

→ Kyrgyz: джем (djem)

→ Macedonian: џем (džem)

→ Malay: jem

→ Polish: dżem

→ Romanian: gem

→ Russian: джем (džem)

→ Saanich: ĆÁM

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Latin script: džȅm

Cyrillic script: џе̏м

→ Sinhalese: ජෑම් (jǣm)

→ Slovak: džem

→ Swahili: jemu

→ Swedish: jam

→ Tajik: джем (džem)

→ Thai: แยม (yɛɛm)

→ Ukrainian: джем (džem)

→ Urdu: جام (jām)

→ Welsh: jam

First attested in the early 18th c. as a verb meaning “to press, be pressed, be wedged in”. Compare dialectal jammock (“to press, squeeze, crush into a soft mass, chew food"; also "a soft, pulpy substance”). Perhaps from Middle English chammen, champen ("to bite upon something, gnash the teeth"; whence modern champ, chomp), of uncertain origin; probably originally onomatopoeic.
The "performance" sense is first attested with regards to jazz in 1929, and its origin, though uncertain, is likely metaphorical, "something sweet made by the combination of many things", with influence from jamboree.

onomatopoeic

onomatopoeic

He's got more jam than Waitrose.


dandy

→ Dutch: dandy

→ Esperanto: dando

→ Finnish: dandy

→ French: dandy, → French: dundee

→ German: Dandy

desc

→ Japanese: ダンディ, ダンディー

→ Japanese: ダンディ, ダンディー

→ Limburgish: dèndie

→ Polish: dandy

→ Spanish: dandy

Borrowed from Scots dandy (“a fop; one who is well-dressed”). Of uncertain origin.
Possibly from Dandy, a diminutive of Andrew, yet the Scots word is used also in reference to women. Alternatively, possibly a back-formation of Scots dandilly, dandillie (“one who is spoiled or pampered; a "pet"”). Compare English dandle and dander.

bor

(British, nautical) A yawl, or a small after-sail on a yawl.

Somebody quite as notorious as Brummell, but whose follies have been far more mischievous; whose eloquence is great, but certainly not always refined; and to whose health many a dandy of whisky has been tossed off.

1844, William Jesse, The life of George Brummell, page 57:

(UK, Ireland, slang, archaic) A small glass of whisky.


toss

From Middle English tossen (“to buffet about, agitate, toss; to sift or winnow”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Old Norse (compare dialectal Norwegian tossa, dialectal Swedish tossa (“to strew, spread”)), or perhaps from an alteration of Middle English tosen (“to tease, pull apart, shred; to wound, injure”). Compare also Dutch tassen (“to pile or heap up, stack”).
The Welsh tos (“a quick jerk”) and tosio (“to jerk, toss”) are probably borrowed from the English.

cog

Then I look again at this message. What a load of toss.

2012 February 16, Sean Thomas, Millions of Women are Waiting to Meet You: A Story of Life, Love and Internet Dating, A&C Black, →ISBN, page 101:

'You were,' John said, with infinite love, 'talking such absolute toss.'

2018 June 28, Caitlin Moran, How to be Famous, Random House, →ISBN:

I always thought that the breathing thing was a load of toss, but it helped calm me big time.

2019 September 5, Brian Conaghan, The M Word, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN:

And Uncle Frank is having a wank, And Auntie Floss is having a toss, With Grandad.

1983, N. G. N. Kelsey, quoting an anonymous playground song, Games, Rhymes, and Wordplay of London Children, Springer, published 2019, →ISBN, page 436:

This girl was a wank, a toss, something to be used over and over again, even when she was a pensioner; the pictures would be around till the next millennium.

2008 September 4, Martina Cole, Faces: A chilling thriller of loyalty and betrayal, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

Men don't chat about having a toss. We just don't. It's not comfortable.

2017 March 23, Mark Nethercote, A Time for Grace, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:


toss

en-verb

toss (third-person singular simple present tosses, present participle tossing, simple past and past participle tossed or (obsolete) tost)

tosses (present singular third-person)
tossing (participle present)
tossed (participle past)
tossed (past)
tost (obsolete participle past)
tost (obsolete past)

Their modest stole, to garish looser weed,
 Deck'd with love-favours their late whoredoms' meed:
 And where they wont sip of the simple flood,
 Now toss they bowls of Bacchus' boiling blood,

1597, Joseph Hall, “Satire II”, in Satires, Chiswick: C. Whittingham, published 1824, page 7:

Why, forſooth, an you think ſo, you had beſt go to bed. For my part, I mean to toſs a Can, and remember my Sweet-Heart, afore I turn in; may-hap I may dream of her.

1695, [William] Congreve, Love for Love: A Comedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act III, scene xv, page 54:

(UK, slang) To drink in large draughts; to gulp.


apple pie

en-noun

apple pie (countable and uncountable, plural apple pies)

apple pies (plural)
apple-pie (alternative)

[ˌæp.ɫ̩ˈpaɪ]

/ˌæp.əlˈpɑɪ/

[ˌæp.ɫ̩ˈpɑɪ]

(dialectal, UK) Any of various willowherbs.


jam sandwich

(UK, Ireland, slang) (from the common UK colour scheme of white with a red reflective horizontal band) A police car.


on sale

In 1866 Colonel J. F. Meline noted that the rebozo had almost disappeared in Santa Fe and that hoop skirts, on sale in the stores, were being widely used.

1948, Carey McWilliams, North from Mexico / The Spanish-Speaking People of The United States, J. B. Lippincott Company, page 75:

(British, Australia) Available for purchase.


wanker

tlb

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang, vulgar)

wankers (plural)
w****r (alternative)
w**ker (alternative)

merchant banker Rhyming slang often contracted as in He is a right merchant

Someone who shows off too much, a poser or poseur; someone who is overly self-satisfied.


wanker

UK 1890s. From stwanker, from stinker. Used at Felsted School, Essex.

My name it is "wanker";
 a leaner or lanker,
 Salter or ranker,
 fish never swam.

He sniffs. "'Eugh, wankers again."

(obsolete, British, school slang) A salted, and lightly smoked herring or mackerel; a bloater.


cricket

→ Afrikaans: krieket

→ Albanian: kriket

→ Arabic: الكريكت (al krīkit)

→ Assamese: ক্ৰিকেট (kriket)

→ Burmese: ကရစ်ကက် (ka.rackak)

→ Catalan: criquet

→ Czech: kriket

→ Danish: kricket, cricket

→ Dutch: cricket

→ French: cricket

→ Galician: crícket

→ German: Cricket

→ Greek: κρίκετ (kríket)

desc

→ Hebrew: קְרִיקֶט

→ Hebrew: קְרִיקֶט

→ Hindi: क्रिकेट (krikeṭ)

→ Hungarian: krikett

→ Icelandic: krikket

→ Irish: cruicéad

→ Italian: cricket

→ Japanese: クリケット (kuriketto)

→ Korean: 크리켓 (keuriket)

→ Malay: kriket

→ Maori: kirikiti

→ Pashto: کرکټ (krikiṭ)

→ Persian: کریکت (krekit)

→ Polish: krykiet

→ Portuguese: críquete

→ Russian: кри́кет (kríket) (see there for further descendants)

→ Scottish Gaelic: criogaid

→ Serbo-Croatian: krìket, крѝкет

→ Spanish: críquet, cricket

→ Swahili: kriketi

→ Swedish: cricket

→ Thai: คริกเก็ต (krík-gèt)

→ Urdu: کرکٹ (krikiṭ)

→ Welsh: criced

Perhaps from a Flemish dialect of Dutch met de krik ketsen (“to chase a ball with a curved stick”).

der

Robbins went on, "Henry wouldn't do anything that wasn't cricket. Me, I was raised in a river ward and I'm not bothered by niceties. […]

1954, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, volume 7, page 81:

(chiefly British, chiefly in the negative) An act that is fair and sportsmanlike.


stove

→ Japanese: ストーブ (sutōbu)

From Middle Dutch stove and/or Middle Low German stove (compare Dutch stoof, German Low German Stuve, Stuuv), both from Proto-West Germanic *stubu, *stubō, from Proto-Germanic *stubō (“room, living room, heated room”), further origin uncertain. Cognate with Old English stofa (“bathroom, bathhouse”), stufbæþ (“hot-air bath”), Old High German stuba (whence German Stube), Old Norse stofa (whence Icelandic stofa (“living room”), Norwegian stove, Danish and Norwegian stue and Swedish stuga). The Germanic words are very old, and are the source of the Slavic and Romance terms. It is often speculated that the Germanic terms were borrowed from Vulgar Latin *extūfa, *extūfāre (“to heat with steam”), from Latin ex- + *tūfus (“hot vapor”), from Ancient Greek τῦφος (tûphos, “fever”).
Doublet of stufa.

cog

There existed only one specimen of this sacred tree in all Mexico, at least to the knowledge of the Mexicans; […] In spite, however, of the firmest convictions of the indivisibility of this tree — the Manitas, as it is commonly called — it has been propagated by cuttings, some of which are at this moment thriving in some of the larger stoves of our modern collectors.

1850, M. A. Burnett, Plantae utiliores: or illustrations of useful plants, employed in the arts and medicine, part 8:

Let but these facts lie contrasted with the treatment they usually receive in the stoves of this country, and the reason why they never grow to any considerable size, attain to any degree of perfection, or flourish to any extent […]

1854, The Horticultural Review and Botanical Magazine, volume 4, page 208:

(chiefly UK) A hothouse (heated greenhouse).


ken

Ben mort, shall you and I heave a bough, mill a ken, or nip a bung, and then we'll couch a hogshead under the ruffmans, and there you shall wap with me, and I'll niggle with you.

1611, Thomas Middleton, “The Roaring Girl”, in Arthur Henry Bullen, editor, The Works of Thomas Middleton, volume 4, published 1885, act 5, scene 1, pages 128–129:

Ah, Bess, my covess, strike me blind if my sees don't tout your bingo muns in spite of the darkmans. Egad, you carry a bene blink aloft. Come to the ken alone—no! my blowen; did not I tell you I should bring a pater cove, to chop up the whiners for Dawson?

1828, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Pelham: or The Adventures of a Gentleman, page 383:

Up she goes to any likely ken, where she knows there are women that are married or expect to get married, and commences begging.

1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, volume 1, page 351:

(slang, UK, obsolete, thieves' cant) A house, especially a den of thieves.


den

From Middle English den, from Old English denn (“den, lair (of a beast), cave; a swine-pasture, a woodland pasture for swine”), from Proto-West Germanic *dani (“threshing-floor, barn-floor”). Cognate with Scots den (“den, lair”), Middle Dutch denne (“burrow, den, cave, attic”), Dutch den (“ship's deck, threshing-floor, mountain floor”), Middle Low German denne, danne (“threshing-floor, small dale”), German Tenne (“threshing-floor, barn for threshing”).

cog

I have made several visits of late to the Den of Rubislaw

1806, Sir William Forbes, An Account of the Life and Writings of James Beattie, LL.D., including many of his Original Letters:

(UK, Scotland, obsolete) A narrow glen; a ravine; a dell.


up

down

antonym(s) of “away from the centre of the Earth”

down

antonym(s) of “towards the principal terminus”

From Middle English up, from Old English upp, from Proto-Germanic *upp, see more there.

She's going up to read Classics this September.

The son of the Dean of Lichfield was only three years older than Steele, who was a lad of only twelve, when at the age of fifteen, Addison went up to Oxford.

1867, John Timbs, Lives of wits and humourists, page 125:

Others insinuated that women 'crowded up to Cambridge', not for the benefits of a higher education, but because of the proximity of 2,000 young men.

1998, Rita McWilliams Tullberg, Women at Cambridge, page 112:

A precocious mathematician, Babbage was already well versed in the Continental mathematical notations when he went up to Cambridge.

2002, Peter Harman, Cambridge Scientific Minds, page 79:

Indicating movement in any other direction visualised as "up".

(UK, academia, dated) To university, especially to Cambridge or Oxford.


up

down

antonym(s) of “traveling towards a major terminus”

When I was up (1965–68) I had a group of idle friends who occupied their time and mine betting on horses, getting drunk and sprawling about telling creepy tales.

2002, Philip Pullman, “Dreaming of Spires”, in Daemon Voices, Vintage, published 2017, page 98:

(UK, dated) At university (especially Oxford or Cambridge).


alright

→ Afrikaans: ôraait

→ Dutch: olrijt

→ Norwegian: ålreit

[ɒː(ɫ)ˈɹəi̯t]

Univerbation from all + right. Compare Old English eallriht (“all-right, just, exactly”) (from eall + riht), equivalent to al- (“all”) + right.

aight (alternative)
alrite (alternative informal)
awright (alternative pronunciation-spelling)
oright (alternative pronunciation-spelling)
o-rite (alternative pronunciation-spelling)
orite (alternative pronunciation-spelling)

(UK, informal) A generic greeting; hello; how are you.


Oxbridge

On the previous night he had taken the manuscript out of a long neglected chest, containing old shooting jackets, old Oxbridge scribbling books, his old surplice, and battered cap and gown, and other memorials of youth, school, and home.

1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter III, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume II, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC:

"Of course she is clever," said Mrs. Pope. "Or we shouldn't have sent her to Oxbridge. There she's doing quite well—quite well. Everyone says so. I don't know, of course, if Mr. Magnet will let her finish there."

1912, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, Marriage, London: Macmillan and Co., Limited […], →OCLC, book the first (Marjorie Marries), page 152:

In another, he says: “Why has the BBC allowed the format of this programme to treat all other universities in the UK apart from Oxbridge as second class?”

2023 March 26, Matthew Weaver, “BBC rejects charge of elitist Oxbridge bias in University Challenge”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(UK, education) The University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge collectively.


tape

en-noun

tape (countable and uncountable, plural tapes)

→ Danish: tape

→ Dutch: tape

→ Hausa: têf

→ Hindi: टेप (ṭep)

→ Irish: téip

→ Japanese: テープ (tēpu)

→ Korean: 테이프 (teipeu)

→ Norwegian:

Bokmål: tape, teip

Nynorsk: tape, teip

→ Spanish: teipe

→ Swahili: tepe, tepu

→ Swedish: tape, tejp

→ Thai: เทป (téep)

→ Tibetan: ཊེབ (ṭeb)

→ Turkish: teyp

→ Urdu:

→ Phalura: ṭeép

→ Welsh: tâp

From Middle English tape, tappe, from Old English tæppa, tæppe (“ribbon, tape”); further origin unclear. Probably akin to Old Frisian tapia (“to pull, rip, tear”), Middle Low German tappen, tāpen (“to grab, pull, rip, tear, snatch”), Middle High German zāfen, zāven (“to pull, tear”).

cog

white tape, Holland tape, blue tape (gin); red tape (brandy or wine)

Madam Gin has been christened by as many names as a German princess : every petty chandler's shop will sell you Sky-blue, and every night-cellar furnish you with Holland tape, three yards a penny. Nor can I see the difference […]

1827 (originally 1755?), Connoisseur, page=223

[…] who is now puffing his pipe and sipping his grog, as unconcerned as a Dutch fiddler at a merry-making, has no business here selling his cheese and candles in the day-time, and his yards of tape in the evening: […] and now then for the tape-shop. […]

1817, The White Dwarf: A London Weekly Publication, page 222:

A tumbler of blue ruin fill, fill for me! / Red tape those as likes it may drain, / But whatever the lush, it a bumper must be. / […] / Oh! those jovial days are ne'er forgot! But the tape lags—When I be's dead, you'll drink one put To poor old Bags!

1830, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], Paul Clifford. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC:

(possible, obsolete, UK, slang) Liquor, alcoholic drink, especially gin or brandy. (Especially in prison slang or among domestic servants and women.)


lire

From Middle English lire, lyre, from Old English līra (“any fleshy part of the body, muscle, calf of the leg”), from Proto-Germanic *ligwizô, *lihwizô (“thigh, groin”), from Proto-Indo-European *lekʷs-, *lewks- (“groin”). Cognate with Dutch lies (“groin”), Swedish lår (“thigh”).

inh

(UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) Flesh, brawn, or muscle; the fleshy part of a person or animal in contradistinction to the bone and skin.

(UK dialectal, Scotland) The fleshy part of a roast capon, etc. as distinguished from a limb or joint.


lire

From Middle English lire, lyre, from Old Norse hlýr (“cheeks”, plural). Compare Middle English lere, from Old English hlēor (“cheek, countenance, complexion”). More at leer.

cog

(UK dialectal, Scotland) Face; appearance of the face or skin; complexion; hue.


lire

From Old Norse líri. Cognate with Norwegian lira.

(UK dialectal, Scotland, Orkney, Shetland, ornithology) The Manx shearwater (bird).


fairy

en-noun

fairy (countable and uncountable, plural fairies)

fairies (plural)
faery (alternative)
faëry (alternative)
faerie (alternative)
faërie (alternative)
færie (alternative archaic nonstandard)
fairie (alternative)

From Middle English faierie, fairie, from Old French faerie, from fae + -erie, from Latin fāta (“goddess of fate”). Equivalent to fay + -ry. Attested in English from about 1330, in King Alisaunder, first in the sense of "enchantment, illusion, dream" ("that thou herdest is fairye") and shortly thereafter "realm of the fays, fairy-land" and "the inhabitants of fairyland, collectively". The re-interpretation of the term as a countable noun denoting individual inhabitants of fairy-land can be traced to the 1390s, but became common only in the 16th century, perhaps due to reinterpreting phrases like faerie knight.

"When are we going to see this fairy?" demanded Algy.
"You, personally, never. You're far too immoral. I might let the others look at her from a distance in a year or two."

1920, H. C. McNeile "Snapper", 'Bulldog Drummond':

As she took out her key she was quite unaware that three pairs of eyes were watching her with interest from across the street. [...]
‘Strewth–’e ain’t ‘arf got a fairy this time,’ remarked the husky Mr. Clegg.

1942, Dennis Wheatley, 'Gunmen, Gallants and Ghosts':

(British, obsolete, colloquial) An attractive young woman.


candy floss

candy floss (usually uncountable, plural candy flosses)

(UK, Ireland) Heated sugar spun into thin threads and collected into a mass, usually on a stick.


neg

en-verb

neg (third-person singular simple present negs, present participle negging, simple past and past participle negged)

negs (present singular third-person)
negging (participle present)
negged (participle past)
negged (past)

(slang, British) To annoy or irritate deliberately.


adder

adders (plural)
edder (alternative dialectal)

From Middle English nadder, addere, rebracketing of “a naddere” as “an addere”, from Old English nǣdre (“snake”), from Proto-West Germanic *nadrā, from Proto-Germanic *nadrǭ, from pre-Germanic *néh₁treh₂, variant of Proto-Indo-European *n̥h₁trih₂, from *(s)neh₁- (“to spin, twist”).
See also West Frisian njirre, Dutch adder, German Natter, Otter; also Welsh neidr, Latin natrīx (“watersnake”), Dutch naaien.

Entirely filled with the image of another, her heart, indeed, had the deaf ear of the adder, which heedeth not the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely.

1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXX, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 245:

These include the county's [Cumbria's] only venomous snake - the adder - which relies on exposed elements to successfully breed its young.

2021 August 25, Nick Brodrick, “Flourishing Flora and Fauna”, in RAIL, number 938, page 51:

A name loosely applied to various snakes more or less resembling a viper.

(chiefly British) A small venomous serpent of the genus Vipera

common European adder
common European adder


imp

From Middle English impe, ympe (“tree branch; shoot, sprig; graft, scion; young tree, sapling, seedling; tree”) [and other forms], from Old English impa, impe (“shoot, sprig; graft, scion; young tree, sapling, seedling”), from impian, ġeimpian (“to graft”) (see etymology 1).

(British, colloquial) A supporter (or less commonly, a player) of the Lincoln City Football Club.

(British, dialectal) Something added to or united with another to lengthen it out or repair it (such as an eke or small stand on which a beehive is placed, or a length of twisted hair in a fishing line).


snug

From dialectal English snug (“tight, handsome”), perhaps from Old Norse snøggr, from Proto-Germanic *snawwuz (“short, quick, fast”). Compare Icelandic snöggur (“smooth”), Danish snög (“neat”), Swedish snygg (“handsome, nice-looking”).

cog

(British) A small, comfortable back room in a pub.


administration

en-noun

administration (usually uncountable, plural administrations)

/ədˌmɪnəˈstɹeɪʃən/

From Middle English administracioun, from Old French administration, from Latin administratio, from administrare; see administer; compare French administration.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The company went into voluntary administration last week.

The other ambitions, and much of Prescott's plan, foundered just south of Hatfield that October, when a GNER express derailed on a shattered rail […], plunging the railway into a crisis that led to private track owner Railtrack being put into administration.

2024 September 4, Philip Haigh, “Can public-private partnerships be made to deliver?”, in RAIL, number 1017, page 52:

(uncountable, law, UK) An arrangement whereby an insolvent company can continue trading under supervision.


admission

admission (countable and uncountable, plural admissions)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Mélange a trois-admission.wav

Borrowed from Latin admissio, admissionis; compare French admission. See admit.

(British, ecclesiastical law) Declaration of the bishop that he approves of the presentee as a fit person to serve the cure of the church to which he is presented.


adrift

en-adj

adrift (comparative more adrift, superlative most adrift)

more adrift (comparative)
most adrift (superlative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-adrift.wav

The team were six points adrift of their rivals.

The Czech Republic in 1994-95, with a pegged nominal exchange rate and nominal deposit rates of 7 percent, was several percentage points adrift of the interest parity condition.

1996, David H. Begg, Monetary Policy in Central and Eastern Europe: Lessons After Half a Decade, International Monetary Fund, →ISBN:

He did well, coming second, but Toyota and Mitsubishi were now neck-and-neck, with the Subaru team 38 points adrift of the leaders.

2006, Brian Long, Subaru Impreza: The Road Car & WRC Story, →ISBN, page 56:

Boro were left needing snookers after a toothless goalless draw with Dead Men Walking Doncaster left them well adrift and fading in the chase for a Championship play-off place.

2012 April 18, Anthony Vickers, “Boro 0 Doncaster Rovers 0”, in The Evening Gazette (Teesside):

Brendan Rodgers's team moved into the top 10 in the Premier League table, but they are nine points adrift of West Ham in fourth place, while Arsenal are sixth.

2014 December 21, Phil McNulty, “Liverpool 2 - 2 Arsenal”, in BBC:

Treasury could also ask why High Speed 2's finances are so adrift from what was promised. The answers will make for difficult DfT reading, because it can't escape the fact that it has been the government department overseeing rail spending for the past 20 years.

2024 September 4, Philip Haigh, “Can public-private partnerships be made to deliver?”, in RAIL, number 1017, page 53:

(chiefly UK, often with of) Behind one's opponents, or below a required threshold in terms of score, number or position.


admittance

en-noun

admittance (countable and uncountable, plural admittances)

admittances (plural)
admittaunce (alternative)

(British, law) The act of giving possession of a copyhold estate.


advert

This was a wonderful advert for the Premier League, with both Chelsea and United intent on all-out attack - but Ferguson will be concerned at how his side lost their way after imperiously controlling much of the first period.

2011 March 1, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 2 - 1 Man Utd”, in BBC:

When I was writing my 'Tube Talk' column, a man sent me a letter complaining about the advertisement of cars on the Underground. Why would the Underground masochistically promote a rival transport mode? The answer, I discovered, was that the adverts on the network must not 'harm the brand', and a car advert per se was not deemed to do that. However, a car advert that said 'Why are you using this horrible Tube when you could be driving one of our lovely cars?' would not be allowed.

2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 41:

In America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year. Yet of those who received unsolicited adverts through the post, only 3% bought anything as a result.

2013 May 25, “No hiding place”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8837, page 74:

(British, informal) An advertisement, an ad.


shackle

From Middle English shakel, schakkyl, schakle (“a fetter, shackle; coupling used to connect a plough or wagon to a draft chain”), from Old English sċacul, sċeacel, sċeacul (“fetter, shackle”), from Proto-West Germanic *skakul, from Proto-Germanic *skakulaz (“shackle”), possibly from *skakaną (“to shake; to swing; to escape”), from Proto-Indo-European *skeg-, *skek- (“to shake; to stir”). However, this is doubted by the Oxford English Dictionary because *skeg-, *skek- lack the meaning of attaching or fastening.
Sense 3 (“length of cable or chain equal to 12½ or 15 fathoms”) derives from the original distance between two shackles (sense 1.1.2) connecting lengths of cable or chain together.
Cognates
* Danish skagle (“carriage trace”)
* Dutch schakel (“clasp; link; shackle”)
* German Schäckel (“shackle”)
* Icelandic skökull (“carriage pole”)
* Swedish skakel (“loose shaft of a carriage”)

kahleet

restraint on one’s action, etc. — see also restraint

(usually in the plural) A restraint fitted over a human or animal appendage, such as an ankle, finger, or wrist, normally used in a pair joined by a chain.

(rail transport) A link for connecting railroad cars; a draglink, drawbar, or drawlink.

(Scotland, archaic) Ellipsis of shackle-bone (“wristbone, carpal; wrist”).


whey

He swayed over to the door, peered out, shouted "whey!" and came back, looking severe.

1928, Ruth Manning-Sanders, Waste Corner:

somebody who was more or less to their senses, shouted... ' Whey! ... Had on lads!' and everybody was trying to get wocken up and sorted out.

1982, Frank Entwisle, Abroad in England:

... apart from Max, who rode his pallet like a surfboard with a huge grin plastered across his face. “Wheyyyyyyy!” Max yelled with delight.

2011 September 1, Case File 12: The Case of the Messy Mucked Up Masterpiece, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

Several drunken men shouted from the corner. “Wheyyyy, showtime! Go on, go on!”

2016 December 30, Hahn Moo-Sook, The House of Pomegranate Trees, Literature Translation Institute of Korea, →ISBN:

12. Smashing a glass and the whole bar choruses "WHEYYYY".

2014 February 18, Catriona Harvey-Jenner, “25 things only bar staff will understand”, in Cosmopolitan UK:

If they don't shout "wheyyy" when you smash a glass, did it even smash?

2020 February 10, Claire Galloway, “15 things only people who have worked in an Edinburgh pub will understand”, in Edinburgh Live:

the sloshed post-work boozers all shout "Wheyyyyyyy!' at a glass that's smashed on the floor

2024 May 9, Oisín McKenna, Evenings and Weekends, HarperCollins UK, →ISBN:

(UK) Shouted when someone drops a glass or other crockery, especially in a pub.


ambulance

→ Baharna Arabic: عمبلوص (ʕambalūṣ)

→ Chichewa: ambulansi

→ Hindi: एम्बुलेंस (embulẽs)

→ Malay: ambulans

→ Swahili: ambulensi

African-American Vernacular, also Southern American English

Borrowed from French ambulance, which replaced hôpital ambulant (“moving hospital”) via the suffix -ance, from Latin ambulō (“to walk; to go about”).

EtymOnLine

Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “ambulance”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

(UK) A vehicle used for the transportation of dead people, typically to a mortuary.

(chiefly UK, obsolete) Synonym of stretcher, a litter used for medical transport.


marigold

/ˈmæɹ.ɪˌɡəʊld/

/ˈmæɹ.ɪˌɡoʊld/

/ˈmɛɹ.ɪˌɡoʊld/

From Middle English marigolde, marygoldye, from Mary (referring to the Virgin Mary) + Middle English golde (“marigold”).

compound

(UK, slang, obsolete) A million pounds sterling.


pepper

en-noun

pepper (countable and uncountable, plural peppers)

peppers (plural)
piper (alternative archaic)

Tok Pisin: pepa

→ Hawaiian: pepa

→ Marshallese: pepa

From Middle English peper, piper, from Old English piper, from Proto-West Germanic *pipar, from Latin piper, from an Indo-Aryan source; compare Sanskrit पिप्पलि (pippali, “long pepper”). The name was given to the capsicum fruit because of its unusual spicy taste, not unlike the Old World spice. Cognate with Scots pepar, Saterland Frisian Pieper, West Frisian piper, Dutch peper, German Low German Peper, German Pfeffer, Danish peber, Swedish peppar, Icelandic pipar. Doublet of falafel and peepul.

cog

en:any of various Capsicum varieties; their fruit

(UK, US, Ireland and Canada) A fruit of the capsicum plant: red, green, yellow or white, hollow and containing seeds, and in a wide range of mild (sweet, nonspicy) to hot (spicy) varieties.

болга́рский пе́рец m (bolgárskij pérec, literally “Bulgarian pepper”)


meow

en-noun

meow (countable and uncountable, plural meows)

meows (plural)
miaow (alternative UK)
miaou (alternative UK)
meaw (alternative obsolete)
meeow (alternative obsolete)

Alteration of earlier mew, from Middle English mewen, mouwen (“to mew, meow”), of onomatopoeic origin.
Compare Saterland Frisian mauje, miauje (“to meow”), West Frisian miaukje (“to meow”), Dutch miauwen (“to meow”), Middle Low German mauwen, mawen, mouwen (“to meow”) (whence modern German Low German mauen, miauen (“to meow”)), Middle High German mouen, modern German miauen (“to meow”). Some spellings were modelled on French miaou.
Meow and its spelling variants entered widespread currency in the 19th century, mostly replacing mew, possibly because phonetic change meant that word had ceased to approximate a cat's cry (contrast the pronunciation of Middle English mewen /ˈmɛu̯ən/ compared to modern /ˈmjuː/).

(UK, slang, uncountable) The drug mephedrone.


miaow

(chiefly dated) British spelling of meow.


miaow

en-verb

miaow (third-person singular simple present miaows, present participle miaowing, simple past and past participle miaowed)

miaows (present singular third-person)
miaowing (participle present)
miaowed (participle past)
miaowed (past)


roar

roar (third-person singular simple present roars, present participle roaring, simple past and past participle roared)

roars (present singular third-person)
roaring (participle present)
roared (participle past)
roared (past)

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

From Middle English roren, raren, from Old English rārian (“to roar; wail; lament”), from Proto-West Germanic *rairōn, from Proto-Germanic *rairōną (“to bellow; roar”), from Proto-Indo-European *rey- (“to shout; bellow; yell; bark”), perhaps of imitative origin.
Cognate with Saterland Frisian roorje (“to roar”), German röhren (“to roar”).

onomatopoeic

imitative

Tom, Tom, the piper's son,
Stole a pig, and away he run!
The pig was eat, and Tom was beat,
And Tom went roaring down the street.

1886, James Orchard Halliwell, “Third Class: Tales: LX”, in The Nursery Rhymes of England:

(British Yorkshire, North Midlands, informal) To cry.


grunt

en-verb

grunt (third-person singular simple present grunts, present participle grunting, simple past and past participle grunted)

grunts (present singular third-person)
grunting (participle present)
grunted (participle past)
grunted (past)

From Middle English grunten, from Old English grunnettan (“to grunt”), from Proto-West Germanic *grunnattjan, from Proto-Germanic *grunnatjaną (“to grunt”), frequentative of Proto-Germanic *grunnōną (“to grunt”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrun- (“to shout”).
Cognate with German grunzen (“to grunt”), Danish grynte (“to grunt”). The noun senses are all instances of zero derivation from the verb.

der

Who just grunted?

(intransitive, UK, slang) To break wind; to fart.


layoff

(British, soccer) A short pass that has been rolled in front of another player for them to kick.


overall

/ˌəʊvəɹˈɔːl/

From Middle English overall, overal, from Old English ofer eall, ofer ealle (“over all”), equivalent to over + all. Compare Saterland Frisian oural, uural (“everywhere”), West Frisian oeral (“everywhere”), Dutch overal (“everywhere”), German Low German overall, överall (“everywhere; all over”), German überall (“all over; everywhere”), Danish overalt (“everywhere”), Swedish överallt (“everywhere; overall”).

cog

(British) A garment worn over other clothing to protect it; a coverall or boiler suit. A garment, for manual labor or for casual wear, often made of a single piece of fabric, with long legs and a bib upper, supported from the shoulders with straps, and having several large pockets and loops for carrying tools.


overalls

/ˈoʊvəɹɔːlz/

(UK) A loose-fitting garment worn over regular clothes to protect them.

工裝褲 /工装裤

loose fitting garment worn over regular clothes to protect them

(UK, military) Trousers traditionally worn by cavalry.


cotton wool

en-noun

cotton wool (usually uncountable, plural cotton wools)

(UK) Soft, absorbent cotton for medical or cosmetic use, protective padding, etc.


agree

en-verb

agree (third-person singular simple present agrees, present participle agreeing, simple past and past participle agreed)

agrees (present singular third-person)
agreeing (participle present)
agreed (participle past)
agreed (past)

From Middle English agreen, from Old French agreer (“to accept or receive kindly”), from a gré (“favorably”), from Latin ad (“to”) + gratum (“pleasing”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷerH- (“to welcome, greet, praise”).

der

... and there, after a good while in discourse, we did agree a bargain of £5,000 with Sir Roger Cuttance for my Lord Sandwich for silk, cinnamon, ...

1666, Samuel Pepys, The Diary of Samuel Pepys, page 88:

The essential idea is that parties should enter the market, choose their contractors, set their own terms and agree a bargain.

2005, Paddy McNutt, Law, economics and antitrust: towards a new perspective, page 59:

Bishops agree sex abuse rules

2011 April 3, John Burke, The Sunday Business Post:

(transitive, UK, Ireland) To yield assent to; to approve.


agricultural

en-adj

agricultural (comparative more agricultural, superlative most agricultural)

more agricultural (comparative)
most agricultural (superlative)

/ˌæɡɹɪˈkʌltjʊəɹəl/

/ˌæɡɹɪˈkʌlt͡ʃəɹəl/

(UK, euphemistic, derogatory) Coarse or uncultured.

(UK, euphemistic, sports) Clumsy or tactless.


aid

en-noun

aid (countable and uncountable, plural aids)

aids (plural)
aide (alternative)
ayde (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English aide, eide, ayde, from Old French eide, aide, from aidier, from Latin adiūtō, adiūtāre (“to assist, help”). Cognates include Spanish ayuda, Portuguese ajuda and Italian aiuto.

der

In this parliament was granted to the king for defence against the Scots two aids and two quindecims, the which two aids did not extend over two quindecims.

2019, Julia Boffey, Henry VII's London in the Great Chronicle, page 71:

(countable, British) An historical subsidy granted to the crown by Parliament for an extraordinary purpose, such as a war effort.

bede

subsidy granted to the crown by parliament


interval

From Middle English interval, intervalle, from Old French intervalle, entreval, from Latin intervallum (“space between, interval, distance, interval of time, pause, difference; literally, space between two palisades or walls”), from inter (“between”) + vallum (“palisade, wall”).

com

(chiefly British and India) An intermission.


nun

From Middle English nonne, nunne, from Old English nunne (“nun”), from Late Latin nonna (“nun, tutor”), originally (along with masculine form nonnus (“man”)) a term of address for elderly persons, perhaps from children's speech, reminiscent of nana, like papa etc. Doublet of nonna.

onomatopoeic

children's speech

Why laſt night, as Colonel Kill'em, Sir William Weezy, Lord Frederick Foretop, and I were careleſsly ſliding the Ranelagh round, picking our teeth, after a damn'd muzzy dinner at Boodle's, who ſhould trip by but an abbeſs, well known about town, with a ſmart little nun in her ſuite.

1770, Samuel Foote, The Lame Lover, a Comedy in Three Acts. […], London: […] Paul Vaillant; and sold by P[eter] Elmsly […]; and Robinson and Roberts, […], →OCLC, Act I, page 12:

"I mean to inform you," answered the Oxonian, with a grin on his face, "that those three nymphs, who have so much dazzled your optics, are three nuns, and the plump female is Mother .... of great notoriety [...]"

1881, Pierce Egan, chapter 8, in Life in London, page 205:

John S[tephen] Farmer
w:John Stephen Farmer

W[illiam] E[rnest] Henley
w:William Ernest Henley


allotment

en-noun

allotment (countable and uncountable, plural allotments)

From Old French alotement (modern French allotement).

The fallout of this unexpected turn of events was that it was Saturday morning, the first day of the Easter holidays, before the thought of my allotment even entered my head. Goodness only knew how big my carrots were going to be by the time I got round there!

(British) A plot of land rented from the council for growing fruit and vegetables.

siirtolapuutarha

with the right to build a small cabin for summer use


chip

→ Basque: txip

→ Bulgarian: чипс (čips)

→ Catalan: xip

→ Czech: čip

→ Danish: chip, chips

→ Dutch: chip, chips

→ Ewe: tšipsid

→ Finnish: sipsi, chipsi, chips

→ French: chips

→ Galician: chip

→ Georgian: ჩიპსი (čiṗsi)

→ German: Chip

→ Greek: τσιπ (tsip), τσιπάκι (tsipáki)

desc

→ Hebrew: צִ׳יפְּס, צִ׳יפּ

→ Hebrew: צִ׳יפְּס, צִ׳יפּ (chips, chip)

→ Hijazi Arabic: تشبس (tšips, tšibs), شبس (šips, šibs)

→ Hungarian: csip, csipsz, chip, chips

→ Indonesian: cip

→ Italian: chip

→ Japanese: チップ (chippu), チップス (chippusu)

→ Khmer: ឈីប (chiip)

→ Korean: 칩 (chip), 칩스 (chipseu)

→ Latvian: čipsis

→ Macedonian: чипс (čips), чип (čip)

→ Norwegian: chips

→ Persian: چیپس (čips)

→ Polish: czip, czips, chip, chips

→ Portuguese: chipe, chip, chips

→ Romanian: chips, cip

→ Russian: чипс (čips), чип (čip)

^ → Armenian: չիպ (čʻip)

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic script: чипс, чип

Latin script: čips, čip

→ Slovene: čips

→ Spanish: chip, chips

→ Swahili: chipsi, chips

→ Swedish: chips, chipp

→ Turkish: cips, çip

→ Ukrainian: чипс (čyps), чип (čyp)

→ Welsh: tsip

→ Yiddish: טשיפּל (tshipl)

Noun from Middle English chip, chippe, from Old English ċipp (“chip; small piece of wood, shaving”), from Old English *ċippian (“to cut; hew”) – attested in Old English forċippian (“to cut off”) –, from Proto-West Germanic *kippōn (“to cut; carve; hack; chop”), from Proto-Germanic *kippōną (“to chip, chop”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵeyb- (“to split; divide; germinate; sprout”). Related to Dutch kip, keep (“notch; nick; score”), Dutch kippen (“to hatch”), German Low German kippen (“to cut; clip; trim; shorten”), German kipfen (“to chop off the tip; snip”), Old Swedish kippa (“to chop”). Compare also chop.
The formally similar Old English ċipp, ċypp, ċyp (“a beam; log; stock; post”), from Proto-Germanic *kippaz (“log; beam”) (whence Old Saxon kip (“post”), Old High German kipfa, chipfa (“axle, stave”), Old Norse keppr (“cudgel, club”)) is a different, unrelated word either borrowed from Latin cippus (“stake; pale; post”) or borrowed from the same source language as the Latin.
Verb from Middle English chippen, from Old English *ċippian (“to cut; hew”) – attested in Old English forċippian (“to cut off”) – see above.

cog

I always say the best way to judge an establishment is by its chips because if you can’t master that, what can you do?

2023 July 21, Billie Schwab Dunn, “I Tried Wetherspoons Food for the First Time-I Feared I'd Get Scurvy...”, in Daily Star:

Do you want ketchup, mustard, or mayonnaise on your chips?

Fish and chips is a traditional British dish.

(UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, archaic in Canada, usually in the plural) A deep-fried strip of potato; see also usage note at french fries.


chip

en-verb

chip (third-person singular simple present chips, present participle chipping, simple past and past participle chipped)

chips (present singular third-person)
chipping (participle present)
chipped (participle past)
chipped (past)

Everyone needs to chip in £1 for George's leaving collection.

(UK, transitive, often with "in") To contribute.


chip

‘Lloyd, I’m gonna chip.’ ‘You just got here!’ ‘I know–but I gotta chip. Got shit to do.’

2012, Zadie Smith, NW, London: Penguin Books, published 2013, →ISBN, page 109:


superficial

en-adj

superficial (comparative more superficial, superlative most superficial)

more superficial (comparative)
most superficial (superlative)

/ˌsʉː.pəˈfɪʃ.əl/

Borrowing from Late Latin superficiālis (“of or belonging to the surface”), from superficiēs (“top, surface”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix).

pintapuolinen

not thorough, concerned with the obvious or apparent

one superficial foot

(British, architecture) Denoting a quantity of a material expressed in terms of area covered rather than linear dimension or volume.


dial

The original meaning was 'sundial' and/or 'clock dial'; from Middle English diall, from Middle French dyal, from Latin diālis (“daily, concerning the day”), because of its use in telling the time of day, from Latin diēs (“day”). Compare Spanish dial and día (“day”).

ܚܘܿܓ݂ܬܵܐ

graduated, circular scale over which a needle moves

“Well, all I can say is that if yer don't take yer dial outer the road I'll bloomin' well take an' bounce a gibber off yer crust.”

1918, Norman Lindsay, The Magic Pudding, page 90:

At the sound of the old familiar voice he spun around with something of the agility of a cat on hot bricks, and I saw that his dial, usually cheerful, was contorted with anguish, as if he had swallowed a bad oyster.

1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter IX, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

Old Mona Lisa would have looked like a sour lemon beside Angel Day on the rare days she put a smile on her dial, laughing with her friends when some new man was in town.

2006, Alexis Wright, Carpentaria, Giramondo, published 2012, page 137:


shark

en-noun

shark (countable and uncountable, plural sharks)

sharks (plural)
sharke (alternative obsolete)

Shark meat
Thomas Beckington
shark
shark (moth)

From Middle English shark (used by Thomas Beckington in 1442 to refer to a kind of fish), of uncertain origin. Most likely from a semantic extension of the German-derived shark (“scoundrel”), see below. The fish was originally called a dogfish or haye in English and Middle English.
alternative theories
Some older dictionaries derived the word from Latin c(h)archarias, c(h)acharus (from Ancient Greek), but admit that "the requisite [Old French] forms intermediate between E. shark and L. carcharus are not found, and it is not certain that the name [shark] was orig. applied to the fish; it may have been first used of a greedy man".
Other older authorities speculated that the word might derive from Yucatec Maya xok (“fish”) (/ʃok/), as John Hawkins brought a specimen from the area where Mayan was spoken to England in the 1560s. However, the 1442 use rules out a New World origin for the word.

shock (non-rhotic, father-bother merger)

(UK, university slang, countable) A university student who is not a fresher that has engaged in sexual activity with a fresher; usually habitually and with multiple people.


shark

en-verb

shark (third-person singular simple present sharks, present participle sharking, simple past and past participle sharked)

sharks (present singular third-person)
sharking (participle present)
sharked (participle past)
sharked (past)

(UK, university slang) Of a university student who is not a fresher: to engage in sexual activity with a fresher, or to be at a bar or club with the general intention of engaging in such activity.


blog

blog (third-person singular simple present blogs, present participle blogging, simple past and past participle blogged)

blogs (present singular third-person)
blogging (participle present)
blogged (participle past)
blogged (past)

(British, slang) To blag, to steal something; to acquire something illegally.


public

en-adj

public (comparative more public, superlative most public)

more public (comparative)
most public (superlative)
publick (alternative)
publicke (alternative)
publike (alternative)
publique (alternative)

The adjective and noun are derived from Late Middle English publik, publike (“(adjective) generally observable, public; relating to the general public or public affairs; (noun) a generally observable place or situation”), from Anglo-Norman public, publik, publique, Middle French public, publique, and Old French public (“(adjective) generally observable, public; relating to the general public; official; (noun) community or its members collectively; nation, state; audience, spectators collectively”) (modern French public, publique (obsolete)); and from their etymon Latin pūblicus (“of or belonging to the community, people, or state; general, public”), an alteration of poplicus (influenced by pūbēs (“adult men; male population”)), from poplus (“community; the people, public; nation, state”) (later populus; from Proto-Italic *poplos (“army”); further origin uncertain, possibly from Etruscan or from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- (“to fill”)) + -icus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’). Doublet of people.
The Middle English word displaced native Old English ceorlfolc and folclic.
The verb is derived from the adjective.

publik

open to all members of a community, as opposed to only a segment of it

nobody ever went broke underestimating the good taste of the American public

nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public

nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public

no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public

no one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public

I meruailled, why himſelf [Niccolò Leoniceno] did not practiſe Phiſike of whiche facultee he was a Doctour, and a publique reader: I auaile moche more, ſaieth he, in that I teach all thother Phiſiciãs [physicians].

1564 February, Erasmus, “The Saiynges of Socrates”, in Nicolas Udall [i.e., Nicholas Udall], transl., Apophthegmes, that is to Saie, Prompte, Quicke, Wittie and Sentẽcious Saiynges, […], London: […] Ihon Kingston, →OCLC, book I, folio 4, recto, paragraph 11:

(UK, education, chiefly historical) In some older universities in the United Kingdom: open or pertaining to the whole university, as opposed to a constituent college or an individual staff member or student.


private

en-adj

private (comparative more private, superlative most private)

more private (comparative)
most private (superlative)

→ Punjabi: ਪ੍ਰਾਈਵੇਟ (prāīveṭ)

→ Welsh: preifat

[ˈpʰɹaɪ̯vɪt]

[ˈpʰɹaɪ̯vɪt]

[ˈpʰɹɑɪ̯vɪt]

[ˈpʰɹaɪ̯vət̞]

[ˈpʰɹəɪ̯və(ʔ)]

[ˈpʰɾəɪ̯və(ʔ)]

[ˈpʰɹo̞ɪ̯və(ʔ)]

[ˈpʰɾo̞ɪ̯və(ʔ)]

From Middle English privat(e) (“individual, exclusive, private”), from Latin prīvātus (“bereaved, deprived, set apart from, release”), perfect passive participle of prīvō (“I bereave, deprive, release”) (see -ate for more), from prīvus (“private, one's own, peculiar”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per; compare prime, prior, pristine. Doublet of privy.

bor

(UK, of schools) Financially reliant on fees rather than government funding.


stuff

en-verb

stuff (third-person singular simple present stuffs, present participle stuffing, simple past and past participle stuffed)

stuffs (present singular third-person)
stuffing (participle present)
stuffed (participle past)
stuffed (past)

From Middle English stuffen (“to equip, furnish”), borrowed from Old French estoffer, estofer (“to provide what is necessary, equip, stuff”), borrowed from Old High German stoffōn, from Proto-West Germanic *stoppōn (“to clog up, block, fill”). More at stop.

der

He skidded off the road and totally stuffed his brand new car.

(transitive, British, Australia, New Zealand) To break; to destroy.

His wife came home early and found him on the couch stuffing the maid.

(transitive, vulgar, British, Australia, New Zealand) To sexually penetrate.


analyse

en-verb

analyse (third-person singular simple present analyses, present participle analysing, simple past and past participle analysed)

analyses (present singular third-person)
analysing (participle present)
analysed (participle past)
analysed (past)

By analysing data from the James Webb Space Telescope, the researchers found evidence of dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl disulfide in the atmosphere of the planet known as K2-18b. The planet is 124 light-years away; one light-year is equivalent to nearly 6 trillion miles.

2025 April 18, “Scientists detect strong evidence of life on an alien planet”, in France 24, archived from the original on 2025-04-18:


rip

From Middle English rippen, from earlier ryppen (“to pluck”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *rupjaną, *ruppōną (compare West Frisian rippe, ripje, roppe, ropje (“to rip”), Dutch dialectal rippen, Low German ruppen, German Low German röpen, German rupfen), intensive of *raupijaną (compare Old English rīpan, rīepan (“to plunder”), West Frisian rippe (“to rip, tear”), German raufen (“to rip”)), causative of Proto-Indo-European *roub- ~ *reub- (compare Albanian rrabe ‘maquis’, possibly Latin rubus (“bramble”)), variant of *Hrewp- (“to break”). More at reave, rob.

(UK, Eton College) A black mark given for substandard schoolwork.


sketch

→ German: Sketch

→ Italian: sketch

desc

→ Portuguese: esquete (Brasilian), sketch (European)

→ Turkish: skeç

From Dutch schets or German Skizze, from Italian schizzo, from Latin schedium, from Ancient Greek σχέδιος (skhédios, “made suddenly, off-hand”), from σχεδόν (skhedón, “near, nearby”), from ἔχω (ékhō, “I hold”). Compare scheme.

скеч

brief musical, dramatic or literary work etc.

A very capable journalist, he wrote the Parliamentary sketch for the Pall Mall and the Westminster Gazette for several years.

1901, Sketch: A Journal of Art and Actuality:

The Daily Telegraph sketch concentrated on the Bishop's attack and included rebutting remarks from Lord Longford, describing the attack as monumentally unfair because Mr. Cook could not reply.

1978, Robin Callender Smith, Press law, Sweet and Maxwell:

Frank had won a reputation while writing the Times sketch as one of the wittiest writers and talkers in England.

2012, Andrew Gimson, Boris: The Rise of Boris Johnson, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

(UK) A humorous newspaper article summarizing political events, making heavy use of metaphor, paraphrase and caricature.


rubber

en-noun

rubber (usually uncountable, plural rubbers)

desc

→ Kashubian: roberk (Canada, United States)

→ Sikaiana: lapa

From rub + -er.
The sense of the substance comes from its ability to function as an eraser, displacing earlier caoutchouc. The senses not having to do with rubbing or erasing are secondarily derived from the name of the substance.

For example, they may use paddle pop sticks, hand span, pencils, rubbers, mathematics equipment (i.e. base 10 material) or anything else the teacher can find to measure the lengths of nominated objects.

2006, Lisa Kervin, Research for Educators, page 148:

Drawing materials, he thought, I used to love drawing as a lad. I can afford some plain paper and pencils, surely? And a rubber, too. He smiled at the memory of an elderly uncle, also fond of drawing, who′d always called rubbers ‘lead eaters’.

2010, Anna Jacobs, Beyond the Sunset, unnumbered page:

Stan stole a diary and some pens, pencils, ink and rubbers during his early days as a POW working on the Singapore docks.

2011, Patrick Lindsay, The Spirit of the Digger, Revised edition, unnumbered page:

(countable, Australia, India, Brunei, New Zealand, UK) An eraser.


candlestick

candlesticks (plural)
canstick (alternative)

Sranan Tongo: kandratiki

From Middle English candelstik, candelstikke, from Old English candelsticca (“candlestick”), equivalent to candle + stick. Cognate with Scots candilsteke, candilstik (“candlestick”). Compare Old Norse kertastika, kertistika (“candlestick”).

inh

Inside the shrapnel shell was an iron bar with a flattened, broad nose. When the shell burst in the air this iron object fell to the ground and, since it came often from a great height, its fall was dangerous. The men called these candlesticks, which they much resembled.

1930, Ford Madox Ford, No More Parades, Grosset & Dunlap, page 20:

(British, military slang, historical) The central ignition tube connecting the fuse and charge of a WWI shrapnel shell, shaped like a candle stick.


Mohican

From their self-designation in Mahican [Term?] (literally “people of the estuary”).

bor

(British) A hairstyle where both sides are shaved, with the hair in the centre kept long and made to stand on end.


ancient

ancients (plural)
anchient (alternative obsolete)
aunchient (alternative obsolete)
auncient (alternative obsolete)
auntient (alternative obsolete)
awncient (alternative obsolete)
awntient (alternative obsolete)
ancyent (alternative obsolete)
antient (alternative)

From Middle English auncyen, from Old French ancien, from Vulgar Latin *anteānus, composed of Latin ante (“before”) + -ānus (adjective-forming suffix). The non-etymological /t/ is by analogy with the common ending -ent.

(UK, law) One of the senior members of the Inns of Court or of Chancery.


perambulator

The reapers were slowly trooping back to their work. The nurse-girl slapped one of her charges and then began to push the perambulator up the hill.

1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, “(please specify the page)”, in The Poison Belt […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

"That will be all this afternoon," he said to the nurse, who got up with the baby and decanted it into a perambulator which was standing in the fairway.

On Queen Victoria buying numerous perambulators in 1846, their popularity soared, especially among the affluent in society. Faced with carrying growing numbers of them, railways began charging separately for their carriage from the late 1850s. […] Perambulator tickets remained until the late 20th century, although they came to be seen as a restriction on family travel.

2023 October 18, Dr David Turner, “Family values...”, in RAIL, number 994, page 46:


chap

Pennsylvania German: Tschaepp (“guy”)

Clipping of chapman (“dealer, customer”) in 16th-century English.

clipping

Who’s that chap over there?

“Now when I was a little chap I had a passion for maps.”

1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 194:

A chap named Eleazir Kendrick and I had chummed in together the summer afore and built a fish-weir and shanty at Setuckit Point, down Orham way. For a spell we done pretty well.

1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

‘No. I only opened the door a foot and put my head in. The street lamps shine into that room. I could see him. He was all right. Sleeping like a great grampus. Poor, poor chap.’

1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 20, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

(dated outside UK and Australia) A man, a fellow.

If you have Blacks of any kind, brought in of late; Mantoes--Velvet Scarfs--Petticoats--Let it be what it will--I am your Chap--for all my Ladies are very fond of Mourning.

1728, John Gay, The Beggar's Opera, Act 3:


numpty

Borrowed from Scots numpty (“fool, idiot”).

Trust me, he's Pakistani, because that's the average numpty's shorthand for Muslim.

2010, Mick Herron, Slow Horses, page 119:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, derogatory) An idiot, dolt or fool.


stodge

en-noun

stodge (countable and uncountable, plural stodges)

Late 17th century, of "symbolic" origin, suggested by stuff and podge. Compare stog.

(British) Heavy, dull, often starchy food, such as a steamed pudding


outside

outsides (plural)
owtside (alternative obsolete)

/ˈæʊʔ.so̞ɪd/

/ˈɛʊʔ.so̞ɪd/

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Nattes à chat-outside.wav

The outsides did as outsides always do. They were very cheerful and talkative at the beginning of every stage, and very dismal and sleepy in the middle[…]

1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “(please specify the chapter name)”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC:

(dated, UK, colloquial) A passenger riding on the outside of a coach or carriage.


outside

en-adj

outside (comparative more outside, superlative most outside)

more outside (comparative)
most outside (superlative)
owtside (alternative obsolete)

/ˈæʊʔ.so̞ɪd/

/ˈɛʊʔ.so̞ɪd/

արտաքին

pertaining to the outer surface or boundary

the outside lane of the motorway

(chiefly UK) Positioned towards the central division of a road: towards the right-hand side if one drives on the left, or left-hand side if one drives on the right.


inside

From Middle English ynneside; equivalent to in- + side.
Compare German Innenseite (“inside”), Danish inderside (“inside”), Swedish insida (“inside”), Dutch binnenzijde (“inside”), German Low German Binnensied, Binnersied (“inside”), Saterland Frisian Binnersiede (“inside”).

cog

So down thy hill, romantic Ashbourne, glides / The Derby dilly, carrying three insides.

1798, John Hookham Frere, George Canning, The Loves of the Triangles:

So, what between Mr. Dowler's stories, and Mrs. Dowler's charms, and Mr. Pickwick's good humour, and Mr. Winkle's good listening, the insides contrived to be very companionable all the way.

(dated, UK, colloquial) A passenger within a coach or carriage, as distinguished from one upon the outside.


ugly

en-noun

ugly (countable and uncountable, plural uglies)

uglies (plural)
ougly (alternative obsolete)

Inherited from Middle English ugly, uggely, uglike, borrowed from Old Norse uggligr (“fearful, dreadful, horrible in appearance”), from uggr (“fear, apprehension, dread”) (possibly related to agg (“strife, hate”)), equivalent to ug + -ly. Cognate with Scots ugly, uglie, Icelandic ugglegur. Meaning softened to "very unpleasant to look at" around the late 14th century, and sense of "morally offensive" attested from around 1300.
For the meaning development compare Bulgarian грозен (grozen) (< Proto-Slavic *grozьnъ), Russian стра́шный (strášnyj) (< Proto-Slavic *strašьnъ < *straxъ); Latin foedus (< Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyh₂-).

der

[…] camp-stools, telescopes, poetry-books, blue uglies, red petticoats, and parasols of every hue.

1857, Charles Kingsley, “(please specify the page)”, in Two Years Ago, volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC:

(UK, informal, dated) A shade for the face, projecting from a bonnet.


torch

en-verb

torch (third-person singular simple present torches, present participle torching, simple past and past participle torched)

torches (present singular third-person)
torching (participle present)
torched (participle past)
torched (past)

The noun is derived from Middle English torch, torche (“large candle; lighted stick; (figurative) sunbeam”), from Old French torche, torque (“torch; bundle of (twisted) straw”) (modern French torche); further etymology uncertain, probably from Vulgar Latin *torca (“coiled object”) (referring to a torch made from twisted plant fibres dipped in a flammable substance such as pitch), from Latin torqua, a variant of torquis (“collar of twisted metal, torque; wreath”), from torqueō (“to twist, wind”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *terkʷ- (“to spin; to turn”).
Sense 2.3 (Verbascum thapsus) is either due to the plant’s spike of yellow flowers, or because its leaves and stalks were used to make torches (noun sense 1). Sense 3.2 (“precious cause, etc., which needs to be protected and transmitted to others”) is derived from Latin lampada trādere, from Ancient Greek λᾰμπᾰ́δᾰ πᾰρᾰδιδόναι (lămpắdă părădidónai, “to hand over the torch”), a reference to the torch race held at various festivals such as the Panathenaic Games in Ancient Greece, which involved a relay where a torch was passed from one runner to another.
The verb is derived from the noun.

cog

λᾰμπᾰ́δᾰ πᾰρᾰδιδόναι

(UK, dialectal, figurative) To (appear to) flare up like a torch.


Happy Christmas

en-noun

Happy Christmas (plural Happy Christmases)

desc

→ Japanese: ハッピークリスマス (happī kurisumasu)

(Ireland, UK) Alternative form of Merry Christmas.


gateau

en-noun

gateau (countable and uncountable, plural gateaux or gateaus)

gateaux (plural)
gateaus (plural)
gâteau (alternative)

Borrowed from French gâteau. Doublet of wastel.

Determined on keeping up my strength for what the night might bring, I ate heartily—enjoying every morsel, especially of the two slices of gateau I didn’t feel it wrong to take as my share, since there was still one good-sized piece left for Judy.

2009, Dorothy Cannell, She Shoots to Conquer, Alibi, published 2016, →ISBN:

(chiefly UK) A rich, usually iced, cake.


carrot

carrot (countable and uncountable, plural carrots)

→ Fijian: kareti

→ Malay: karot

→ Tagalog: karot

→ Thai: แครอท (kɛɛ-rɔ̀t)

From Middle English karette and Middle French carotte, both from Latin carōta, from Ancient Greek καρωτόν (karōtón). Doublet of carotte and related to caraway. Displaced native Middle English more, from Old English more, moru (“edible root, parsnip, carrot”), related to German Möhre (“carrot”).
* Noun sense of "motivational tool" refers to carrot and stick.
* Verb sense in felt manufacture refers to the orange colour of drying furs.

(UK, slang, derogatory) Someone from a rural background.

(UK, slang) A police officer from somewhere within the British Isles, but specifically outside of Greater London.


clog

Unknown; perhaps from Middle English clog (“weight attached to the leg of an animal to impede movement”). Perhaps of North Germanic origin and derived from Proto-Germanic *klumpô (“lump, mass, clasp”); compare Old Norse klugu, klogo (“knotty tree log”), Dutch klomp.

der

I let him in this morning. He lost one of his clogs.

1987, Bruce Robinson, Withnail and I, spoken by Withnail:


bastard

en-noun

bastard (countable and uncountable, plural bastards)

From Middle English bastard, bastarde, from Old English bastard (used as an epithet), from Anglo-Norman bastard, Old French bastart (“illegitimate child”), perhaps via Medieval Latin bastardus, of obscure origin.
Possibly from Frankish *bāst (“marriage, relationship”) + Old French -ard, -art (pejorative suffix denoting a specific quality or condition). Frankish *bāst derives from a North Sea Germanic variety of Proto-Germanic *banstuz (“bond, connection, relationship, marriage with a second woman of lower status”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (“to tie, bind”) and is related to West Frisian boaste (“marriage, matrimony”), Middle Dutch bast (“lust, heat”), and more distantly to English boose (“cow-stall”). The term probably originally referred to a child from a polygynous marriage of heathen Germanic custom — a practice not sanctioned by the Christian churches.
Alternatively, Old French bastart may have originated from the Old French term fils de bast (“packsaddle son”), meaning a child conceived on an improvised bed (medieval saddles often doubled as beds while travelling). However chronology makes this difficult, as bastard is attested in Old French from 1089 (Middle Latin bastardus as early as 1010), yet Old French bast (modern French bât), though attested since 1130 with the meaning of "beast of burden", doesn't acquire the specific meaning of "packsaddle" until the 13c., making it too late to have given rise to the terms bastard and bastardus with this sense. The French Centre National de Ressources Textuelles et Lexicales supports the Germanic theory further above as being most likely.

unk

obscure

cog

If you are a politician, you make sure that you know all such references in case an interviewer suddenly asks, 'Are you one of the bastards in Mr Major's cabinet?'

2000, Peter Hobday, Managing the message, Allison & Busby:

While John Major managed to get the Maastricht Treaty through parliament, despite the efforts of the “bastards” in his cabinet, the 2001 Conservative General Election campaign was fought on entirely eurosceptic lines.

2011, Duncan Hall, A2 Government and Politics: Ideologies and Ideologies in Action, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 62:

In the UK, Conservative Maastricht rebels (the 'bastards') almost brought down Conservative Prime Minister John Major's government.

2014 September 23, Stanley Johnson, Stanley, I Resume: Further recollections of an exuberant life, Biteback Publishing, →ISBN:

One “bastard,” the Minister for Wales, John Redwood (who mounted an unsuccessful campaign to displace the Tory chief, John Major), was removed in a Cabinet reshuffle; but was his young successor William Hague any more reliable?

2014, Melvin J. Lasky, Profanity, Obscenity and the Media, Transaction Publishers, →ISBN:

But there is no doubt that the “bastards,” who had tormented so many Tory leaders over the years, had won. The longed-for break with “Europe” had finally come, but at the same price that Americans paid for Trump's takeover of the Republican Party.

2020 September 3, Ian Buruma, The Churchill Complex: The Rise and Fall of the Special Relationship from Winston and FDR to Trump and Johnson, Atlantic Books, →ISBN:

(UK, politics, derogatory) A Eurosceptic Conservative MP, especially in the government of John Major.


bastard

en-adj

bastard (comparative more bastard, superlative most bastard)

more bastard (comparative)
most bastard (superlative)
bastid (alternative)

unk

obscure

ondermaats

of abnormal, irregular or otherwise inferior qualities (size, shape etc.)

I’ve got a bastard headache.


drain

drains (plural)
drein (alternative obsolete)
dreen (alternative Appalachia)

→ French: drain

→ Irish: draein

→ Welsh: draen

From Middle English dreinen, from Old English drēahnian (“to drain, strain, filter”), from Proto-Germanic *drauhnōną (“to strain, sieve”), from Proto-Germanic *draugiz (“dry, parched”). Akin to Old English drūgian (“to dry up”), Old English drūgaþ (“dryness, drought”), Old English drȳġe (“dry”). More at dry.

der

(chiefly UK) An access point or conduit for rainwater that drains directly downstream in a (drainage) basin without going through sewers or water treatment in order to prevent or belay floods.

When the play was over, we came out together, and I said, "We've been very companionable and agreeable, and perhaps you wouldn't object to a drain?"

1850 September 14, [Charles Dickens], “Three “Detective” Anecdotes”, in Charles Dickens, editor, Household Words. A Weekly Journal., volume I, number 25, London: Office, […], →OCLC:

What did she want with money, except now and then for a drain of white satin.

1966, Henry Mayhew, Peter Quennell, London's Underworld, page 48:


drop

From Late Middle English droppe, Middle English drope (“small quantity of liquid; small or least amount of something; pendant jewel; dripping of a liquid; a shower; nasal flow, catarrh; speck, spot; blemish; disease causing spots on the skin”) [and other forms], from Old English dropa (“a drop”), from Proto-West Germanic *dropō (“drop (of liquid)”), from Proto-Germanic *drupô (“drop (of liquid)”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewb- (“to crumble, grind”).

nb...

dropan, droupe, (Northern England) droipe

afval

small quantity of liquid, just large enough to hold its own round shape through surface tension

piisk

very small quantity of liquid, or of anything

piisk

that which hangs or resembles a liquid globule

langemine

decline in degree, quality, quantity, or rate

afgrond

distance through which something drops, or falls below a certain level

He usually enjoys a drop after dinner.    She won’t touch a drop while she’s on duty.

(figuratively) A very small quantity of liquid, or (by extension) of anything.

(chiefly Australia, British) A small amount of an alcoholic beverage.

It doesn’t matter where you’re from, anyone who enjoys the drop is a friend of mine.

She is rather fond of her drops, and is then particularly good-humoured; it is only when she is getting sober that she is querulous and nervous.

1834, Peregrine Reedpen [pseudonym], “The Survey Continued. Odds and Ends.”, in Our Town; or, Rough Sketches of Character, Manners, &c. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 61:

(chiefly British) Usually preceded by the: alcoholic spirits in general.


DAC

en-noun

DAC (countable and uncountable, plural DACs)

deputy assistant commissioner
deputy assistant commissioner#English

(UK, law enforcement) Initialism of deputy assistant commissioner, a police rank used in London's Metropolitan Police.


ASA

Advertising Standards Authority
w:Advertising Standards Authority

(UK) Initialism of Advertising Standards Authority.


WC

→ Czech: WC

→ Dutch: wc

→ Estonian: veetsee, vets

→ Finnish: WC, vessa

→ French: WC

→ Greek: βεσέ (vesé)

→ German: WC

→ Hungarian: WC

→ Polish: WC, wuce

→ Portuguese: WC

→ Romanian: WC, veceu

→ Serbo-Croatian: WC, vece

In the summer of 1877, a gentleman with whom I was well acquainted, took lodgings in Preston-street, Brighton. The morning after his arrival, he found in the W.C. some leaves of an old black-letter book.

1880, William Blades, The Enemies of Books, page 54:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) Initialism of water closet: a lavatory; a toilet.


rounders

From round + -er + -s, presumably for the circuit that batters make around the field.

(UK, Ireland) A team sport played with bat and ball with one fielding side and one batting side. It is similar to softball and baseball.


pong

1992, Bryce Courtenay, Tandia, Volume 1, 2011, Read How You Want, page 109,
She sniffed, squiffing up her nose. ‘What a pong! Do they all smell like this?’

I can remember calling round once and when she answered the door I was greeted by an unmistakable, noxious pong. “I can smell gas!”
I said. “Oh, have I left the ring on?” she asked vaguely.

1998, Catherine Fox, Heaven′s Scent: Third Way, page 13:

2000, Susan Sallis, 2011, unnumbered page,
‘I see what you mean about the pong. I couldn′t smell it on myself but I can smell it on you!’

If you want to empty a crowded room strong body pong will usually do the trick.

2009, Martin Fine, The Devil′s Fragrance, page 109:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang) A stench, a bad smell.


pong

en-verb

pong (third-person singular simple present pongs, present participle ponging, simple past and past participle ponged)

pongs (present singular third-person)
ponging (participle present)
ponged (participle past)
ponged (past)

1997, Taufiq Ismail, David M. E. Roskies (translator and editor), Stop Thief!, Black Clouds Over the Isle of Gods and Other Modern Indonesian Short Stories, page 97,
On she walked at a crawling pace, ponging of sweat, drops of mucus and blood falling between her feet.

2009, Susan Brocker, Saving Sam, HarperCollins, New Zealand, unnumbered page,
The place ponged, like the smell of stale cat pee.

“[…]That toothless bloke ponged. Couldn′t you smell him? He smelled like a bloody pub floor at closing time.”

2010, Robin Easton, Naked in Eden: My Adventure and Awakening in the Australian Rainforest, page 63:

2011, Victor Pemberton, We′ll Sing at Dawn, 2012, eBook, Headline Publishing, unnumbered page,
[…] and this evening, Eileen Perkins′s daughter Rita ponged with the smell of cheap carbolic soap, after a late-afternoon visit to the public baths down Hornsey Road.

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang) To stink, to smell bad.


lieutenant

lieutenants (plural)
leftenant (alternative obsolete)
leftenaunt (alternative obsolete)
lieftenant (alternative obsolete)
lieftenaunt (alternative obsolete)
lieutenaunt (alternative obsolete)

→ Irish: leifteanant

→ Malay: leftenan

→ Swahili: luteni

From Middle English lieutenant, lieftenaunt, from Anglo-Norman lieutenant, lyutenaunt, leu tenant, leu tenaunt (“deputy, lieutenant”), from Old French lieu (“place”) + tenant (“holder”). Doublet of locum tenens.

пору́чик

in imperial Russian army (1730–1917), armies of White movement, and in armies of other Slavic nations

по́ру́чник

in certain Slavic armies—a non-dictionary form in limited use instead of поручик to more precisely reproduce local terminology

commissioned officer
commissioned officer

(military) The lowest junior commissioned officer rank(s) in many military forces, often Army and Marines.

(military, UK) A commissioned officer in the British Army and Royal Marines, holding the rank above second lieutenant and below captain. Both ranks may be referred to as "lieutenant"; however, "second lieutenant" is to specify that the officer is not yet a full lieutenant.

lieutenant commander
lieutenant commander

(military, UK) A naval officer whose rank is above that of sub-lieutenant in the Royal Navy and below that of a lieutenant commander.


penny chew

(British) A chew (chewy confectionery) costing (or formerly costing) one penny.


disallow

disallow (third-person singular simple present disallows, present participle disallowing, simple past and past participle disallowed)

disallows (present singular third-person)
disallowing (participle present)
disallowed (participle past)
disallowed (past)
disallow (infinitive)
disallow (first-person present singular)
disallowed (first-person past singular)
disallow (present second-person singular)
disallowest (archaic present second-person singular)
disallowed (past second-person singular)
disallowedst (archaic past second-person singular)
disallows (present singular third-person)
disalloweth (archaic present singular third-person)
disallowed (past singular third-person)
disallow (plural present)
disallowed (past plural)
disallow (present subjunctive)
disallowed (past subjunctive)
disallow (imperative present)
disallowing (participle present)
disallowed (participle past)

From Middle English disallowen, desallowen, a borrowing from Anglo-Norman desalouer, Old French desalöer. By surface analysis, dis- + allow.

(UK, law, historical) To overrule a colonial legislation by the sovereign-in-privy council.


qualification

en-noun

qualification (countable and uncountable, plural qualifications)

Borrowed from Middle French qualification in the 1540s, which in turn derives from Medieval Latin quālificātiō. By surface analysis, qual(ify) + -ification.

surf

(UK) A certificate, diploma, or degree awarded after successful completion of a course, training, or exam.


old money

(British, Ireland) The monetary system used in the United Kingdom and Ireland before decimalisation in 1971 and consisting of pounds, shillings, pence and farthings.


waver

Origin uncertain, possibly from waive (“(obsolete) to disregard, overlook”). According to the Oxford English Dictionary the early forms waiver, wayver, weaver indicate that the word is probably not derived from wave (verb).

It is a very ordinary Copſe vvhich vvill not afford three or four Firſts, that is, Beſts; fourteen Seconds; tvvelve Thirds; eight VVavers, &c. according to vvhich proportions the ſizes of young Trees in Copſing are to ſucceed one another.

1664, J[ohn] E[velyn], “Of Copses”, in Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-trees and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesties Dominions. […], London: […] Jo[hn] Martyn, and Ja[mes] Allestry, printers to the Royal Society, […], →OCLC, page 71:

In some parts of this County, considerable pains seem to be taken in the use of the Falling Axe[…], to form the stools or stumps left in the ground in Spring Woods, rather round at top, to shoot off the wet and preserve the butt from decay, where young shoots or wavers are expected from them: […] the sooner the young waver, or wavers especially, if more than one are left for Trees, attaches itself to and entirely depends on one of the healthy lateral roots[…], by the entire decay of the core or centre, the better is the future prospect of such wavers, as to making good Trees, […]

1813, John Farey, Sen., “Woods and Plantations”, in General View of the Agriculture and Minerals of Derbyshire; […], volume II, London: […] B. M‘Millan, […]; sold by G[eorge] and W[illiam] Nicol, […], →OCLC, section I (Copse Woods), page 232:

(obsolete except UK, dialectal, dated) A sapling or other young tree left standing when other trees around it have been felled.


average

From Middle English average, from Medieval Latin averagium, from aver (“horse or other beast of burden, service required from the same”) from Old English eafor (“obligation to carry goods and convey messages for one's lord”) from aferian (“to remove, take away”); + -age.

inh

(UK, law, obsolete) The service that a tenant owed his lord, to be done by the animals of the tenant, such as the transportation of wheat, turf, etc.


bob

One of the bottlenosed fraternity it was went by the name of James Wought alias Saphiro alias Spark and Spiro, put an ad in the papers saying he'd give a passage to Canada for twenty bob.

1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 12: Cyclops]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 308:

“’Ere y’are, the best rig-out you ever ’ad. A tosheroon [half a crown]^([sic]) for the coat, two ’ogs for the trousers, one and a tanner for the boots, and a ’og for the cap and scarf. That’s seven bob.”

1933 January 9, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter XXIX, in Down and Out in Paris and London, London: Victor Gollancz […], →OCLC, pages 214–215:

[…] there was a sound of barking and a great hefty dog of the Hound of the Baskervilles type came galloping at me, obviously intent on mayhem,[…]. And I was just commending my soul to God and thinking that this was where my new flannel trousers got about thirty bobs' worth of value bitten out of them, […]

1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XVII, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

(Kenya, slang; UK and Australia, historical, dated) A shilling.


new penny

en-noun

new penny (plural new pence or new pennies)

(British, Ireland, dated) Following decimalisation, the name given to the coin worth one hundredth of a pound; now known simply as the penny. Symbol: p


bloody

en-adj

bloody (comparative bloodier, superlative bloodiest)

bloodier (comparative)
bloodiest (superlative)
bloudy (alternative obsolete)
bl**dy (alternative)

From Middle English blody, blodi, from Old English blōdiġ, blōdeġ (“bloody”), from Proto-West Germanic *blōdag, from Proto-Germanic *blōþagaz (“bloody”), equivalent to blood + -y. Cognate with Dutch bloedig (“bloody”), German blutig (“bloody”), Danish blodig (“bloody”), Swedish blodig (“bloody”), Icelandic blóðugur (“bloody”). See Wikipedia for thoughts on sense evolution.

Traffic in central London was a bloody mess this morning.

There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today.

1916 May 31, David Beatty during the Battle of Jutland

Try to keep those bloody women's bloody heads on their bloody shoulders by somehow helping them make this whole mad impossible scheme actually work.

1994, Robert Jordan, Lord of Chaos, page 519:

You are not to go asking anyone about who killed that bloody dog.

2003, Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, page 64:

“You bloody fool, I could′ve stabbed you in the heart,” David said in mock anger, and then smiled widely.

2007, James MacFarlane, Avenge My Kin, Book 2: A Time of Testing, page 498

With 109km of fixed infrastructure, of which only 50% is utilised, Perry's message is simple: "put more bloody trains on it!"

2024 January 24, Dyan Perry talks to Nick Brodrick, “The industry has given me so much”, in RAIL, number 1001, page 45:

(informal, British, Ireland, Commonwealth, Hawaii, mildly vulgar) Used as an intensifier.