pig

en-noun

pig (countable and uncountable, plural pigs)

Hawaiian Creole: pig

Torres Strait Creole: pig

Tok Pisin: pik

→ Abenaki: piks (from "pigs")

→ Malecite-Passamaquoddy: piks (from "pigs")

Pronunciation example of the word Pig in British English.ogg

From Middle English pigge (“pig, pigling”) (originally a term for a young pig, with adult pigs being swyn), apparently from Old English *picga (attested only in compounds, such as picgbrēad (“mast, pig-fodder”)), from Proto-West Germanic *piggō, *puggō (“piglet”). Compare Middle Dutch pogge, puggen, pigge, pegsken (“pigling”), Middle Low German pugge, pûke (“piglet”). Pokorny suggests this root might be somehow related to *bū-, *bew- (“to blow; swell”), which could account for the alternation between "pig" and "big".
A connection to early modern Dutch bigge (contemporary big (“piglet”)), West Frisian bigge (“pigling”), and similar terms in Middle Low German is sometimes proposed, "but the phonology is difficult". Some sources say the words are "almost certainly not" related, others consider a relation "probable, but not certain".
The slang sense of "police officer" is attested since at least 1785.

cuto (Northern Spain - specifically Aragon, La Rioja and Navarra)

even a blind pig can find an acorn once in a while


dairy

Origin 1250–1300 (Middle English daierie and other forms), from dey (“dairymaid”) + -ery.

حَلِيبِيّ

referring to products produced from milk

(British) On food labelling, containing fats only from dairy sources (e.g. dairy ice cream).

con grasa láctea

on food labelling, containing fats only from dairy sources


nit

From Middle English nite, from Old English hnitu, from Proto-Germanic *hnits (compare Dutch neet, German Nisse, Norwegian nit), from Proto-Indo-European *-níd- (compare Scottish Gaelic sneadh, Lithuanian gli̇̀nda, Polish gnida, Albanian thëri, Ancient Greek κονίς (konís)).

(UK, Ireland, slang) A head louse regardless of its age.


rim

From Middle English rim, rym, ryme, reme, from Old English rēoma (“membrane, ligament”), from Proto-West Germanic *reumō.

inh

Moy shall not serve; I will have forty moys; / Or I will fetch thy rim out at thy throat / In drops of crimson blood.

1599, Shakespeare, King Henry V, act iV, scene IV - Pistol to a captured French soldier from whom he wants a ransom and whom he does not understand:

(UK dialectal or obsolete) The membrane enclosing the intestines; the peritoneum, hence loosely, the intestines; the lower part of the abdomen; belly.


rim

(British, dialectal) A step of a ladder; a rung.


rood

From Middle English rode, rood (“cross”), from Old English rōd (“cross”), from Proto-Germanic *rōdō, *rōdǭ (“rod, pole”), from Proto-Indo-European *rōt-, *reh₁t- (“bar, beam, stem”).
Cognate with German Rute (“rod, cane, pole”), Norwegian roda (“rod”). Largely displaced by cross. More at rod.

Thus Satan […] his other parts besides / Prone on the flood, extended long and large, / Lay floating many a rood […]

1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

(UK, dialectal, obsolete) A measure of five and a half yards in length.


dead

From Middle English ded, deed, from Old English dēad, from Proto-West Germanic *daud, from Proto-Germanic *daudaz. Compare West Frisian dead, dea, Dutch dood, German tot, Danish, Norwegian død, Norwegian Nynorsk daud.

(UK) (usually in the plural) Sterile mining waste, often present as many large rocks stacked inside the workings.


dead

en-verb

dead (third-person singular simple present deads, present participle deading, simple past and past participle deaded)

deads (present singular third-person)
deading (participle present)
deaded (participle past)
deaded (past)

I shoulda deaded it from genesis instead of hittin' the Guinnesses

2004, “Guinnesses”, in Mm..Food, performed by MF Doom ft. Angelika & 4-IZE:

This dude at the club was trying to kill us so I deaded him, and then I had to collect from Spice.

2006, Leighanne Boyd, Once Upon A Time In The Bricks, page 178:

“What, you was just gonna dead him because if that's the case then why the fuck we getting the money?” Sha asked annoyed.

2008, Marvlous Harrison, The Coalition, page 106:

TOMMY:”Honestly, I’d love to help you with that but I’ve got a surplus of motherfuckers that I need to dead right now.”

2020 January 6, Courtney A. Kemp, Matt K. Turner, 33:48 from the start, in Power, season 6, episode 11, spoken by Tommy Egan (E Joseph Sikora):


danger

en-noun

danger (countable and uncountable, plural dangers)

From Middle English daunger (“power, dominion, peril”), from Anglo-Norman dangier, from Old French dangier, alteration of Old French dongier (due to association with Latin damnum (“damage”)) from Vulgar Latin *dominārium (“authority, power”) from Latin dominus (“lord, master”). Displaced native Old English frēcennes.

der

Pineapple and pizza. ONLY JOKING YOU FUCKING DANGER.

2017 July 28, Gary Ogden, “Ridiculous food combinations that are actually really tasty”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

Why did the chicken cross the road?
"To try and get away from you, you absolute danger. I've heard all about you posh boy Etonians and farmyard animals"

2019 July 31, Oonagh Keating, quoting Stephen Patten, “We asked you to caption a photo of Boris Johnson holding a chicken – our 19 favourites”, in The Poke:

(UK, derogatory) A contemptible person, especially one seen as perverted or mentally ill.


low

From Middle English lowe, loghe, from Old Norse logi (“fire, flame, sword”), from Proto-Germanic *lugô (“flame, blaze”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“light”).
Cognate with Icelandic logi (“flame”), Swedish låga (“flame”), Danish lue (“flame”), German Lohe (“blaze, flames”), North Frisian leag (“fire, flame”), Old English līeġ (“fire, flame, lightning”). More at leye, light.

cog

She was, as one of them expressed himself, in a light low (bright flame) when they observed a king's ship, with her colours up, heave in sight from behind the cape. The guns of the burning vessel discharged themselves […]

1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], →OCLC, page 85:

A boy fell aff his chair a' in a low, for the discharge had set him on fire […]

1843, John Wilson, The Noctes Ambrosianœ of "Blackwood"., page 478:

[…] and he was sure to light of a verse blazing wi' a blue brimstone low that set all straight.

1849, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], “Mr. Yorke (continued)”, in Shirley. A Tale. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, page 76:

And methought the whole world was lighted in a lowe, and with a great cry I awoke out of the dream.

1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 19:

(countable, UK, Scotland, dialect) A flame; fire; blaze.


low

en-verb

low (third-person singular simple present lows, present participle lowing, simple past and past participle lowed)

lows (present singular third-person)
lowing (participle present)
lowed (participle past)
lowed (past)
lowe (alternative)

Driest wood will eithest low,

1724 (edition of 1788), Allan Ramsay, The Tea-Table Miscellany, page 23

They scarcely left to co'er their fuds,
 To quench their lowan drouth.

[…] in every crevice; and each individual brick shone and “lowed” with the intense heat. “As I am a Christian man,” thought he, “this is verily the mouth of the pit; and I am lost — lost for ever, for —”

1870, Edward Peacock, Ralf Skirlaugh, the Lincolnshire Squire: A Novel, page 197:

Sand, striking a light with his flint and steel, and transferring the flame when it lowed up to the bowl of his tiny elf's pipe, so small that it just let in the top of his little finger as he settled the tobacco in it as it began to burn.

1894, Samuel Rutherford Crockett, The Raiders, page 82:

The next I saw, James parried a thrust so nearly that I thought him killed; and it lowed up in my mind that this was the girl's father, and in a manner almost my own, and I drew and ran in to sever them.

1895, Robert Louis Stevenson, Works, page 382:

(UK, Scotland, dialect) To burn; to blaze.


long

en-adj

long (comparative longer or more long, superlative longest or most long)

longer (comparative)
more long (comparative)
longest (superlative)
most long (superlative)

low

antonym(s) of “having much distance from one point to another”

From Middle English long, lang, from Old English long, lang (“long, tall, lasting”), from Proto-West Germanic *lang, from Proto-Germanic *langaz (“long”), from Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰos (“long”).
Cognate with Scots lang (“long”), North Frisian long, lung (“long”), West Frisian long (“long”), Saterland Frisian loang (“long”), Norwegian, Dutch and German lang (“long”), Low German and Swedish lång (“long”), Icelandic langur (“long”), Portuguese longo (“long”), Spanish luengo (“long”), French long, Italian lungo, Latin longus (“long”), Russian дли́нный (dlínnyj), до́лго (dólgo), Sanskrit दीर्घ (dīrgha, “long”).
The word exceptionally retains the Old English darkening of -a- before nasals. Though there are other such examples in Middle and Modern English (e.g. bond, song, throng, wrong), the o-form may have been reinforced by Old French long, from Latin longus, from the same Indo-European word. Doublet of lungo and lunge.

ау

he who sups with the devil should have a long spoon

the candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long

The colonel and his sponsor made a queer contrast: Greystone [the sponsor] long and stringy, with a face that seemed as if a cold wind was eternally playing on it.

1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter I, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

Bless ’em all, bless ’em all, the long, the short and the tall.

1940, Fred Godfrey, “Bless 'Em All”performed by George Formby:


wide

wide (comparative wider or more wide, superlative widest or most wide)

wider (comparative)
more wide (comparative)
widest (superlative)
most wide (superlative)

PIE word
 *dwóh₁
From Middle English wid, wyd, from Old English wīd (“wide, vast, broad, long; distant, far”), from Proto-Germanic *wīdaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weydʰh₁- (“to separate, divide”), a dissimilated univerbation from *dwi- (“apart, asunder, in two”) + *dʰeh₁- (“to do, put, place”).
Cognate with Scots wyd, wid (“of great extent; vast”), West Frisian wiid (“broad; wide”), Dutch wijd (“wide; large; broad”), German weit (“far; wide; broad”), Danish vid (“wide”), Swedish vid (“wide”), Icelandic víður (“wide”), Latin dīvidō (“separate, sunder”), Latin vītō (“avoid, shun”). Related to widow.

compound

But the first visitor to penetrate from the outside world proved to be Sergeant Williams; large and pink and scrubbed-looking; and for a little while Grant forgot about battles long ago and considered wide boys alive today.

1951, Josephine Tey, The Daughter of Time, page 31:

(British, slang, only in "wide boy") Sharp-witted.


broad

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *bʰer-der.?
Proto-Germanic *braidaz
Proto-West Germanic *braid
Old English brād
Middle English brod
English broad
From Middle English brood, brode, from Old English brād (“broad, flat, open, extended, spacious, wide, ample, copious”), from Proto-West Germanic *braid, from Proto-Germanic *braidaz (“broad”), of uncertain origin.
Cognate with Scots braid (“broad”), West Frisian breed (“broad”), Saterland Frisian breed (“broad”), Low German breed (“broad”), breet, Dutch breed (“broad”), German breit (“broad, wide”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian Bokmål bred (“broad”), Norwegian brei (“broad”), Icelandic breiður (“broad, wide”).

inh

(UK) A shallow lake, one of a number of bodies of water in eastern Norfolk and Suffolk.

(UK, historical) A British gold coin worth 20 shillings, issued by the Commonwealth of England in 1656.


melt

en-noun

melt (countable and uncountable, plural melts)

From Middle English melten, from a merger of Old English meltan (intransitive) and mieltan (transitive), both meaning “to melt, digest,” from Proto-West Germanic *meltan and *maltijan, from Proto-Germanic *meltaną and *maltijaną, both from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meld- (“melt”). Cognate with Icelandic melta (“to digest”).

You are from Blackburn you fucking melt...have a bastard word with yourself.

2003 June 10, Roo, “See the Quality !!!”, in alt.sports.soccer.everton (Usenet):

Kiss it ya melt!

2004 September 20, Diablos Rojos, “North South divide??”, in uk.sport.football.clubs.liverpool (Usenet):

LOL! you fucking melt. Get a job.

2006 May 30, Dave G, “England vs Hungary...”, in alt.sports.soccer.everton (Usenet):

Over the course of this chapter on 'Love Island Essentials' we'll be charting exactly who went with who, showing you around the villa, and equipping you with the vocabulary you'll need to avoid looking like a melt and get grafting like a true Islander.

2017, Love Island On Paper: The Official Love Island Guide to Grafting, Cracking On and Mugging Off, →ISBN, page 12:

Anyone who said different was a Tory, a melt or – worse – a Blairite. Centrists (mostly Labour voters) were the devil incarnate.

2019 December 17, Suzanne Moore, The Guardian:

They developed their own lexicon, with Corbyn critics referred to as 'melts' or 'slugs' while their man was lauded as 'the absolute boy'.

[2019 October 17, Asa Bennett, Romanifesto: Modern Lessons from Classical Politics, Biteback Publishing, →ISBN:

(UK, politics, slang, derogatory) A centre-left or liberal person, when in opposition to a leftist; (especially) a critic of Jeremy Corbyn within the Labour Party.


knowledge

knowledge (usually uncountable, plural knowledges)

knowledges (plural)
knolege (alternative)
knowlage (alternative)
knowleche (alternative)
knowledg (alternative)
knowlege (alternative)
knowliche (alternative)
knowlych (alternative)
knowlech (alternative)
knaulege (alternative)
knaulage (alternative)
knawlage (alternative)
knoleche (alternative)
knoleige (alternative)
knowlache (alternative)
knolych (alternative)
knawlache (alternative)

From Middle English knowleche, knaweleche, cnawlece (“knowledge”), from knowen (“to know, recognise”) + -leche. Related to Middle English knowlechen (“to find out, acknowledge”). For more on the Middle English suffix -leche, compare freelage. Compare also Old English cnāwelǣċ, cnāwelǣċing (“acknowledging, acknowledgement”).

cog

zeal without knowledge is a runaway horse

Appendix:Roget MICRA thesaurus/Class IV § 490. Knowledge

There is only one sure way to memorise the runs and that is to follow them, either on foot, cycle or motor cycle; hence, the familiar sight of would-be cabbies learning the knowledge during evenings and weekends.

2002, Malcolm Bobbitt, Taxi! - The Story of the London Cab:

(UK, informal) The deep familiarity with certain routes and places of interest required by taxicab drivers working in London, England.


metal

en-noun

metal (countable and uncountable, plural metals)

nonmetal

antonym(s) of “any of a number of chemical elements in the periodic table that form a metallic bond with other metal atoms”

From Middle English metal, a borrowing from Old French metal, from Latin metallum (“metal, mine, quarry, mineral”), itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek μέταλλον (métallon, “mine, quarry, metal”).

аметалл

atomic element or material made of such atoms

(UK, in the plural) The rails of a railway.


salt

en-noun

salt (countable and uncountable, plural salts)

Bislama: sol

Tok Pisin: sol

Maori: tote

PIE word
 *séh₂ls
From Middle English salt, from Old English sealt, from Proto-West Germanic *salt, from Proto-Germanic *saltą, from Proto-Indo-European *séh₂ls (“salt”). Doublet of sal, ultimately from Latin sāl (“salt”), which it superseded as the general term for "salt".

take bread and salt Compound words and expressionsabove the saltacid of saltamphid saltAttic saltbaker's saltbath saltbay saltbelow the saltbile saltbronzing saltbutter saltcat-saltcelery saltchicken saltcommon saltcovenant of saltdiazonium saltdishwasher saltdouble saltdry-saltEpsom salt(s)essential saltflake saltFrémy's saltfruit saltgarlic saltGlaser's saltGlauber's saltGreat Salt Lakegreen saltgreen salt of Magnushair-salthair salthartshorn salthei hei saltHimalayan salthorse saltinner saltkoshering saltkosher saltMagnus' green saltMeerwein's saltmicrocosmic saltmineral saltmixed saltMonsel's saltnot worth saltorganic saltpepper-and-saltpinch of saltpink saltplease pass the saltpolychrest saltpound saltpre-salt layerprunella saltput salt on someone's tailroad saltRochelle saltrock saltrub salt in someone's woundsrub salt in the woundsalt acidsalt and peppersalt-and-peppersalt-and-pepper dorissalt beefsalt bottomsalt boxsalt bridgesalt cakesalt cedarsaltcellarsalt-cellarsalt chucksalt claySalt Coatessalt codSalt Creeksalt domesalt doughsalt-effect distillationsalt flatsalt gardensalt glaciersalt glandsalt glazesalt grasssalt-greensalt haySalt Hillsalt horsesalt in the woundsalt junksalt lake → Salt Lake City

Salt Lake Countysalt licksalt linesalt marshsalt-marsh caterpillarsalt marsh haysalt-marsh terrapinsalt meatsalt minesalt of ambersalt of colcotharsalt of hartshornsalt of lemonsalt of Saturnsalt of sodasalt of sorrelsalt of tartarsalt of the earthsalt of tinsalt of Venussalt of vitriolsalt of wormwoodsalt outsalt pansalt pigsalt porksalt rheumsalt-rising breadSalt Riversalt sea

Salt Seasalt sedativesalt shakersalt spoonsaltspoonsalt spray testsalt substitutesalt the minesalt treesalt trucksalt watersalt-watersaltwatersalt water taffysalt wedgesalt worksSchlippe's saltsea saltsedative saltsell salt to a slugsmelling saltspirit of saltspirits of saltsulfur saltsulphur saltsyntactic salttable salttake with a pinch of saltthrow saltTutton's saltwhite saltwith all the salt in the Dead Seaworth one's saltworth one's weight in salt

(UK, historical, uncountable) The money demanded by Eton schoolboys during the montem.


heavy

en-adj

heavy (comparative heavier, superlative heaviest)

heavier (comparative)
heaviest (superlative)

Sranan Tongo: hebi

From Middle English hevy, heviȝ, from Old English hefiġ, hefeġ, hæfiġ (“heavy; important, grave, severe, serious; oppressive, grievous; slow, dull”), from Proto-West Germanic *habīg (“heavy, hefty, weighty”), from Proto-Germanic *habīgaz (“heavy, hefty, weighty”), from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂p- (“to take, grasp, hold”).
Cognate with Scots hevy, havy, heavy (“heavy”), Saterland Frisian heeuwich, häwich (“violent, angry”), West Frisian hevich (“violent”), Dutch hevig (“violent, severe, intense, acute”), German Low German hevig (“violent, fierce, intense, angry”), German hebig (compare heftig (“fierce, severe, intense, violent, heavy”)), Icelandic höfugur (“heavy, weighty, important”), Latin capāx (“large, wide, roomy, spacious, capacious, capable, apt”).

cog

This film is heavy.


far

(UK, dialect) A litter of piglets; a farrow.


near

en-adj

near (comparative nearer, superlative nearest)

nearer (comparative)
nearest (superlative)

off

antonym(s) of “side of an animal or vehicle”

From Middle English nere, ner, from Old English nēar (“nearer”, comparative of nēah (“nigh”), the superlative would become next), influenced by Old Norse nær (“near”), both originating from Proto-Germanic *nēhwiz (“nearer”), comparative of the adverb *nēhw (“near”), from the adjective *nēhwaz, ultimately from Pre-Proto-Germanic *h₂nḗḱwos, a lengthened-grade adjective derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂neḱ- (“to reach”).
Cognate with Old Frisian niār (“nearer”), Dutch naar (“to, towards”), German näher (“nearer”), Danish nær (“near, close”), Norwegian nær (“near, close”) Swedish nära (“near, close”). See also nigh.
Near appears to be derived from (or at the very least influenced by) the North Germanic languages; compare Danish nær (“near, close”), Norwegian nær (“near, close”) Swedish nära (“near, close”), as opposed to nigh, which continues the inherited West Germanic adjective, like Dutch na (“close, near”), German nah (“close, near, nearby”), Luxembourgish no (“nearby, near, close”). Both, however, are ultimately derived from the same Proto-Germanic root: *nēhw (“near, close”).

cog

The near front wheel came loose.

(British, in relation to a vehicle) On the side nearest to the kerb (the left-hand side if one drives on the left).


old

en-adj

old (comparative older or elder, superlative oldest or eldest or (US, dialectal) oldermost)

older (comparative)
elder (comparative)
oldest (superlative)
eldest (superlative)
oldermost (US dialectal superlative)
ol' (alternative)
ol (alternative)
ole (alternative)
olde (alternative archaic)

brand new

antonym(s) of “having existed for a long period of time”

young

antonym(s) of “having lived for many years”

Inherited from Middle English old, oold, from Old English ald, eald (“old, aged, ancient, antique, primeval”), from Proto-West Germanic *ald, from Proto-Germanic *aldaz (“grown-up”), originally a participle form, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eltós (“grown, tall, big”). Cognate with Scots auld (“old”), North Frisian ool, ual, uul (“old”), Saterland Frisian oold (“old”), West Frisian âld (“old”), Dutch oud (“old”), Low German old (“old”), German alt (“old”), Swedish äldre (“older, elder”), Icelandic eldri (“older, elder”), Latin altus (“high, tall, grown big, lofty”). Related to eld.

ажә

of an object, concept, etc: having existed for a relatively long period of time

жъы

of a living being: having lived for relatively many years

ancient

as demure as an old whore at a christening

Some Old Hippie Caught Another Hippie Tripping On Acid

there's many a good tune played on an old fiddle

you can't put an old head on young shoulders

(UK) Being a graduate or alumnus of a school, especially a public school.


rough

en-adj

rough (comparative rougher, superlative roughest)

rougher (comparative)
roughest (superlative)
ruff (alternative pronunciation-spelling)

From Middle English rough, roughe, roȝe, row, rou, ru, ruȝ, ruh, from Old English rūg, rūh, from Proto-Germanic *rūhaz.
Cognate with Scots ruch, rouch (“rough”), Saterland Frisian ruuch, rouch (“rough”), West Frisian rûch (“rough”), Low German ruuch (“rough”), Dutch ruig (“rough”), German rau(h) (“rough”), Danish ru (“uneven on the surface, "rough", "rugged"”).

cog

(chiefly UK, Ireland, colloquial, slang) Somewhat ill; sick; in poor condition.

(chiefly UK, Ireland, colloquial, slang) Unwell due to alcohol; hungover.


fear

en-noun

fear (countable and uncountable, plural fears)

From Middle English feer, fere, fer, from Old English fǣr, ġefǣr (“calamity, sudden danger, peril, sudden attack, terrible sight”), from Proto-Germanic *fērō, *fērą (“danger”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to go through, carry forth, try”). Cognate with Dutch gevaar (“danger, risk, peril”), German Gefahr (“danger, risk, hazard”), Swedish fara (“danger, risk, peril”), Latin perīculum (“danger, risk, trial”), Albanian frikë (“fear, danger”), Romanian frică. Doublet of peril.
The verb is from Middle English feren, from Old English fǣran (“to frighten, raven”), from the noun. Cognate with the archaic Dutch verb varen (“to fear; to cause fear”).

inh

Her feeling of humiliation had intensified as the day had gone on and her hangover had worsened. She now also had 'the fear' to contend with, […]

2019, Ruth Kelly, The Little Vineyard in Provence:

He had the fear, that feeling of dread that you've done something really embarrassing. The fear was a hundred times worse than the hangover. No, a thousand times worse.

2020, Mark Ratcliffe, The Step Down: A Very Scottish Crime:

(UK, with definite article, "the fear") A feeling of dread and anxiety when waking after drinking a lot of alcohol, wondering what one did while drunk.


pull

en-verb

pull (third-person singular simple present pulls, present participle pulling, simple past and past participle pulled)

pulls (present singular third-person)
pulling (participle present)
pulled (participle past)
pulled (past)

push

antonym(s) of “apply force to (something) so it comes towards one”

-ʊl (accents with foot–goose merger or full–fool merger)

Verb from Middle English pullen, from Old English pullian (“to pull, draw, tug, pluck off”), of uncertain ultimate origin. Related to West Frisian pûlje (“to shell, husk”), Middle Dutch pullen (“to drink”), Middle Dutch polen (“to peel, strip”), Low German pulen (“to pick, pluck, pull, tear, strip off husks”), Icelandic púla (“to work hard, beat”).
Noun from Middle English pul, pull, pulle, from the verb pullen (“to pull”).

cog

it's not the whistle that pulls the train

pull someone's chestnuts out of the fire

I pulled at the club last night.

He's pulled that bird over there.

Grab your coat love, you've pulled.

(ambitransitive, chiefly UK, Ireland, slang) To persuade (someone) to have sex with one.

lligar

slang: persuade (a person) to have sex with one

score

to succeed in finding a person with whom to have sex.

How many points did you pull today, Albert?

(UK) To score a certain number of points in a sport.

Let's stop at Finnigan's. The barman pulls a good pint.

(UK) To draw beer from a pump, keg, or other source.


push

en-noun

push (countable and uncountable, plural pushes)

From Middle English pushen, poshen, posson, borrowed from Middle French pousser (Modern French pousser) from Old French poulser, from Latin pulsare (“to beat, strike”), frequentative of pellere (past participle pulsus). Doublet of pulsate and pulse (verb). Partly displaced native Old English sċūfan, whence Modern English shove.

Till some wild, excited person
Galloped down the township cursing,
"Sydney push have mobbed Macpherson,
Roll up, Dandaloo!"

1891, Banjo Paterson, An Evening in Dandaloo:

My father […] was soon as unambiguously Australian as any other member of the rough Rugby pushes that in the years before the Great War made up the mixed and liverly world of South Brisbane.

1994, David Malouf, A First Place, Vintage, published 2015, page 37:

(slang, UK, obsolete, now chiefly Australia) A particular crowd or throng or people.


push

a Push rise upon his Nose

(obsolete, UK, dialect) A pustule; a pimple.


float

From Middle English flote, from Old English flota (“sailor, boat”), from Proto-West Germanic *flotō, from Proto-Germanic *flutô, from Proto-Indo-European *plewd-.

As soon as the skies brightened and plum-blossom was out, Paul drove off in the milkman's heavy float up to Willey Farm.

1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter 7, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:

(British) A small vehicle used for local deliveries, especially in the term milk float.


count

en-verb

count (third-person singular simple present counts, present participle counting, simple past and past participle counted)

counts (present singular third-person)
counting (participle present)
counted (participle past)
counted (past)
count (infinitive)
count (first-person present singular)
counted (first-person past singular)
count (present second-person singular)
countest (archaic present second-person singular)
counted (past second-person singular)
countedst (archaic past second-person singular)
counts (present singular third-person)
counteth (archaic present singular third-person)
counted (past singular third-person)
count (plural present)
counted (past plural)
count (present subjunctive)
counted (past subjunctive)
count (imperative present)
counting (participle present)
counted (participle past)

From Middle English counten, borrowed from Anglo-Norman conter, from Old French conter (“add up; tell a story”), from Latin computō (“I compute”). In this sense, displaced native Old English tellan, whence Modern English tell. Doublet of compute.

der

almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades

close only counts in horseshoes and darts

close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades

don't count your chickens before the eggs have hatched

don't count your chickens before they're hatched

(intransitive, UK, law, obsolete) To plead orally; to argue a matter in court; to recite a count.


dust

en-noun

dust (countable and uncountable, plural dusts)

→ Russian: дуст (dust)

From Middle English dust, doust, from Old English dūst (“dust, dried earth reduced to powder; other dry material reduced to powder”), from the fusion of Proto-Germanic *dustą (“dust”) and *dunstą (“mist, dust, evaporation”), both from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to smoke, raise dust”).
Cognate with Scots dust, dist (“dust”), Dutch duist (“pollen, dust”) and dons (“down, fuzz”), German Dust (“dust”) and Dunst (“haze”), Swedish dust (“dust”), Icelandic dust (“dust”), Latin fūmus (“smoke, steam”). Also related to Swedish dun (“down, fluff”), Icelandic dúnn (“down, fluff”). See down.

der

(British, colloquial) Rubbish, garbage, refuse.


stone

en-noun

stone (countable and uncountable, plural stones or (UK, as unit of weight) stone)

Sranan Tongo: ston

→ Esperanto: ŝtono

From Middle English ston, stone, stan, from Old English stān, from Proto-West Germanic *stain, from Proto-Germanic *stainaz, from Proto-Indo-European *steyh₂- (“to stiffen”).
See also West Frisian stien, Saterland Frisian Steen, Dutch steen, German Stein, Danish and Swedish sten, Norwegian stein; also Russian стена́ (stená, “wall”), Ancient Greek στία (stía, “pebble”), στέαρ (stéar, “tallow”), Albanian shtëng (“hardened or pressed matter”), Sanskrit स्त्यायते (styāyate, “it hardens”)). Doublet of stein.

cog

British people measure their weight in stones and pounds. I weigh eight stone five.

Seven pounds make a clove, 2 cloves a stone, 2 stone a tod, 6+¹⁄₂ tods a wey, 2 weys a sack, 12 sacks a last. […] It is to be observed here that a sack is 13 tods, and a tod 28 pounds, so that the sack is 364 pounds.

Generally, however, the stone or petra, almost always of 14 lbs., is used, the tod of 28 lbs., and the sack of thirteen stones.

1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume IV, page 209:

Weighed myself at the gym and have hit 10st 8lb, a sure sign of things getting out of control—so I can’t even console myself with a chocolate biscuit.

(British) A unit of weight equal to 14 pounds (≈6.3503 kilograms), formerly used for various commodities (wool, cheese, etc.), but now principally used for personal weight. Abbreviated as st.


fog

From Middle English fogge (“tall grass”), probably from Norwegian fogg (“tall, worthless grass”); compare Scots fog (“moss; lichen”).

[…] and they generally leave a great deal of Fog to rot on the Ground, which, with the Help of his well turned Dung-hill, dress his Ground […]

1744, William Agric Ellis, The Modern Husbandman, page 104:

(UK, dialect) Tall and decaying grass left standing after the cutting or grazing season.

guaime

tall and decaying grass left standing after the cutting or grazing season


rotten

en-adj

rotten (comparative rottener or more rotten, superlative rottenest or most rotten)

rottener (comparative)
more rotten (comparative)
rottenest (superlative)
most rotten (superlative)

From Middle English roten, from Old Norse rotinn (“decayed, rotten”), past participle of an unrecorded verb related to Old Norse rotna (“to rot”) and Old English rotian (“to rot”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *rutāną (“to rot”). See rot. By surface analysis, rot + -en (past participle).

surf

something is rotten in the state of Denmark

(UK, Ireland, Australia, slang) Very drunk, intoxicated.


pos

en-adj

pos (comparative more pos, superlative most pos)

more pos (comparative)
most pos (superlative)

I'm not absolutely pos on that, sir.


lig

From Middle English liggen, from Old English licgan (“to lie, be situated, be at rest, remain”) and Old Norse liggja (“to lie”). More at lie.

inh

And the Muse of Arts that never told a lig, / Whirls in her mid-air flight to sing of Twigg; […]

1867, James Torrington Spencer Lidstone, The Fourteenth Londoniad, page 85:

(UK, slang, obsolete) A lie; an untruth.


lift

en-noun

lift (countable and uncountable, plural lifts)

→ Cantonese: 𨋢 /䢂 (lip¹)

→ Dutch: lift
→ Papiamentu: left

→ Malay: lif

desctree

→ Russian: лифт (lift)
→ Armenian: լիֆտ (lift)
→ Georgian: ლიფტი (lipṭi)
→ Kazakh: лифт (lift)
→ Mongolian: лифт (lift)
→ Uyghur: لىفت (lift)
→ Uzbek: lift
→ Yakut: лифт (lift)

→ Swahili: lifti

→ Swedish: lift

From Middle English liften, lyften, from Old Norse lypta (“to lift, air”, literally “to raise in the air”), from Proto-Germanic *luftijaną (“to raise in the air”), related to *luftuz (“roof, air”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *lewp- (“to peel, break off, damage”) or from a root meaning roof (see *luftuz). Cognate with Danish and Norwegian Bokmål løfte (“to lift”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish lyfta (“to lift”), German lüften (“to air, lift”), Old English lyft (“air”). See above. 1851 for the noun sense "a mechanical device for vertical transport".
(To steal): For this sense Cleasby suggests perhaps a relation to the root of Gothic 𐌷𐌻𐌹𐍆𐍄𐌿𐍃 (hliftus) "thief", cognate with Latin cleptus and Greek κλέπτω (kléptō)).

der

Take the lift to the fourth floor.

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, puristic elsewhere) Mechanical device for vertically transporting goods or people between floors in a building.

hysbak

mechanical device for vertically transporting goods or people


lift

en-noun

lift (usually uncountable, plural lifts)

From Middle English lifte, luft, lefte (“air, sky, heaven”), from Old English lyft (“atmosphere, air”), from Proto-West Germanic *luftu, from Proto-Germanic *luftuz (“roof, sky, air”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewp- (“to peel, break off, damage”).
Cognate with Old High German luft (“air”) (German Luft), Dutch lucht (“air”), Old Norse lopt, loft (“upper room, sky, air”). Doublet of loft and luft.

cog

No, no, Leddy! the sun maun be up in the lift whan I venture to her den.

1836, Joanna Baillie, Witchcraft, act 1, page 13:

(UK dialectal, chiefly Scotland) The sky; the heavens; firmament; atmosphere.

atmosphere

firmament, ethereal region surrounding the earth


ether

en-verb

ether (third-person singular simple present ethers, present participle ethering, simple past and past participle ethered)

ethers (present singular third-person)
ethering (participle present)
ethered (participle past)
ethered (past)

Ether and Ethers (rhyme to whether)—the operation of running a line of hazle or other flexible wands intertwiningly along the top of a hedge, to keep it more firmly within the hedge-stakes. "Mind you ether it right strong." To "bond" a hedge has the same meaning.

1849, William Raynbird, Hugh Raynbird, On the Agriculture of Suffolk, page 291:

In the edition of 1760 of "The Complete Angler" there is a curious quotation from Bowlker, who was a great authority on fish-ponds, in which he recommends:— "When you intend to stick a pool with carp or tench, make a close ethering hedge across the head of the pool about a yard distance of the dam, and about three foot above the water, which is the best refuge for them I know of, and the only method to preserve pool-fish; […] "

1886, Gertrude Elizabeth Blood Campbell, A Book of the Running Brook, and of Still Waters, page 122

The labourer still sits under the lew (hleow, or "hleowð," shelter, warmth) of the hedge, which has has been ethering ("eðer," a hedge); […]

1895, John Richard de Capel Wise, The New Forest: Its History and Its Scenery, page 193:

[…] and he must first ascertain its [the hedge's] length, which will give him an idea of the number of stakes and ethering rods required.

1924, Alexander Christison Drummie, Practical Forestry from a Workman's Point of View, page 103:

(UK dialectal) Alternative form of edder.


crown

→ Japanese: クラウン (kuraun)

→ Korean: 크라운 (keuraun)

→ Maori: karauna

From Middle English coroune, from Anglo-Norman corone, from Latin corōna (“crown, wreath”), from Ancient Greek κορώνη (korṓnē). Doublet of corona, korona, koruna, krona, króna, and krone. Displaced native Old English corenbēag (“crown”); and Middle English kinehelm, kynehelm, from Old English cynehelm (“crown”).
* (paper size): So called because originally watermarked with a crown.

doublet

(UK) A standard size of printing paper measuring 20 × 15 inches.


Europe

en-prop

Europe (countable and uncountable, plural Europes)

→ Hindi: यूरोप (yūrop)

→ Korean: 유럽 (Yureop)

→ Marathi: यूरोप (yūrop)

→ Nepali: यूरोप (yūrop)

→ Sanskrit: यूरोप (yūropa)

→ Telugu: యూరప్ (yūrap)

→ Urdu: یُورَپ (yūrap)

→ Yoruba: Yúróòpù

Inherited from Middle English Europe, borrowed from Latin Eurōpa, borrowed from Doric Greek Εὐρώπα (Eurṓpa). Doublet of Europa.

etymon

(UK, Ireland) Mainland Europe (continental Europe), especially the western portion, thus excluding the island nations or the larger Mediterranean islands.


baron

From Middle English baroun, from Old French baron, from Latin barōnem, from Proto-West Germanic *barō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to bear”). Cognate with Old High German baro (“human being, man, freeman”), Old English bora (“a man who bears responsibility, one who is in charge, a ruler”), and perhaps to Old English beorn (“man, warrior”). Used in early Germanic law in the sense of "man, human being".
A Celtic origin has also been suggested; see the quote under sense 3 of Latin barō. However, the OED takes the hypothetical Proto-Celtic *bar- (“hero”) to be a figment.

cog

The first thing a baron does is to accumulate a supply of tobacco. He spends every penny he can earn on laying it in […]

1960, Hugh J. Klare, Anatomy of Prison, page 33:

Nevertheless, from my own agonies of the first few months, after which I did not miss smoking at all, I could appreciate the need of others. It was in this atmosphere of craving that the 'barons' thrived. Barons are prisoners who lend tobacco.

1961, Peter Baker, Time out of life, page 51:

In British prisons tobacco still remains the gold standard which is made to back every transaction and promise. The official allowance is barely sufficient for individual smoking needs, but tobacco may expensively be borrowed or bought from a baron, possibly through his runner.

1980, Leonard Michaels, Christopher Ricks, The State of the Language, page 525:

(UK, prison slang) A prisoner who gains power and influence by lending or selling goods such as tobacco.


handle

desctree

→ Japanese: ハンドル (handoru)
→ Hokkien: 捍多路 (hăn-tó͘-luh)
→ Sakizaya: handulu

From Middle English handel, handle, from Old English handle (“a handle”), from handlian (“to handle, feel, deal with, discuss”). See verb below. Cognate with Danish handel (“a handle”).

(UK, informal) A traditional dimpled glass with a handle, for serving a pint of beer.


p

The 25p stamp shows an ultrasound image, the 35p stamp shows a magnetic resonance image and the 41p stamp shows an X-ray CT image.

2001, Steve Webb, Intensity-modulated radiation therapy:


t

Abbreviations.
t
# (Stenoscript) Abbreviation of at.
# (Stenoscript) Abbreviation of to or too.

(UK) Alternative letter-case form of T, tonne.


v

England v Scotland

2023 March 3, Eleanor Flegg, “The comfort v style dilemma: Thought you couldn’t combine the two? Think again — our experts explain exactly how”, in Irish Independent, volume 132, number 53, Dublin, →ISSN, →OCLC, “Property” section, page 4

(UK, Ireland and Commonwealth except Canada) Abbreviation of versus.


chivalry

en-noun

chivalry (usually uncountable, plural chivalries)

chivalries (plural)
chyvalry (alternative obsolete)

/ˈt͡ʃɪvəlɹi/

From Middle English chivalerie, a late 13th century loan from Old French chevalerie (“knighthood, chivalry, nobility, cavalry”) (11th century), the -erie (“-ery”) abstract of chevaler (“knight, horseman”), from Medieval Latin caballarius (“horseman, knight”), from caballus (“horse”). Medieval Latin caballaria (“knighthood, status or fief of a knight”) dates to the 12th century. Doublet of cavalry.

der

(UK, law, historical) A tenure of lands by knightly service.


skein

skeins (plural)
skean (alternative obsolete)
skain (alternative obsolete)

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

From Middle English skayne, from Old French escaigne (Modern French écagne), probably of Proto-Celtic origin, from Proto-Indo-European *skend- (“to split off”). Compare Irish scáinne (“skein, clew”).

High above the swallows and 2 miles or so out into the Channel was a skein of geese, probably brent geese on the first day of their emigration from the estuaries of the Channel coast towards the high Arctic tundra of Spitsbergen or Russia.

2018, Laurence Rose, The Long Spring, Bloomsbury, →ISBN, page 111:

(zoology, UK, dialect, collective) A group of wild fowl (e.g. geese, goslings) when they are in flight.


wedge

en-noun

wedge (countable and uncountable, plural wedges)

From Middle English wegge (“wedge”), from Old English weċġ (“wedge”), from Proto-West Germanic *wagi, from Proto-Germanic *wagjaz.

He's got some decent wedge.

I made a big fat wedge from that job.

(colloquial, British, countable, uncountable, by extension) A quantity of money.


wedge

From Wedgewood, surname of the person who occupied this position on the first list of 1828.

The last man is called the Wedge, corresponding to the Spoon in Mathematics.

1873, Charles Astor Bristed, Five Years in an English University:

(UK, Cambridge University slang) The person whose name stands lowest on the list of the classical tripos.


stop

en-verb

stop (third-person singular simple present stops, present participle stopping, simple past and past participle stopped)

stops (present singular third-person)
stopping (participle present)
stopped (participle past)
stopped (past)
stop (infinitive)
stop (first-person present singular)
stopped (first-person past singular)
stop (present second-person singular)
stoppest (archaic present second-person singular)
stopped (past second-person singular)
stoppedst (archaic past second-person singular)
stops (present singular third-person)
stoppeth (archaic present singular third-person)
stopped (past singular third-person)
stop (plural present)
stopped (past plural)
stop (present subjunctive)
stopped (past subjunctive)
stop (imperative present)
stopping (participle present)
stopped (participle past)

continue

antonym(s) of “to cause to cease moving”

continue

antonym(s) of “to cause to come to an end”

→ Finnish: stop

→ French: stop

→ Greek: στοπ (stop)

→ Hungarian: stop

→ Irish: stop

→ Italian: stop

→ Latvian: stop

→ Ottoman Turkish: استوپ (istop)

→ Polish: stop

→ Portuguese: stop

→ Russian: стоп (stop)

→ Spanish: stop

→ Welsh: stopio

→ Tok Pisin: stap

From Middle English stoppen, stoppien, from Old English stoppian (“to stop, close”), from Proto-West Germanic *stoppōn, from Proto-Germanic *stuppōną (“to stop, close”), *stuppijaną (“to push, pierce, prick”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewp-, *(s)tewb- (“to push; stick”), from *(s)tew- (“to bump; impact; butt; push; beat; strike; hit”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian stopje (“to stop, block”), West Frisian stopje (“to stop”), Dutch stoppen (“to stop”), Low German stoppen (“to stop”), German stopfen (“to be filling, stuff”), German stoppen (“to stop”), Danish stoppe (“to stop”), Swedish stoppa (“to stop”), Icelandic stoppa (“to stop”), Middle High German stupfen, stüpfen (“to pierce”). More at stuff, stump.
Alternative etymology derives Proto-West Germanic *stoppōn from an assumed Vulgar Latin *stūpāre, *stuppāre (“to stop up with tow”), from stūpa, stīpa, stuppa (“tow, flax, oakum”), from Ancient Greek στύπη (stúpē), στύππη (stúppē, “tow, flax, oakum”). This derivation, however, is doubtful, as the earliest instances of the Germanic verb do not carry the meaning of "stuff, stop with tow". Rather, these senses developed later in response to influence from similar sounding words in Latin and Romance.

stilhou

not to continue — see also cease, desist

megakadályoz

to cause to cease progressing, to prevent

if you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging

When they have finished the milk they must be patted and squeezed to stop them exploding.

1988, Jeanne Willis, Tony Ross, Dr Xargle's Book of Earthlets:

(causative, transitive, chiefly UK) To end someone else's activity.


stop

(UK, grammar, informal) Ellipsis of full stop.


stop

From Middle English stoppe, from Old English stoppa (“bucket, pail, a stop”), from Proto-Germanic *stuppô (“vat, vessel”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teub- (“to push, hit; stick, stump”). See stoup.
Cognates
Cognate with Norwegian stopp, stoppa (“deep well, recess”), Middle High German stubech, stübich (“barrel, vat, unit of measure”) (German Stübchen). Related also to Middle Low German stōp (“beaker, flask”), Middle High German stouf (“beaker, flask”), Norwegian staupa (“goblet”), Icelandic staupa (“shot-glass”), Old English stēap (“a stoup, beaker, drinking vessel, cup, flagon”). Cognate to Albanian shtambë (“amphora, bucket”).

cog

(UK dialectal) A small well-bucket; a milk-pail.


stroke

The noun is derived from Middle English strok, stroke (“blow from a weapon, cut”), from Old English strāc, from Proto-West Germanic *straik, from Proto-Germanic *straikaz (“stroke”), from Proto-Indo-European *streyg- (“to rub, stroke; to shear; to strike”).
Sense 3.6.2.2 (“the oblique, slash, or virgule (‘/’)”) is a contraction of oblique stroke, a variant of oblique which was originally used in telegraphy.
The verb is derived from the noun.
Cognates
* German Streich (“stroke”)
* Middle Low German strēk (“stroke, trick, prank”)
* Scots strak, strake, straik (“blow, stroke”)

isku

one of a series of beats or movements against a resisting medium, by means of which movement through or upon it is accomplished

ход

single movement or thrust of a part (such as a piston) of a machine that moves back and forth; length of this movement

Subject: Fire. Dear Sir-stroke-Madam: I am writing to inform you of a fire which has broken out at the premises of … No. That's too formal.

2006 February 3, Graham Linehan, “Calamity Jen”, in The IT Crowd, season 1, episode 2:

A single movement of a paintbrush, chisel, pen, pencil, or similar implement; a line or mark made by such an implement.

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) The oblique, slash, or virgule ("/").


nut

→ Japanese: ナット (natto)

From Middle English nute, note, from Old English hnutu, from Proto-West Germanic *hnut, from Proto-Germanic *hnuts (“nut”), from a root *knu- possibly shared with Proto-Celtic *knūs and Latin nux (“nut”). Based on the form of the nouns and the restriction of the root to Germanic, Celtic and Italic, it has been argued to be of non-Indo-European (substrate) origin.
See also West Frisian nút, Dutch noot, German Nuss, Danish nød, Swedish nöt, Norwegian nøtt.

dió

walnut in particular and an element in the name of some other nuts

dióféle

literally: ’walnut-like’, the family of this fruit

walnuts, hazelnuts/peanuts, chestnuts, and related fruits

even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in a while

‘You are not going to be what they call a Nut, are you?’ she inquired with some anxiety, partly with the idea that a Nut would be an extravagance which her sister's small household would scarcely be justified in incurring ….

1914, "Saki", ‘The Dreamer’, Beasts and Superbeasts, Penguin 2000 (Complete Short Stories), p. 323

(UK, Ireland, slang, dated) An extravagantly fashionable young man.


nut

en-verb

nut (third-person singular simple present nuts, present participle nutting, simple past and past participle nutted or (nonstandard) nut)

nuts (present singular third-person)
nutting (participle present)
nutted (participle past)
nutted (past)
nut (nonstandard participle past)
nut (nonstandard past)

One night, we were fumbling each other out by the toilets when a Rocker in full leathers came out of the Gents and, without breaking stride or saying a word, nutted me square between the eyes. I went down as though shot...

1999, Nik Cohn, Yes we have no: adventures in the other England:

(UK, transitive, slang) To hit deliberately with the head; to headbutt.


carburettor

Both affect the performance of the machine, especially the carburettors, and both are important to the final appearance of the model.

2005, Mick Walker, How to Restore Your BMW Twin 1955-1985, page 92:

In a carburettor the pressure drop (or viewed another way, suction) is used to draw fuel out of a reservoir, usually via a jet, and into the venturi to mix with the air flowing through it.

2008, Daniel Stapleton, David Vizard, John Sprinzel, The MG Midget & Austin Healey Sprite High Performance Manual, page 36:

For a large part of the twentieth century the majority of light vehicles used petrol engines that were equipped with a carburettor.

2011, Allan Bonnick, A Practical Approach to Motor Vehicle Engineering and Maintenance, page 81:

(automotive, Australia, New Zealand, UK) Alternative spelling of carburetor (“device in an internal combustion engine”).


valve

→ Cantonese: 嘩佬 /哗佬 (waa1 lou2)

→ Japanese: バルブ (barubu)

→ Thai: วาล์ว (waao)

From Middle English valve, from Latin valva (“double door, valve”). Doublet of valva.


batch

From Middle English bach, bache, bahche, from Old English *bæċċ (“something baked”), of uncertain origin, but possibly from Proto-West Germanic *bakku, from Proto-Germanic *bakkuz (“baking, baked goods”), cognate with Middle High German becke (“something baked, pastry, baking, bakery”). Related also to Old English bacan (“to bake”), Old English ġebæc (“something baked”), Dutch gebak, German Gebäck, Dutch baksel.

խմբաքանակ

quantity of baked goods made at one time


mare

stud and gelding refer to adult male horses

Danish language
Dutch language
German language
Icelandic language
Middle English language
North Frisian language
Old English language
Proto-Germanic language
Proto-West Germanic language
Scots language
Swedish language
West Frisian language

From Middle English mare, mere, from Old English mīere (“female horse, mare”), from Proto-West Germanic *marhijā, from Proto-Germanic *marhijō (“female horse”), from *marhaz (“horse”).
Cognates
See also Scots mere, meir, mear (“mare”), North Frisian mar (“mare, horse”), West Frisian merje (“mare”), Dutch merrie (“mare”), Danish mær (“mare”), Swedish märr (“mare”), Icelandic meri (“mare”), German Mähre (“decrepit old horse”)), Old English mearh.

inh-lite

The silly mare phoned your mother, talking about applying for a mortgage, and we don't want that, do we?

2007, Hester Browne, Little Lady, Big Apple:

(UK, Ireland, derogatory, slang) A foolish woman.


mare

Albanian language
Czech language
Danish language
Greek language
Old English language
Old Irish language
Old Norse language
Polish language
Proto-Germanic language
Proto-Indo-European language
Proto-West Germanic language
Swedish language

From Old English mare (“nightmare, monster”), from Proto-West Germanic *marā, from Proto-Germanic *marǭ (“nightmare, incubus”), from Proto-Indo-European *mor- (“feminine evil spirit”). Doublet of mara.
Cognates
Akin to Dutch (dial.) mare, German (dial.) Mahr, Old Norse mara ( > Danish mare, Swedish mara (“incubus, nightmare”); also Old Irish Morrígan (“phantom queen”), Albanian merë (“horror”), Polish zmora (“nightmare”), Czech mura (“nightmare, moth”), Greek Μόρα (Móra).

I'm having a complete mare today.

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, colloquial) A nightmare; a frustrating or terrible experience.


mandarin

→ Irish: mandairín

From Portuguese mandarim, mandarij, from Malay menteri, manteri, and its source, Sanskrit मन्त्रिन् (mantrin, “minister, councillor”), from मन्त्र (mantra, “counsel, maxim, mantra”) + -इन् (-in, an agent suffix). In Chinese folk etymology, the word originates from Mandarin 滿大人 /满大人 (Mǎndàrén, literally “Manchu important man”).

com

(informal, British) A senior civil servant.


rate

en-verb

rate (third-person singular simple present rates, present participle rating, simple past and past participle rated)

rates (present singular third-person)
rating (participle present)
rated (participle past)
rated (past)

From Middle English rate, from Old French rate, from Medieval Latin rata, from Latin prō ratā parte (“according to a fixed part”), from ratus (“fixed”), from rērī (“think, deem, judge, estimate", originally "reckon, calculate”).

der

(transitive, chiefly British) To evaluate a property's value for the purposes of local taxation.


settle

en-verb

settle (third-person singular simple present settles, present participle settling, simple past and past participle settled)

settles (present singular third-person)
settling (participle present)
settled (participle past)
settled (past)
sattle (alternative)

remove

antonym(s) of “to place in a fixed or permanent condition”

From a merger of two verbs:
* Middle English setlen, from Old English setlan (“to settle, seat, put to rest”), from Old English setl (“seat”) (compare Dutch zetelen (“to be established, settle”)) and
* Middle English sahtlen, seihtlen (“to reconcile, calm, subside”), from Old English sahtlian, ġesehtlian (“to reconcile”), from Old English saht, seht (“settlement, agreement, reconciliation, peace”) (see saught, -le).
German siedeln (“to settle”) is related to the former of the two verbs, but is not an immediate cognate of either of them.

cog

(transitive) To place or arrange in(to) a desired (especially: calm) state, or make final disposition of (something).

(British, dialectal) To silence, especially by force.


flash

en-noun

flash (countable and uncountable, plural flashes)

→ Catalan: flaix

→ Polish: flesz

In some senses, from Middle English flasshen, a variant of flasken, flaskien (“to sprinkle, splash”), which was likely of imitative origin; in other senses probably of North Germanic origin akin to Swedish dialectal flasa (“to burn brightly, blaze”), related to flare. Compare also Icelandic flasa (“to rush, go hastily”).

onomatopoeic

imitative

(British, Cockney) The strips of bright cloth or buttons worn around the collars of market traders.


flash

en-adj

flash (comparative more flash, superlative most flash)

more flash (comparative)
most flash (superlative)

onomatopoeic

imitative

(UK, of a person) Having plenty of ready money.

Bit of a flash git, don't you think?

1990, House of Cards, season 1, episode 1:

(UK, of a person) Liable to show off expensive possessions or money.


blower

From Middle English blowere, blower, from Old English blāwere; equivalent to blow + -er.

Get on the blower and call headquarters right away!

(slang, chiefly British, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, usually preceded by the) Telephone.

(slang, UK, Ireland, historical) A telephone service providing betting odds and commentary, relayed to customers in a bookmaker's shop via loudspeaker.


worship

en-noun

worship (usually uncountable, plural worships)

worships (plural)
wurship (alternative obsolete)

Inherited from Middle English worschippe, worthschipe, from Old English weorþsċiepe. Cognate with Scots worschip (“worship”).

inh+

“I beg your worship’s pardon,” said Mr. Bumble, incredulous of his having heard aright,—“did your worship speak to me?”

1837 March, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], “Relates How Oliver Twist Was Very Near Getting a Place, Which Would Not Have Been a Sinecure”, in Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy’s Progress. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], published 1838, →OCLC, page 48:

'Your Worships, I have a submission to put before the court. As Your Worships are aware, it is the duty of the court under Section thirty-nine of the Children and Young Persons Act to protect the identity of minors who are victims of offences […]

1999, Val McDermid, A Place of Execution, London: HarperCollins, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 209:

(chiefly British) Used as a title or term of address for various officials, including magistrates


perch

From Middle English perche, from Old French perche, from Latin perca, from Ancient Greek πέρκη (pérkē, “perch”), cognate with περκνός (perknós, “dark-spotted”).

Tautogolabrus adspersus
Tautogolabrus adspersus#Translingual

Any of the about 200 related species of fish in the taxonomic family Percidae, especially:

(UK) Lateolabrax japonicus, Tautogolabrus adspersus


seam

From Middle English seym (“grease”), from Old French saim (“fat”). Compare French saindoux (“lard”).

shall the proud lord
That bastes his arrogance with his own seam
And never suffers matter of the world

c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:

scour their rusty shields with seam

1697, Virgil, “The Seventh Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

(UK, dialect, obsolete) Grease; tallow; lard.


brew

From Middle English brewen, from Old English brēowan, from Proto-West Germanic *breuwan, from Proto-Germanic *brewwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁-. Doublet of burn.
Cognate with
Dutch brouwen, German brauen, Swedish brygga, Norwegian Bokmål brygge; also Ancient Greek φρέαρ (phréar, “well”), Latin fervēre (“to be hot; to burn; to boil”), Old Irish bruth (“violent, boiling heat”), Sanskrit भुर्वन् (bhurván, “motion of water”). It may be related to English barley.

cog

Landlady: You're not stoppin' for a brew?
Gene Hunt: No thanks, love. Better crack on.

2007 March 6, Julie Rutterford, Life on Mars, Season 2, Episode 3:

The mixture formed by brewing; that which is brewed; a brewage, such as tea or beer.


brew

From Middle English brewe (“eyebrow”), from Old English bru (“eyebrow”). Doublet of brow.

(British, dialect) An overhanging hill or cliff.


home

From Middle English hōm, from Old English hām, from Proto-West Germanic *haim, from Proto-Germanic *haimaz (“home, village”), from Proto-Indo-European *tḱóymos (“village, home”), from the root *tḱey-. Doublet of heyem.
Cognates
Germanic cognates: see *haimaz.
Cognate with Irish caoimh (“dear”), Lithuanian kaimas (“village”), šeima (“family”), Albanian komb (“nation, people”), Old Church Slavonic сѣмь (sěmĭ, “seed”), Ancient Greek κώμη (kṓmē, “village”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱey- (“to lie”) (compare Hittite [script needed] (kittari, “it lies”), Ancient Greek κεῖμαι (keîmai, “to lie down”), Latin civis (“citizen”), Avestan 𐬯𐬀𐬉𐬙𐬈 (saēte, “he lies, rests”), Sanskrit शये (śáye, “he lies”)).

cog

2004, Tottenham 4-4 Leicester, BBC Sport: February,
Walker was penalised for a picking up a Gerry Taggart backpass and from the resulting free-kick, Keane fired home after Johnnie Jackson's initial effort was blocked.


waffle

The noun is borrowed from Dutch wafel (“waffle; wafer”), from Middle Dutch wafel, wafele, wavel, from Old Dutch *wāvila, from Proto-Germanic *wēbilǭ, *wēbilō, possibly related to Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to braid, weave”) (whence Dutch weven (“to weave”) and English weave; compare, from the same verbal root, German Wabe (“honeycomb”), given that the grid pattern of the traditional Dutch lent and holiday pastry strikingly resembles a honeycomb), and possibly reinforced by German Waffel (“waffle; wafer”). The English word is a doublet of wafer and gauffre.
The verb (“to smash”) derives from the manner in which batter is pressed into the shape of a waffle between the two halves of a waffle iron.

der

(countable, British) In full potato waffle: a savoury flat potato cake with the same kind of grid pattern.


waffle

en-verb

waffle (third-person singular simple present waffles, present participle waffling, simple past and past participle waffled)

waffles (present singular third-person)
waffling (participle present)
waffled (participle past)
waffled (past)

Possibly from waff (“(dialectal) to bark, woof”) (imitative of a dog’s yelp) + -le (diminutive or frequentative suffix).

(intransitive, British, dialectal) Of a dog: to bark with a high pitch like a puppy, or in muffled manner.


waffle

(British, dialectal) The high-pitched sound made by a young dog; also, a muffled bark.


content

From Middle English contenten (“to satisfy”), from Latin contentus (“contained; satisfied”), past participle of continēre (“to contain”).

der

(UK, House of Lords) An expression of assent to a bill or motion; an affirmative vote.

(UK, House of Lords, by metonymy) A member who votes in assent.


attorney

en-noun

attorney (plural attorneys or (obsolete) attornies)

attorneys (plural)
attornies (obsolete plural)
actorney (alternative obsolete)

→ Punjabi: ਅਟਾਰਨੀ (aṭārnī)

→ Welsh: atwrnai

From Middle English attourne, from Old French atorné, past participle of atorner, atourner, aturner (“to attorn”), in the sense of "one appointed or constituted".

(UK, dated, 19th century and earlier) One such who practised in the courts of the common law.

(UK, 20th century and later, rare, usually derogatory) A solicitor.


CEO

CEO (countable and uncountable, plural CEOs)

CEOs (plural)
C.E.O. (alternative)
C. E. O. (alternative)
ceo (alternative)

civil enforcement officer
civil enforcement officer#English

(UK, countable) Initialism of civil enforcement officer.


plank

Tok Pisin: plangk

From Middle English plank, planke, borrowed from Old French planke, Old Northern French planque (compare French planche, from Old French planche), from Vulgar Latin planca, from palanca, from Latin phalanga. The Latin term derives from the Ancient Greek φάλαγξ (phálanx), so it is thus a doublet of phalange and phalanx. Compare also the doublets planch and planche, and plancha, borrowed later from Middle French, Modern French, and Spanish, respectively.

(British, slang) A stupid person, idiot.


loan

en-verb

loan (third-person singular simple present loans, present participle loaning, simple past and past participle loaned)

loans (present singular third-person)
loaning (participle present)
loaned (participle past)
loaned (past)

From Middle English lone, lane, from Old Norse lán, from Proto-Germanic *laihną, from Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ- (“to leave (over)”).
Cognate with Icelandic lán, Swedish lån, Danish lån, German Lehen (“fief”), Dutch leen (“fief”), West Frisian lien, North Frisian leen (“fief; loan; office”), Scots lane, lain, len, Old English lǣn. More at lend.

cog

In the course of a correspondence that passed between us at this period, he mentioned, to my utter astonishment, the fact of his having loaned Neilson 81000 to buy my bill on Maryland; and stated that he could not proceed to make the payment until Neilson refunded the money.

1820 June 1, William King, Letters to James Monroe: President of the United States, from William King:

All the rest—six out of eleven, more than half—were loaned to him.

1992, Carlo Ginzburg, The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller, page 30:

Upon maturity of the debt, the investment bank returns the loaned shares.
On the date of issuance, the entity should record the loaned shares at their fair value and recognize them as an issuance cost, with an offset to additional paid-in capital.

2015, Joanne M. Flood, Wiley GAAP 2015: Interpretation and Application of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, page 574:

(usually ditransitive, US, dated and occasionally proscribed in UK, informal) To lend (something) to (someone).


henry

(British, slang) A quantity of marijuana weighing one-eighth of an ounce.


civilisation

en-noun

civilisation (countable and uncountable, plural civilisations)

Borrowed from French civilisation, equivalent to civilise + -ation or civil + -isation.

From Keighley onwards we had obviously returned to civilisation, for the surrounding country was now studded with the sodium street lights of suburbia and a thickening industrial haze was blotting out the moon.

1960 January, G. Freeman Allen, “"Condor"—British Railways' fastest freight train”, in Trains Illustrated, page 48:

UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Hong Kong, and Commonwealth spelling of civilization.


governor

governors (plural)
gouernour (alternative obsolete)
gouvernor (alternative obsolete)
gouvernour (alternative obsolete)
governer (alternative obsolete)
governour (alternative obsolete)
guvnah (alternative informal)
guvnuh (alternative informal)

Bahamian Creole: governor

Belizean Creole: govna

Gullah: gobna

Krio: governor

Pichinglis: gɔvna, gɔbna

Pijin: gavna

Tobagonian Creole English: governor

Tok Pisin: gavana

→ Hausa: gwamna

→ Irish: gobharnóir

→ Maori: kāwana

→ Samoan: kavana

→ Swahili: gavana

→ Malay: gabenor

/ˈɡʌvənə(ɹ)/

From Middle English governour, from Old French gouvreneur, from Latin gubernator, from Ancient Greek κυβερνήτης (kubernḗtēs, “steersman, pilot, guide”), from κυβερνάω (kubernáō, “to steer, to drive, to guide, to act as a pilot”), of disputed origin. By surface analysis, govern + -or. Doublet of gubernator. Doublet of cybernetics and Kubernetes.

der

(UK, informal, dated) Term of address to a man; guv'nor.


leader

→ Catalan: líder

→ Czech: lídr

→ Galician: líder

→ Japanese: リーダー (rīdā)

→ Korean: 리더 (rideo)

→ Polish: lider

→ Portuguese: líder

→ Romanian: lider

→ Russian: ли́дер (líder)

→ Spanish: líder

→ Turkish: lider

→ Ukrainian: лі́дер (líder)

From Middle English leder, ledere, from Old English lǣdere (“leader”), from Proto-West Germanic *laidijārī (“leader”), equivalent to lead + -er. Cognate with Scots ledar, leidar (“leader”), West Frisian lieder (“leader”), Dutch leider (“leader”), German Leiter (“leader, conductor, manager”), Danish leder (“leader, manager”), Swedish ledare (“leader, conductor, director”), Icelandic leiðari (“leader, conductor”).

cog

(music, UK) The first violin in a symphony orchestra; the concertmaster.

Someone or something that leads or conducts.

(UK, journalism) The first, or the principal, editorial article in a newspaper; a leading or main editorial article; a lead story.


weer

(UK, colloquial) Someone who wees, someone who urinates.


hoop

en-noun

hoop (countable and uncountable, plural hoops)

From Middle English hoop, hoope, from Old English hōp (“mound, raised land; in combination, circular object”), from Proto-Germanic *hōpą (“bend, bow, arch”) (compare Saterland Frisian Houp (“hoop”), Dutch hoep (“hoop”), Old Norse hóp (“bay, inlet”)), from Proto-Indo-European *kāb- (“to bend”) (compare Lithuanian kabė (“hook”), Old Church Slavonic кѫпъ (kǫpŭ, “hill, island”)). More at camp.

cog

(UK, obsolete) An old measure of capacity, variously estimated at from one to four pecks.


pub

→ Danish: pub

→ Dutch: pub

→ Estonian: pubi

→ Finnish: pub, pubi

→ French: pub

→ German: Pub

→ Greek: παμπ (pamp)

→ Gujarati: પબ (pab)

→ Icelandic: pöbb

→ Italian: pub

→ Japanese: パブ (pabu)

→ Korean: 퍼브 (peobeu)

→ Norwegian: pub

→ Polish: pub

→ Russian: паб (pab)

→ Mongolian: паб (pab)

→ Spanish: pub

→ Swedish: pub

→ Thai: ผับ (pàp)

Reg liked a chat about old times and we used to go and have a chinwag in the pub.

1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.

2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) A public house where beverages, primarily alcoholic, may be bought and consumed, also providing food and sometimes entertainment such as live music or television.


blooming

en-adj

blooming (comparative more blooming, superlative most blooming)

more blooming (comparative)
most blooming (superlative)

“How'd you like to be shoved in a blooming log?'

1918, Norman Lindsay, The Magic Pudding, page 54:

(British, Australia, dated) A euphemism for the intensifier bloody.


blooming

My train's late again. Blooming typical.

“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:

It had been his intention to go to Wimbledon, but as he himself said: “Why be blooming well frizzled when you can hear all the results over the wireless. And results are all that concern me. […]”

1935, George Goodchild, chapter 3, in Death on the Centre Court:

(British, Australia, often followed by well) A euphemism for the intensifier bloody.


academicals

(British) The articles of dress prescribed and worn at some colleges and universities, typically on special occasions such as graduation.


note

en-noun

note (usually uncountable, plural notes)

notes (plural)
noit (alternative)
noyt (alternative)
not (alternative)

From Middle English note (“use, usefulness, profit”), from Old English notu (“use, enjoyment, advantage, profit, utility”), from Proto-West Germanic *notu, from Proto-Germanic *nutō (“enjoyment, utilisation”), from Proto-Indo-European *newd- (“to acquire, make use of”). Cognate with West Frisian not (“yield, produce, crop”), Dutch genot (“enjoyment, pleasure”), Dutch nut (“usefulness, utility, behoof”), German Nutzen (“benefit, usefulness, utility”), Icelandic not (“use”, noun). Related also to Old English notian (“to enjoy, make use of, employ”), Old English nēotan (“to use, enjoy”), Old High German niozan (“to use, enjoy”) (Modern German genießen (“to enjoy”)), Modern German benutzen (“to use”). Related to nait.

cog

And have thou that for thy note !

1838, William Marriott, “The Deluge”, in A Collection of English Miracle-Plays or Mysteries, Basel: Schweighauser & Co, page 11:

Tha'll keep me at this noit all day... Om always at this noit.

1897 May 27, Halifax Courier, quoted in 1903, Joseph Wright, English Dialect Dictionary, volume IV, London: Henry Frowde, page 302

Thou canst do thy note; that have I espied.

1962, Arthur C. Cawley, Everyman, and Medieval Miracle Plays, page 125:

(uncountable, UK dialectal, Northern England, Ireland, Scotland) That which is needed or necessary; business; duty; work.

The supply of horned cattle at this fair was great, but the business done was confined to fleshy barreners of feeding qualities and superior new-calved heifers, and those at early note, with appearance of being useful; [...]

For sale, a Kerry cow, five years old, at her note in May.

A cow is said to be in note when she is in milk.

1888, S. O. Addy Gloss, Words Sheffield, page 160:

A man who drank spring water when his one cow was near note.

1922, P. MacGill, Lanty Hanlon, page 11:

Be at her note, be near note, come forward to her note, of a cow or sow, be near the time for calving or farrowing.

1996, C. I. Macafee Conc., Ulster Dict. at Note:

(UK dialectal, Northern England, Ireland, Scotland) The giving of milk by a cow or sow; the period following calving or farrowing during which a cow or sow is at her most useful (i.e. gives milk); the milk given by a cow or sow during such a period.


mop

en-noun

mop (countable and uncountable, plural mops)

→ Canadian French: moppe

→ German: Mopp

→ Irish: mapa

→ Spanish: mopa

From Middle English mappe (also as mappel), perhaps borrowed from Walloon mappe (“napkin”), from Latin mappa (“napkin, cloth”). Believed to be from a Semitic source, variously claimed as Phoenician or Punic (the latter by Quintilian). Compare Modern Hebrew מַפָּה (mapá, “a map; a cloth”) (shortened from מַנְפָּה (manpah, “fluttering banner, streaming cloth”)). Doublet of map, nape, and nappe.

I means to goo to th' mop, 'er sez, fur I waants a chahinge.[…]'T wuz to w:Muckley mop 'er went.

1897, Hamilton Kingsford, Vigornian Monologues: A Series of Papers in Illustration of the Dialect of Worcestershire, page 18:

The Mop Fairs attracted the attention of moralists. The hiring system was seen as a means to acquire girls for prostitution; although there is no evidence that this occurred in Stratford, where girls plying for hire were generally accompanied by their formidable mothers.

2014 August 15, Nicholas Fogg, Stratford-upon-Avon: The Biography:

Mop Fairs: Today's annual events are the modern version of the old hiring fairs, where people attended seeking employment or to change it. They are named after the practice of hopefully skilled employees carrying tassels, known as mops, in their buttonholes indicating their occupation. Those who had no trade carried a mop head. At the end of the following week, they could change employers or employees, at what was called the Runaway Mop.

2022, Graham Sutherland, Secret Warwick:

(British, dialect, West Midlands) An annual fair where servants were historically hired.

(British, obsolete) A tassel worn in a buttonhole to indicate ones occupation in such a fair.


mop

From Middle English moppe (“fool, simpleton; derisive gesture; child, baby, doll”), of obscure origin, but compare Proto-West Germanic *mauwu (“pout, protruding lip”).
Compare Low German mop, mops (“simpleton; pugnosed dog”), Dutch mop, mops (“pugnosed dog”), and the verb mope.

unc

obscure

cog

(British, dialect, obsolete) The young of any animal.

(British, dialect, obsolete) A young girl; a moppet.


floor

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

non-rhotic, dough–door merger, African-American Vernacular

Inherited from Middle English flor, flore, from Old English flōr (“floor, pavement, ground, bottom”), from Proto-West Germanic *flōr, from Proto-Germanic *flōraz (“flat surface, floor, plain”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂ros (“floor”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat”).
Cognate with Scots flair, Scots flure, fluir (“floor”), Saterland Frisian Floor (“floor”), West Frisian flier (“floor”), Dutch vloer (“floor”), German Low German Floor (“entry hall”), German Flur (“field, floor, entrance hall”), Swedish flor (“floor of a cow stall”), Norwegian Nynorsk flor (“floor of a cow stall”), Irish urlár (“floor”), Scottish Gaelic làr (“floor, ground, earth”), Welsh llawr (“floor, ground”), Latin plānus (“level, flat”).

cog

After stepping off the bus, my wallet fell on the floor.


lash

en-adj

lash (comparative more lash, superlative most lash)

more lash (comparative)
most lash (superlative)


mark

en-verb

mark (third-person singular simple present marks, present participle marking, simple past and past participle marked)

marks (present singular third-person)
marking (participle present)
marked (participle past)
marked (past)
marke (alternative obsolete)
merk (alternative obsolete)
marc (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English mark, merk, merke, from Old English mearc (“mark, sign, line of division; standard; boundary, limit, term, border; defined area, district, province”), from Proto-West Germanic *marku, from Proto-Germanic *markō (“boundary; boundary marker”), from Proto-Indo-European *mórǵs (“edge, boundary, border”).
Compare march.
Cognates
* Dutch mark, merk (“mark, brand”)
* German Mark (“mark; borderland”), Marke (“mark, brand”)
* Swedish mark (“mark, land, territory”)
* Icelandic mark (“mark, sign”)
* Latin margo (“edge, margin”)
* Persian مرز (marz, “limit, boundary”)
* Sanskrit मर्या (maryā, “limit, mark, boundary”), मार्ग (mārga, “mark, section”).

cog

The teacher had to spend her weekend marking all the tests.

Under the proposals, an assurance is given that GBR (in the words of the plan) will not be marking its own homework.

2024 May 15, 'Industry Insider', “Labour's plan for the railway”, in RAIL, number 1009, page 68:

(Canada, UK) To indicate the correctness of and give a score to (a school assignment, exam answers, etc.).


dump

(UK, archaic) A thick, ill-shapen piece.

The capons were leaden representations of cocks and hens pitched at by leaden dumps.

(UK, archaic) A lead counter used in the game of chuck-farthing.


want

en-noun

want (countable and uncountable, plural wants)

wants (plural)
waunt (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English wanten (“to lack, to need”), from Old Norse vanta (“to lack”), from Proto-Germanic *wanatōną (“to be wanting, lack”), from *wanô (“lack, deficiency”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“empty”). Cognate with Middle High German wan (“not full, empty”), Middle Dutch wan (“empty, poor”), Old English wana (“want, lack, absence, deficiency”), Latin vanus (“empty”). See wan, wan-.

cog

(UK, mining) A depression in coal strata, hollowed out before the subsequent deposition took place.


start

→ German: Start

→ Persian: استارت (estârt)

From Middle English stert, from the verb sterten (“to start, startle”). See below.

“It's a rum start, old John Madingley's coming down to Tunnleton,” said Grafton, one evening in the smoking-room; […]

1887, Hawley Smart, A False Start, volume 2, page 69:

(UK, slang, archaic) A happening or proceeding.


penguin

→ Assamese: পেঙ্গুইন (peṅguin)

→ Burmese: ပင်ဂွင် (panggwang)

desctree

→ Dutch: pinguïn, pinguin (superseded, dated)
Afrikaans: pikkewyn
→ French: pingouin
→ Danish: pingvin
→ Italian: pinguino
→ Persian: پنگوئن (pangu'an)
→ Portuguese: pinguim
→ Romanian: pinguin
→ Spanish: pingüino
→ Swedish: pingvin
→ Turkish: penguen

→ Hawaiian: penekuina

→ Japanese: ペンギン (pengin)

→ Khmer: ភេនឃ្វីន (pheinkhviin)

→ Korean: 펭귄 (penggwin)

→ Thai: เพนกวิน (pen-gwîn)

→ Welsh: pengwin

Etymology tree
Proto-Celtic *kʷennom
Proto-Brythonic *penn
Welsh pen?
Proto-Indo-European *weyd-der.?
Proto-Celtic *windos
Proto-Brythonic *gwɨnn
Welsh gwyn?
Proto-Indo-European *peyH-der.
Proto-Indo-European *bʰenǵʰ-influ.?
Latin pinguisder.?
English penguin
Unknown; first attested in the 16th century in reference to the auk of the Northern hemisphere; the word was later applied to the superficially similar birds of the Southern hemisphere (as was woggin). Possibly from Welsh pen (“head”) and gwyn (“white”), or from Latin pinguis (“fat”). See citations and the Wikipedia article.
(nun): Because of the often black-and-white habit, resembling the bird's colors.

etymon

Although it is a permanent R.A.F. station (pre-war, that is), we meander about, even in the Mess, in battle dress and flying boots, sweaters, etc., much to the disgust of some of the more dignified 'penguins' […]

1942, Hermann Hagedorn, Sunward I've Climbed, page 143:

Notwithstanding his elevated status as the wing’s Senior Intelligence Officer, Monty, too, was a “penguin,” equal in that respect to an armament assistant, airframe mechanic, pigeon loftsman or any of the seventy-odd ground trades listed by the Royal Canadian Air Force at the war’s end.

1994, Monty Berger, Invasions without tears: the story of Canada's top-scoring Spitfire wing in Europe during the Second World War, →ISBN, →LCCN, page xi:

She may have been a “penguin”—an Air Force service member who didn't fly—but it sure beat being at home, as Brady had pointed out.

2015 June 1, Kate Christie, In the Company of Women, Bella Books, →ISBN, →OCLC:

This was to be my home for three months where ground officer cadets, referred to colloquially as ‘penguins’ were trained.

2019 November 5, Derek Esp, An Adventure in Education: The Autobiography of an Accidental Career in Education, Troubador Publishing Ltd, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 46:

(UK, military, slang) A member of the air force who does not fly aircraft.


mash

en-noun

mash (countable and uncountable, plural mashes)

From Middle English mash, from Old English mǣsċ, māsċ, māx, from Proto-Germanic *maiskaz, *maiskō (“mixture, mash”), from Proto-Indo-European *meyǵ-, *meyḱ- (“to mix”). Akin to German Meisch, Maische (“mash”), (compare meischen, maischen (“to mash, wash”)), Swedish mäsk (“mash”), and to Old English miscian (“to mix”). See mix.


mash

en-verb

mash (third-person singular simple present mashes, present participle mashing, simple past and past participle mashed)

mashes (present singular third-person)
mashing (participle present)
mashed (participle past)
mashed (past)

From Middle English mashen, maschen, meshen, from Old English *māsċan, *mǣsċan, from Proto-Germanic *maiskijaną. Cognate with German maischen. Compare also Middle Low German meskewert, mēschewert (“beerwort”).

He took the kettle off the fire and mashed the tea.

1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “Chapter 10”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:

(transitive, UK, chiefly Northern England) To prepare a cup of tea in a teapot; to brew (tea).


mask

From Middle English maske, from Old English max, masċ (“net”), from Proto-West Germanic *maskā (“mesh, netting, mask”). Doublet of mesh and mask above.

inh

(UK dialectal, Scotland) The mesh of a net; a net; net-bag.


mask

From Middle English *mask, masch, from Old English māx, māsc (“mash”). Doublet of mash.


mask

en-verb

mask (third-person singular simple present masks, present participle masking, simple past and past participle masked)

masks (present singular third-person)
masking (participle present)
masked (participle past)
masked (past)

(transitive, UK dialectal) (brewing) To mix malt with hot water to yield wort.

(UK dialectal, Scotland) To prepare tea in a teapot; alternative to brew.


mask

From Middle English masken, short for *maskeren, malskren (“to bewilder; be confused, wander”). More at masker.

(transitive, UK dialectal) To bewilder; confuse.


penultimate

From Latin paenultimus (“penultimate”) + -ate (adjective-forming suffix), from paene (“almost”) + ultimus (“last”). Equivalent to pene- + ultimate. Compare French pénultième.

af

[…] they [the sounds of an echo] next strike the ultimate secondary object, then the penultimate and antepenultimate; […]

1677, Robert Plot, “Of the Heavens and Air”, in The natural history of Oxford-shire: Being an Essay Toward the Natural History of England, page 15:

But it should frequently happen that offspring should resemble its penultimate rather than its latest phase, and should thus be more like a grand-parent than a parent.

1878, Samuel Butler, chapter 10, in Life and Habit:

“Your clothes don't weigh more'n seven pounds. And seven from—hum—say one hundred an' twenty-three—one hundred an' sixteen is your stripped weight.”
But at the penultimate word, Mary cried out with sharp reproof:
“Why, Billy Roberts, people don't talk about such things.”

1913, Jack London, chapter 3, in The Valley of the Moon:

(UK, in US usually formal, literary or scholarly) Next to last, second to last; immediately preceding the end of a sequence, list, etc.


hun

Clipping of honey with pronunciation spelling.

Answer: you are a hun – but a high-end hun, one who knows her wine, her music, her interiors and her labels, and whose reluctance to do Dry January, or go vegan makes her such great company, this month and every month.

2023 January 25, Laura Craik, “They’re glamorous, ageless and British – the rise of the high-end hun”, in The Telegraph:

It’s no wonder she’s become a central figure in “hun culture” – an online subculture that idolises a certain strata of famous working-class British women, while also taking the mick out of her leopard print kettle and weakness for a premixed gin-in-a-tin cocktail.

2024 March 29, Louis Staples, “Natalie Cassidy: ‘I’m very proud to be a hun’”, in i:

(UK, slang) A woman perceived as basic, brash, working class and fond of alcohol.


wee

en-verb

wee (third-person singular simple present wees, present participle weeing, simple past and past participle weed)

wees (present singular third-person)
weeing (participle present)
weed (participle past)
weed (past)

Onomatopoeic for the sound of urination. The noun derives from the verb.

I need to wee! I can't hold it any longer!

When I was young, I was up every night until the wee hours. Now I'm up every hour at night to wee.

2011 March 15, Tom Armstrong, Marvin (comic):

пи́сать

homograph with писать (pisát’) - to write


brat

en-noun

brat (countable and uncountable, plural brats)

Early Modern English (c. 1500) slang term meaning "beggar's child". Possibly from Scots bratchet (“bitch, hound”). Another possibility is that it was originally a dialectal word, from northern and western England and the Midlands, for a "makeshift or ragged garment," from Old English bratt (“cloak”), which is from a Celtic source (Old Irish brat (“cloak, cloth”)). In the sense "characteristic of a confident and assertive woman", coined by English singer and songwriter Charli XCX in her 2024 album Brat.

coinage

[She] had still on the rough worsted apron of nappy homespun wool, called a "brat".

1882, John Strathesk, “pp. 135”, in Blinkbonny^([The English Dialect Dictionary... brat]):

(obsolete, UK, Scotland, dialect) A coarse kind of apron for keeping the clothes clean; a bib.


size

en-verb

size (third-person singular simple present sizes, present participle sizing, simple past and past participle sized)

sizes (present singular third-person)
sizing (participle present)
sized (participle past)
sized (past)

Attested since the 14th century, originally meant a “law or regulation that determines the amount to be paid”, from Middle English syse, sise (“regulation, control, limit”), from Old French cise, sise, aphetism of assise (“assize”), from the verb asseoir (“to sit down”), from Latin assidēre, composed of ad- (“to, towards, at”) + sedeō (“sit; settle down”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sed-. Displaced native Old English miċelnes (literally “bigness”).

ncog

(UK, Cambridge University, obsolete) To order food or drink from the buttery; hence, to enter a score, as upon the buttery book.


wallah

wallahs (plural)
waala (alternative)
waalah (alternative)
walah (alternative)
wala (alternative)
vaala (alternative)
vaalah (alternative)
valah (alternative)
walla (alternative)

Either from Hindi -वाला (-vālā, “pertaining to”) or from Hindi वाला (vālā, “person in charge”).


sarnie

sarnies (plural)
sarny (alternative)
sarney (alternative)

From sarn- (“perhaps from a dialectal pronunciation of the first syllable of sandwich”) + -ie. Alternatively, perhaps a misreading or an intentional dissimilation of samie (i.e. sammie), where the 'm' is mistaken for or replaced with 'rn'.

suffix

perhaps from a dialectal pronunciation of the first syllable of <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">sandwich</i>

Hello my flower, shall I fix up a cheese sarnie for you?

With their jock-straps pinching, they slouch to attention
While queueing for sarnies at the office canteen.

1972, “Thick As A Brick”, Ian Anderson (lyrics), performed by Jethro Tull:

In fact no one was playing bingo, 10p or otherwise. Nor had the patrons been enticed by the complimentary shrink-wrapped sarnies and packets of cheese-and-onion on offer in the roped-off ‘Over 18s VIP area’, with its £500-jackpot fruit machines.

2012, Tim Moore, You Are Awful (But I Like You): Travels Around Unloved Britain, Vintage, →ISBN, page 7:

Just like Marple, there's a plaque at the London terminus [Paddington] commemorating a fictional character - a polite, friendly little bear from darkest Peru who has a penchant for marmalade sarnies.

2021 September 22, Stephen Roberts, “The writings on the wall...”, in RAIL, number 940, page 74:


cornet

From Middle English cornet, from Old French cornet, a diminutive of a popular reflex of Latin cornū (“horn”).

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-cornet.wav

A pastry shell to be filled with ice-cream, hence (UK, dated) an ice cream cone.


game

en-noun

game (countable and uncountable, plural games)

→ Brazilian Portuguese: game

→ Dutch: gamen, game

→ Finnish: geimit

→ Irish: géim

→ Japanese: ゲーム

→ Korean: 게임 (geim), 겜 (gem)

→ Norman: gamme

→ Norwegian: gamen, game

→ Spanish: game

→ Welsh: gêm

From Middle English game, gamen, gammen, from Old English gamen (“sport, joy, mirth, pastime, game, amusement, pleasure”), from Proto-West Germanic *gaman, from Proto-Germanic *gamaną (“amusement, pleasure, game", literally "participation, communion, people together”), from *ga- (collective prefix) + *mann- (“man”); or alternatively from *ga- + a root from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to think, have in mind”).
Cognate with Old Frisian game, gome (“joy, amusement, entertainment”), Middle High German gamen (“joy, amusement, fun, pleasure”), Swedish gamman (“mirth, rejoicing, merriment”), Icelandic gaman (“fun”). Related to gammon, gamble.

cog

From time to time tracksuited boys ran past them, with all the deadly purpose and humourless concentration of those who enjoyed Games.

1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section III, page 26:

(UK, in the plural) A school subject during which sports are practised.


garden

Sranan Tongo: dyari

→ Nafaanra: yaadi

From Middle English gardyn, garden, from Anglo-Norman gardin, from Frankish *gardin-, oblique stem of *gardō (“enclosure, yard”), from Proto-Germanic *gardô (“enclosure, garden, house”), whence also inherited English yard. (compare Old French jart alongside jardin, Medieval Latin gardīnus). Doublet of jardin. Displaced Old English wyrttūn.
Cognates
Cognate with West Frisian gard, Low German Goorn, Dutch gaard, gaarde, German Garten, Icelandic garður, French jardin, Spanish jardín, Italian giardino, Sicilian jardinu.

tuin

piece of land outside with flowers and plants

gumno

area behind a barn for fruits and vegetables

This house has a swimming pool, a tent, a swing set and a fountain in the garden.

We were drinking lemonade and playing croquet in the garden.

Our garden is overgrown with weeds.

(British, Ireland, Appalachia, New York City) The grounds at the front or back of a house.


fast

From Middle English fast, fest, from Old English fæst (“firm, secure”), from Proto-West Germanic *fast, from Proto-Germanic *fastuz; see it for cognates and further etymology.
The development of “rapid” from an original sense of “secure” apparently happened first in the adverb and then transferred to the adjective; compare hard in expressions like “to run hard”. The original sense of “secure, firm” is now slightly archaic, but retained in the related fasten (“make secure”). Also compare close meaning change from Latin rapiō (“to snatch”) to Latin rapidus (“rapid, quick”), from Irish sciob (“to snatch”) to Irish sciobtha (“quick”).

(British, rail transport) A train that calls at only some stations it passes between its origin and destination, typically just the principal stations.


paper

en-noun

paper (countable and uncountable, plural papers)

Tok Pisin: pepa
→ Rotokas: pepa

→ Dutch: paper

→ Eastern Arrernte: pipe

→ Esperanto: papero
Ido: papero

→ Hawaiian: pepa

→ Japanese: ペーパー (pēpā)

→ Malayalam: പേപ്പർ (pēppaṟ)

→ Maori: pepa

→ Marshallese: peba

→ Mokilese: peipa

→ Niuean: pepa

→ Scottish Gaelic: pàipear

→ Southern Ndebele: iphepha

→ Spanish: paper

→ Swazi: líphepha

→ Xhosa: iphepha

→ Yoruba: bébà, pépà

→ Zulu: iphepha

From Middle English paper, from Anglo-Norman paper, from Old Catalan paper, borrowed from Latin papȳrus (and given the Catalan suffix -er), from Ancient Greek πάπυρος (pápuros).

(British, Hong Kong) A set of examination questions to be answered at one session.


Andrew

en-prop

Andrew (countable and uncountable, plural Andrews)

[ˈeᵊnˌd̠ɹ̠˔ʷʊ̈u]

[ˈænˌd̠ɹ̠ʷ˔ʊ̈u]

From Ancient Greek Ἀνδρέας (Andréas), cognate with ἀνδρεῖος (andreîos, “manly”), both from ἀνήρ (anḗr, “man”). Doublet of André, Andreas, Andrei, and Andrey.

doublet

A common British catch phrase is, "You shouldn't have joined Andrew if you couldn't take a joke."

1984, Robert Hendrickson, Salty Words, page 19:

“Me muvver always said I should a joined the Andrew.” (Royal Navy.)

2011, Johannes H. L. Bosman, The Plough & the Sword, page 257:


quadrillion

→ Welsh: cwadriliwn

From French quadrillion, from quadri- (“four”) + -illion.

Previous: trilliard. Next: quadrilliard.

(dated, UK, Australia, long scale) A million trillion (logic: 1,000,000⁴): 1 followed by twenty-four zeros, 10²⁴.

քառիլիոն

a million trillion, 1024 — see also septillion


boob

Clipped form of booby (“fool”). Appeared near the beginning of the twentieth century; more information at booby § Etymology 1.


queer

en-adj

queer (comparative queerer, superlative queerest)

queerer (comparative)
queerest (superlative)
qwer (alternative)

→ Azerbaijani: kuir

→ Georgian: ქვიარი (kviari)

→ German: queer, Queer

→ Russian: квир (kvir)

→ Swedish: queer

→ Turkish: kuir

Attested since about 1510, at first in Scots. Usually taken to be from Middle Low German (Brunswick dialect) queer (“oblique, off-center”) or the related German quer (“diagonal”), from Old Saxon thwerh, from Proto-West Germanic *þwerh, from Proto-Germanic *þwerhaz, from Proto-Indo-European *terkʷ- (“to turn, twist, wind”); compare Latin torqueō, and see more at thwart. The OED argues against this due to the semantic differences and the date at which the word appears in Scots.
Began to be used to describe gay people in the late 1800s, see usage notes for more.

der

Fully Automated Luxury Queer Space Communism

An old long-faced, long-bodied servant, gave a queer look

1824, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], Tales of a Traveller, (please specify |part=1 to 4), Philadelphia, Pa.: H[enry] C[harles] Carey & I[saac] Lea, […], →OCLC:

“I wish I hadn’t cried so much!” said Alice, as she swam about, trying to find her way out. “I shall be punished for it now, I suppose, by being drowned in my own tears! That will be a queer thing, to be sure! However, everything is queer to-day.”

1865 November (indicated as 1866), Lewis Carroll [pseudonym; Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], “The Pool of Tears”, in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, pages 23–24:

One thing has struck me as a bit queer. During my two terms of office the whole Democratic press, and the morbidly honest and 'reformatory' portion of the Republican press, thought it horrible to keep U.S. troops stationed in the Southern States, and when they were called upon to protect the lives of negroes–as much citizens under the Constitution as if their skins were white–the country was scarcely large enough to hold the sound of indignation belched forth by them for some years. Now, however, there is no hesitation about exhausting the whole power of the government to suppress a strike on the slightest intimation that danger threatens.

1877, Ulysses S. Grant, The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant: November 1, 1876-September 30, 1878, page 252:

It looked queer to me to see boxes labeled "His Excellency, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America." The packages so labeled contained Bass ale or Cognac brandy, which cost "His Excellency" less than we Yankees had to pay for it. Think of the President drinking imported liquors while his soldiers were living on pop-corn and water!

1885, David Dixon Porter, Incidents and Anecdotes of the Civil War, page 274:

Of all the queer collections of humans outside of a crazy asylum, it seemed to me this sanitarium was the cup winner. […] When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you begin to get queer, I suppose.

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

“’Tis a queer book - here, leave me git on my spectacles - ” The old man fumbled among his rags, producing a pair of dirty and amazingly antique glasses (...)

1920, H. P. Lovecraft, The Picture in the House:

1927, J. B. S. Haldane, “Possible Worlds” in Possible Worlds and Other Papers, London: Chatto & Windus,
Now, my own suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.

A queer look came over John Arable's face. He seemed almost ready to cry himself.

1952, E. B. White, Charlotte's Web, page 3:

Though it may seem very queer,
we've got no jobs to give you here,
so we are sending you to Vietnam.

1965, “Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation”, Tom Paxton (lyrics), Tom Paxton (music):

(dated outside UK, Ireland, Scotland) Weird, odd, or different; whimsical.

Of all the queer collections of humans outside of a crazy asylum, it seemed to me this sanitarium was the cup winner. … When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you begin to get queer, I suppose.

"Well, I'm—I'm jiggered," said Peter, and his voice also sounded queer.

1951, C. S. Lewis, Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia:

VLADIMIR: Hope deferred maketh the something sick, who said that? / ESTRAGON: Why don't you help me? / VLADIMIR: Sometimes I feel it coming all the same. Then I go all queer.

1954, Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot, →ISBN, page 3:

(British, informal, dated) Slightly unwell (mainly in "to feel queer").

mal fichu (to feel queer se sentir mal fichu)

un po' male (to feel queer stare un po' male, sentirsi poco bene)


queer

en-verb

queer (third-person singular simple present queers, present participle queering, simple past and past participle queered)

queers (present singular third-person)
queering (participle present)
queered (participle past)
queered (past)
qwer (alternative)

"But lor-a-mussy, Jacob, how could a woman get away from here with all her boxes in the middle of the night?"
"That's what queered me," and Spink slowly shook his head, "and queered a good many; for of course it got newsed about […]"

1887, G. W. Appelton, chapter II, in A Terrible Legacy: A Tale of the South Downs, London: Ward and Downey, page 12:

"Where do you come from?" Stanley queered.

1894, Ivan Dexter, Talmud; A Strange Narrative of Central Australia, published in serial form in Port Adelaide News and Lefevre's Peninsula Advertiser (SA), Chapter V, http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks16/1600641.txt

w:Webster's Dictionary#Webster's New International Dictionary 1909


TOC

train operating company
train operating company#English

(UK, rail transport) Initialism of train operating company.


spider

en-noun

spider (countable and uncountable, plural spiders)

[ˈspʌɪ̯ɾə(ɹ)]

From Middle English spiþre, spydyr, spider, spiþer, from Old English spīþra (“spider”), from Proto-West Germanic *spinþrijō, from Proto-Germanic *spinnaną (“to spin”). Mostly displaced attercop (“spider, unpleasant person”), now a dialectal term.

Cut slices and lay them in cold water in the spider; boil them up two or three minutes, then pour off the water and set the spider again on the coals and brown the slices on each side.

1846, Mary Hooker Cornelius, The Young Housekeeper's Friend, page 146, recipe 28 “To fry salt pork”

In spider pan or deep skillet set over hot coals, quickly fry a few at a time in deep lard until brown.

2005, Marty Davidson, Grandma Grace's Southern Favorites, recipe for “strawberry coconuts”, Rutledge Hill Press, page 193

2008, Corona Club (San Francisco, California), Corona Club Cook Book, page 202,
Melt ½ the dry sugar in the spider, stirring with knife until all is melted.

(cooking, US, UK, chiefly historical and now dialectal) A cast-iron frying pan with three legs, once common in open-hearth cookery.