codswallop

Codd-neck bottle
Galton and Simpson
Hancock's Half Hour
Hiram Codd

Unknown. Attested from a 1959 episode of the UK TV series Hancock's Half Hour. The writers (Galton and Simpson) state that the phrase was in general use when the show was broadcast. A national TV appeal in the UK in 2006 failed to find earlier references, though a humorous newspaper column from 1947 does use the fictional name "Sir Aubrey Codswallop". Originally written (1963) codswallop; the spelling cod's wallop is later.
Various etymologies are proposed from some sense of cod, such as from cod (“joke, imitation”) + -s- + wallop (“beer”) (slang), hence “imitation beer” (with interconsonantal -s- to ease pronunciation of -dw-), or from cod (“scrotum, as in codpiece”) + -s- + wallop (“to hit”), hence “to hit (with) the testicle bag,” or from cod (“fish”), hence perhaps some part of the fish, as used in the fishing industry.
A frequently given etymology, although widely rejected as a folk etymology, derives it from Hiram Codd, British soft drink maker of the 1870s, known for the eponymous Codd-neck bottle, with the suggestion that codswallop is a derisive term for soft drinks by beer drinkers, from Codd’s + wallop (“beer”), thus sarcastically “Codd’s beer”. There is no evidence that early uses had this sense; the slang term wallop (“beer”) appeared after Codd’s lifetime, initial spellings (in print from 1963) do not reflect such a derivation (*Codd’s wallop and *coddswallop with -dd- are not found), and there is an 80-year gap between the proposed coinage and attestation.
This is also the name given to the wooden device placed over the neck of a codd bottle and given a push (wallop) to dislodge the marble in the neck of the bottle. The word has also been used to describe the process of opening a codd bottle.

af

scrotum, as in <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">codpiece</i>

cod's wallop (alternative)
cods wallop (alternative)

Tony: I was not.
Sidney: Don’t give me that old codswallop. You were counting your money.

1959, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, Hancock’s Half Hour:

Just branding a programme as ‘rubbish’, ‘tripe’, or—there are a lot of these—‘codswallop’, gives little indication of what moved the viewer to write.

An interviewer from a Warsaw radio station stopped a citizen in the street. Was the recent demonstration necessary? “History will tell.” But what did he think? “I am not a historian.” Likewise Lumsden′s and Wilson′s book. If it is not a load of codswallop, it will turn out to be very important. If it is not a load of codswallop. Faites vos jeux!

1981 October 1, John Turner, “Review: Autumn Books: Prometheus bounded?”, in New Scientist, page 41:

1993, J. Neville Turner, The One-Day Game – Cricket or Codswallop?, in 2001, David John Headon, The Best Ever Australian Sports Writing: A 200 Year Collection.

“I′ve told you all I know,” Rosa Armaz told Boarski and Yermin, “I don′t know what my husband has been doing. He′d mentioned going to Mars with the children but I thought it was a load of codswallop.”

2010, Grahame Howard, The Wishing Book 3 – Extermination, page 66:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang) Senseless talk or writing; nonsense; rubbish.


codswallop

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang) Used to express disbelief: nonsense!; rubbish!


lend

lends (plural)
leynd (alternative)
leind (alternative)
lind (alternative)
lende (alternative)

From Middle English lende (usually in plural as lendes, leendes, lyndes), from Old English lendenu, lendino (“loins”), plural of Old English lenden (“loin”), from Proto-West Germanic *landī, from Proto-Germanic *landį̄ (“loin”), from Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- (“loin, kidney”). Cognate with Scots lend, leynd (“the loins, flank, buttocks”), Dutch lendenen (“loins, reins”), German Lenden (“loins”), Swedish länder (“loins”), Danish lænd (“loin”), Icelandic lendar (“loins”), Latin lumbus (“loin”) (whence loin),
Polish lędźwie (“loins”),
Russian ля́двея (ljádveja, “thigh, haunch”).

cog

(anatomy, UK dialectal) The lumbar region; loin.

(UK dialectal, of a person or animal) The loins; flank; buttocks.


let

en-verb

let (third-person singular simple present lets, present participle letting, simple past let or (obsolete) leet, past participle let or (obsolete) letten)

lets (present singular third-person)
letting (participle present)
let (past)
leet (obsolete past)
let (participle past)
letten (obsolete participle past)
lett (alternative archaic)
lettest (alternative archaic past present second-person singular)
letteth (alternative archaic present singular third-person)

Derived from Middle English leten, læten, from Old English lǣtan (“to allow, let go, bequeath, leave, rent”), from Proto-West Germanic *lātan, from Proto-Germanic *lētaną (“to leave behind, allow”), from Proto-Indo-European *leh₁d- (“to be tired, leave”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots lat, lete (“to let, leave”), North Frisian lete (“to let”), West Frisian litte (“to let”), Dutch laten (“to let, leave”), German lassen (“to let, leave, allow”), Swedish låta (“to let, allow, leave”), Danish lade (“to let, allow, leave”), Icelandic láta (“to let”), Albanian lë (“to allow, let, leave”) and partially related to French laisser (“to let”).

der

don't let the door hit you on the way out

let he who is without sin cast the first stone

let him that is without sin cast the first stone

let him who is without sin cast the first stone

let the door hit you where the good Lord split you

let the perfect be the enemy of the good

I decided to let the farmhouse to a couple while I was working abroad.

Trailers for sale or rent, rooms to let, fifty cents.

(transitive, chiefly British) To allow possession of (a property etc.) in exchange for rent.


lit

From Middle English lit, from Old Norse litr (“colour, dye, complexion, face, countenance”), from Proto-Germanic *wlitiz, *wlitaz (“sight, face”), from Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“to see”). Cognate with Icelandic litur (“colour”), Old English wlite (“brightness, appearance, form, aspect, look, countenance, beauty, splendor, adornment”), Old English wlītan (“to gaze, look, observe”).

cog

(UK dialectal) Colour; blee; dye; stain.


make

From Middle English make, imake, ȝemace, from Old English ġemaca (“a mate, an equal, companion, peer”), from Proto-West Germanic *gamakō, from Proto-Germanic *gamakô (“companion, comrade”), from Proto-Indo-European *maǵ- (“to knead, oil”). Reinforced by Old Norse maki (“an equal”).
Cognate with Icelandic maki (“spouse”), Swedish make (“spouse, husband”), Danish mage (“companion, fellow, mate”). Doublet of match.

der

Th'Elfe therewith astownd,
 Vpstarted lightly from his looser make,
 And his vnready weapons gan in hand to take.

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

Where their maids and their makes
 At dancing and wakes,
 Had their napkins and posies
 And the wipers for their noses

1624, Ben Jonson, The Masque of Owls at Kenilworth:

But then sometimes I thought, it's a black Crake
 That never to her-sell can get a Make.

Every cake hath its make; but a scrape cake hath two.

1678 (later reprinted: 1855), John Ray, A Hand-book of Proverbs

(UK, dialectal) Mate; a spouse or companion; a match.


made

mades (plural)
mad (alternative)
mathe (alternative)

From Middle English mathe, from Old English maþu, maþa (“maggot, worm, grub”), from Proto-Germanic *maþô (“maggot”), from Proto-Indo-European *mot- (“worm, grub, caterpillar, moth”). Cognate with Scots mathe, maithe (“maggot”), Dutch made (“maggot”), German Made (“maggot”). More at maggot.

(UK dialectal or obsolete) A grub or maggot.


back

en-verb

back (third-person singular simple present backs, present participle backing, simple past and past participle backed)

backs (present singular third-person)
backing (participle present)
backed (participle past)
backed (past)

From Middle English bak, from Old English bæc, from Proto-West Germanic *bak, from Proto-Germanic *baką, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg- (“to bend”). The adverb represents an aphetic form of aback.
Compare Middle Low German bak (“back”), from Old Saxon bak, and West Frisian bekling (“chair back”), Old High German bah, Swedish and Norwegian bak. Cognate with German Bache (“sow [adult female hog]”).

pakata

of wind: to shift in an anticlockwise direction

you can't put the shit back in the horse

you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube

you can't put the toothpaste back into the tube

(UK, of a hunting dog) To stand still behind another dog which has pointed.


bull

en-noun

bull (countable and uncountable, plural bulls)

bear

investor who sells in anticipation of a fall in prices

From Middle English bole, bul, bule, from a conflation of Old English bula (“bull, steer”) and Old Norse boli, both from Proto-Germanic *bulô (“bull”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰl̥no-, from *bʰel- (“to blow, swell up”). Cognate with West Frisian bolle, Dutch bul, German Low German Bull, German Bulle, Swedish bulla; also Old Irish ball (“limb”), Latin follis (“bellows, leather bag”), Thracian βόλινθος (“wild bull”), Macedonian вол (vol, "ox"), Slovene vol ("ox"), Albanian buall (“buffalo”) or related bolle (“testicles”), Ancient Greek φαλλός (phallós, “penis”).

rozzer. See also Thesaurus:police officer

Half-a-crown is known as an alderman, half a bull, half a tusheroon, and a madza caroon; whilst a crown piece, or five shillings, may be called either a bull, or a caroon, or a cartwheel, or a coachwheel, or a thick-un, or a tusheroon.

1859, J.C. Hotten, A Dictionary of Modern Slang, Cant, and Vulgar Words:

(UK, historical, obsolete slang) A crown coin; its value, 5 shillings.

A second good game was to cannon one galloping camel with another, and crash it into a near tree. Either the tree went down (valley trees in the light Hejaz soil were notably unstable things) or the rider was scratched and torn; or, best of all, he was swept quite out of his saddle, and left impaled on a thorny branch, if not dropped violently to the ground. This counted as a bull, and was very popular with everyone but him.

1926, T.E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, New York: Anchor, published 1991, page 219:

(military, firearms) The central portion of a target, inside the inner and magpie.


bull

en-verb

bull (third-person singular simple present bulls, present participle bulling, simple past and past participle bulled)

bulls (present singular third-person)
bulling (participle present)
bulled (participle past)
bulled (past)

From Middle English bull, bul, boule (“falsehood, deceit”), probably from Old French boul, boule, bole (“fraud, deceit, cunning”), from Old French bouler, boler (“to deceive, delude, lure, take in”), from Middle Low German bôlen (“to woo, court”), related to German buhlen (“to woo”), English bully. Often reanalyzed by surface analysis to be an expurgated clipping of bullshit.

der

We were to repeat our normal practise of me bulling his boots and him ironing my kit.

2014, Sean Connolly, British Army on the Rampage (B.A.O.R.) (page 118)

(UK, military, transitive) To polish (boots) to a high shine.


bog

bogs (plural)
bogg (alternative)
bogge (alternative)
boghe (alternative)

Inherited from Middle English bog (originally chiefly in Ireland and Scotland), from Irish and Scottish Gaelic bogach (“soft, boggy ground”), from Old Irish bog (“soft”), from Proto-Celtic *buggos (“soft, tender”) + Old Irish -ach, from Proto-Celtic *-ākos.
The frequent use to form compounds regarding the animals and plants in such areas mimics Irish compositions such as bog-luachair (“bulrush, bogrush”).
Its use for toilets is now often derived from the resemblance of latrines and outhouse cesspools to bogholes, but the noun sense appears to be a clipped form of boghouse (“outhouse, privy”), which derived (possibly via boggard) from the verb to bog, still used in Australian English. The derivation and its connection to other senses of "bog" remains uncertain, however, owing to an extreme lack of early citations due to its perceived vulgarity.

I'm on the bog

I'm in the bog

Fearing I should catch cold, they out of pity covered me warm in a Bogg-house.

1665, Richard Head et al., The English Rogue Described in the Life of Meriton Latroon, volume I:

...That no dirt... be thrown out of any window, or down the bogs...

a. 1789, Verses to John Howard F.R.S. on His State of Prisons and Lazarettos, published 1789, page 181:

Bog, or bog-house, a privy as distinguished from a water-closet.

1864, J.C. Hotten, The Slang Dictionary, page 79:

Our lodger had our upstairs, use of the stove, our tap, and our bog.

1959, William Golding, chapter I, in Free Fall, page 23:

(UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, slang) A place to defecate: originally specifically a latrine or outhouse but now used for any toilet.


bog

en-verb

bog (third-person singular simple present bogs, present participle bogging, simple past and past participle bogged)

bogs (present singular third-person)
bogging (participle present)
bogged (participle past)
bogged (past)
bogg (alternative obsolete)
bogue (alternative obsolete)

(intransitive, originally vulgar UK, now chiefly Australia) To defecate, to void one's bowels.

(transitive, originally vulgar UK, now chiefly Australia) To cover or spray with excrement.

(transitive, British, informal) To make a mess of something.


bog

bogs (present singular third-person)
bogging (participle present)
bogged (participle past)
bogged (past)

From bug off, a clipping of bugger off, likely under the influence of bog (coarse British slang for "toilet[s]").

(euphemistic, slang, British, usually with "off") To go away.


wine

A variant of wind with simplification of the final consonant cluster; for the vowel quality, compare find, mind, rind.

Vor voices rawze upon tha wine

1850, James Orchard Halliwell, A Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, Obsolete Phrases, Proverbs, and Ancient Customs, from the Fourteenth Century:

Aw how sholl I tell o’m—vor âll pirty maidens / When I pass’d ’em look’d back—ther smill rawze on tha wine.

1869, James Jennings, The Dialect of the West of England, particularly Somersetshire:


wool

en-noun

wool (usually uncountable, plural wools)

→ Japanese: ウール (ūru)

From Middle English wolle, from Old English wull, from Proto-West Germanic *wullu, from Proto-Germanic *wullō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wĺ̥h₁neh₂.
Cognates
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Wulle, German Low German Wull, Dutch wol, German Wolle, Norwegian ull; also Welsh gwlân, Latin lāna, Lithuanian vi̇̀lna, Russian во́лос (vólos), Slovak vlna, Bulgarian влас (vlas), Albanian lesh (“wool, hair, fleece”). Doublet of lana.
The vowel development u → o → oo is purely graphical. Modern English generally avoids the string ⟨wu⟩ in favour of ⟨wo⟩, and the resulting woll was then altered to wool (as supposedly better representing the pronunciation).

(British, New Zealand) Yarn, including that made from synthetic fibers.


rake

From Middle English rake, rakke (“pass, path, track; type of fencing thrust; pasture land (?)”), and then partly:
* probably from Old English racu (“bed of a stream; path; account, narrative; explanation; argument, reasoning; reason”) (compare Old English hrace, hraca, hracu (“gorge”)), from Proto-Germanic *rakō (“path, track; course, direction; an unfolding, unwinding; account, narrative; argument, reasoning”) [and other forms], from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- (“to straighten, right oneself”); and
* from Old Norse rák (“strip; stripe; furrow; small mountain ravine”), further etymology uncertain but probably ultimately from Proto-Germanic *rakō, as above.
Cognates
The English word is cognate with Icelandic rák (“streak, stripe; notch in a rock; vein in stone or wood”), Norwegian råk (“channel (in ice); cow path; trail”), Norwegian Nynorsk råk (“channel (in ice); cow path; trail; furrow; stripe”), Swedish råk (“crack or channel in ice; river valley”); and probably cognate with Old Danish rag (modern Danish rag (“stiff; taut”) (regional)), Old Norse rakr (“straight”), Swedish rak (“straight”).

tehdas

puffer that emits a stream of spaceships

The train was formed of a locomotive and a rake of six coaches.

On February 21 Class "O4/1" 2-8-0 No. 63635 passed through Manchester (Victoria) heading in the Rochdale direction with a rake of empty wagons.

1959 April, “Motive Power Miscellany: London Midland Region”, in Trains Illustrated, London: Ian Allan Publishing, →OCLC, page 222:

(British, originally Northern England, Scotland) A series, a succession; specifically (rail transport) a set of coupled rail vehicles, normally coaches or wagons.


tractor

→ Bengali: ট্র্যাক্টর (ṭrjakṭor)

→ Japanese: トラクター (torakutā)

desc

→ Hindi: ट्रेक्टर (ṭrekṭar), ट्रैक्टर (ṭraikṭar)

→ Khmer: ត្រាក់ទ័រ (traktɔə)

→ Korean: 트랙터 (teuraekteo)

desctree

→ Russian: тра́ктор (tráktor), тра́кторъ (tráktor) — Pre-reform orthography (1918)
→ Armenian: տրակտոր (traktor)
→ Azerbaijani: traktor
⇒ Chinese:
Cantonese: 拖拉機 /拖拉机 (to¹ laai¹ gei¹)
Dungan: туәлаҗи (tuəlaži)
Mandarin: 拖拉機 /拖拉机 (tuōlājī)
Min Nan: 拖拉機 /拖拉机 (thoa-la-ki / tho-la-ki)
→ Bouyei: toylayjiy
→ Burmese: ထော် လာဂျီ (htau lagyi)
→ Lü: ᦷᦒᧈᦟᦱᧈᦋᦲᧈ (tho¹laa¹tsii¹)
→ Tibetan: ཐོ་ལ་ཅི (tho la ci)
→ Zhuang: dohlahgih
→ Dungan: трактор (traktor)
→ Georgian: ტრაქტორი (ṭrakṭori)
→ Ingrian: traktora
→ Kazakh: трактор (traktor)
→ Korean: 뜨락또르 (tteurakttoreu) (North Korea)
→ Kyrgyz: трактор (traktor)
→ Mongolian:
Cyrillic script: трактор (traktor)
Mongolian script: ᠲᠷᠠᠻᠲᠣᠷ (traktor)
→ Tajik: трактор (traktor)
→ Turkmen: traktor
→ Uyghur: تراكتور (traktor)
→ Uzbek: traktor

desc

→ Thai: แทรกเตอร์ (trɛ́k-dtə̂ə)

→ Thai: แทรกเตอร์ (trɛ́k-dtə̂ə)

→ Urdu: ٹْرَیکْٹَر (ṭraikṭar), ٹَرَیکْٹَر (ṭaraikṭar)

Formed from Latin tractus, perfect passive participle of trahere (“to pull”), + agent noun suffix -or.

On the other hand the EE type 3's have offered in a 1750 hp package, probably the most successful loco BR bought. As any crew will tell you a tractor will pull anything anywhere, and yet at the same time they were nippy enough for use on the Anglian mainlines for 20 years.

1995 May 23, Andrew Cooke, “Re: British Rail: At Last The 1948 Show”, in misc.transport.rail.europe (Usenet):

With a recent email from Mike Tetlow, I found out that there were two other 37s [37252 and 37031] present that day, also shuttling between Cambridge and Kings Lynn. As you correctly observe, the pic of little me shows that I am in a Dutch liveried tractor.

2000 April 25, Grandpops, “Calling Norfolk tractor bashers with a good brain for numbers! Possible conclusion?”, in uk.railway (Usenet):

EWS are also denying any rumours of tractors going to Spain, then again they denyed the rumours of tractors going to France until the contract was signed!

2000 May 17, Matt, “Re: "Unfixing" Class 37s and Doncaster control (rant!!)”, in uk.railway (Usenet):

(UK, rail transport) A British Rail Class 37 locomotive.


internal

en-adj

internal (comparative more internal, superlative most internal)

more internal (comparative)
most internal (superlative)
internall (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English internall, internalle, borrowing from New Latin internālis (“of or pertaining to the inner part”), from internus (“inward, internal”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix). By surface analysis, intern + -al.

af

(British, education, of a student) Attending a university as well as taking its examinations.


comic

From Latin comicus, from Ancient Greek κωμικός (kōmikós, “relating to comedy”), from κῶμος (kômos, “carousal”).


skirt

→ Japanese: スカート (sukāto)

→ Korean: 스커트 (seukeoteu)

→ Malay: skirt

→ Scottish Gaelic: sgiort

From Middle English skyrte, from Old Norse skyrta, from Proto-Germanic *skurtijǭ. Doublet of shirt. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Skoarte (“apron”), Dutch schort (“apron”), German Schürze (“apron”), Danish skørt (“skirt”), Swedish skört (“hem of a jacket”), Norwegian skjørt (“skirt”).

(UK, colloquial) Women collectively, in a sexual context.

Sexual intercourse
sexual intercourse#English

(UK, colloquial) Sexual intercourse with a woman.


bug

bugs (plural)
bugg (alternative obsolete)

First attested in this form around 1620 (referring to a “bedbug”), from earlier bugge (“beetle”), from Middle English bugge (“scarecrow, hobgoblin”) which is traced alternatively to:
* a Celtic root found in Scots bogill (“goblin, bugbear”) and obsolete Welsh bwg (“ghost, hobgoblin”); compare Welsh bwgwl (“threat, fear”) and Isthmus Mixe bocanách (“supernatural being”).
* Proto-Germanic *bugja- (“swollen up, thick”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew-, *bu- (“to swell”); compare Norwegian bugge (“big man”), dialectal Low German Bögge (“goblin, snot”).
* or to a word related to buck and originally referring to a goat-shaped spectre.
For the “insect” meaning the assonance with Middle English budde (“beetle”), from Old English budda, from Proto-Germanic *buddô, *buzdô, from the same ultimate source as above, might have played a role. Compare Low German Budde (“louse, grub”), Norwegian budda (“newborn domestic animal”)). More at bud. But ultimately this convergence of meaning doesn't prove a conflation of the two terms, they might have existed parallely since PIE times with similar meanings, even if unnoticed by literary sources.
The term is used to refer to technical errors and problems at least as early as the 19th century, predating the commonly known story of a moth being caught in a computer.

cog

given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow

Speaking of advertising changes of name, a title by which those lodging-house pests, bugs, are now often known, that of Norfolk Howards, is derived from an advertisement in which one Ephraim Bug avowed his intention of being for the future known as Norfolk Howard.

1874, Henry Sampson, A history of advertising, page 278:

Bugs are generated from the moisture of living animals, as it dries up outside their bodies. Lice are generated out of the flesh of animals.

1910, Aristotle, translated by D.W. Thompson, The Works of Aristotle: Historia animalium:


brief

From Middle English breef, breve, bref, from Old French brief, bref, from Latin brevis (“short”), from Proto-Indo-European *mréǵʰus (“short, brief”). Doublet of merry.

der

(UK, historical) A letter patent, from proper authority, authorizing a collection or charitable contribution of money in churches, for any public or private purpose.


blud

Created in Multicultural London English, of Jamaican origin. Has since spread around England, and thence Anglosphere and online. Claimed to be, via eye dialect spelling, from Caribbean Creole blood (“family relation, close friend”) (compare blood brother). Possibly derived or reinforced from brother; compare bro, bruh, brudder etc.

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

–Yeh, blud, safe, goes Ravi.

2006, Gautam Malkani, Londonstani, HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 5:

Nowadays all of my shows sold out
 Headline tour, yeah blud, sold out

I heard your mixtape, blud it was garbage […] Blud, I don't know why you mentioned my name

2016, “Punk (Chipmunk Diss)”, performed by Yungen:

(UK, MLE, slang, Internet slang) Informal address to a man.


blud

head

blud (third-person singular, masculine, nominative or objective case)

en-pron

what is blud waffling about

2023 February 3, maddy🍋 (@fyridk), Twitter:

who invited blud

2023 February 11, 🔴 (@TenHag_Szn), Twitter:

Blud was lost

2023 February 2, Dom2K (@Dom_2k), Twitter:

What is wrong with blud 😂😂🙌🙌

2023 February 11, Åmplė  Cålm (@ample_calm), Twitter:

What’s blud tryna say here

2023 February 2, MN1F🇬🇧 (@Wuwakia90), Twitter:

(UK, MLE, slang, often humorous or ironic) he or him


leet

Originated 1400–50 from late Middle English lete (“meeting”), from Anglo-Norman lete and Medieval Latin leta (Anglo-Latin), possibly from Old English ġelǣte (“crossroads”).

(British, obsolete) A regular court, more specifically a court-leet, in which certain lords had jurisdiction over local disputes, or the physical area of this jurisdiction.


leet

Jamieson mentions the alternative spellings lyth, lythe, laid, and laith, and connects it to a verb lythe (“to shelter”), as it "is frequently caught ... in deep holes among the rocks".

The whiting pollock sometimes, par excellence is styled pollock only. On the Yorkshire coast it is called a leet, and in Scotland a lythe.

1854, William Hughes, A Practical Treatise on the Choice and Cookery of Fish, Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, page 27:


verbal

en-noun

verbal (countable and uncountable, plural verbals)

From Old French verbal, from Late Latin verbālis (“belonging to a word”). Equivalent to verb + -al.

der

They were convicted on the evidence of an agent provocateur named Richard Seary, backed up by police verbals from three police officers who gave evidence of six verbals in which the three accused were supposed to have admitted their guilt.

1982, New South Wales. Parliament, Parliamentary Debates, page 2496:

(countable, UK, Ireland) A spoken confession given to police.

We'd give him a bit of verbal, out would come the bouncers, chucking their weight about, and it would all end in a right tear-up.

(uncountable, UK, Ireland, colloquial) Talk; speech, especially banter or scolding.


verbal

en-verb

verbal (third-person singular simple present verbals, present participle verballing, simple past and past participle verballed)

verbals (present singular third-person)
verballing (participle present)
verballed (participle past)
verballed (past)

The problem of 'verballing' is unlikely to disappear, whatever the legal status of the person detained.

1982, John A. Andrews, Human Rights in Criminal Procedure: A Comparative Study, BRILL, →ISBN, page 128:

Condren had always claimed that he was assaulted and verballed by police over the murder he had supposedly confessed to committing. Specifically, Condren claimed that he had been subjected to assault and intimidation prior to making a police record of interview, that the record of interview was largely fabricated by police, and that the oral admissions which police claimed he had made prior to the record of interview were also fabricated.

2001, Chris Cunneen, Conflict, Politics and Crime: Aboriginal Communities and the Police, Allen & Unwin, →ISBN, page 116:

"Moreover, given the risk of verballing, it is by no means apparent that it is in the interests of justice that the prosecution have the benefit of admissions that are made on occasions when recordings are impracticable."

2004, Jeremy Gans, Andrew Palmer, Australian Principles of Evidence, Routledge Cavendish, →ISBN, page 504:

Kelvin Condren maintained his innocence, claiming that he was 'verballed' in his police record of interview (so they were someone else's words not his).

2019, Kate Burridge, Tonya N. Stebbins, For the love of language: An Introduction to Linguistics, page 305:

As the necessary ingredient of an intention to commit an offence usually came from the mouth of the suspect himself, it was not difficult to make an arrest if the suspect was 'verballed'. A 'verbal' consisted of an unequivocal oral admission of guilt made to a police officer on the street, which, later on, the police officer transcribed into his notebook. It is called a 'verbal' if the suspect later denies making the incriminating remark.

2020, Inigo Bing, Populism on Trial: What Happens When Trust in Law Breaks Down:

(transitive, British, Australia) To allege (usually falsely) that someone has made an oral admission.


boot

Solombala English: бучь (bučʹ)

→ Maltese: buz

→ Russian: бутса (butsa)

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic script: бу́це

Latin script: búce

→ Swahili: buti

From Middle English boote, bote (“shoe”), from Old French bote (“a high, thick shoe”). Of obscure origin, but probably related to Old French bot (“club-foot”), bot (“fat, short, blunt”), from Old Frankish *butt, from Proto-Germanic *buttaz, *butaz (“cut off, short, numb, blunt”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewt-, *bʰewd- (“to strike, push, shock”); if so, a doublet of butt. Compare Old Norse butt (“stump”), Low German butt (“blunt, plump”), Old English bytt (“small piece of land”), buttuc (“end”). More at buttock and debut.

cog

a lie can run around the world before the truth can get its boots on

couldn't pour water out of a boot with the instructions on the heel

He heaved the bag and its contents over the lip of the boot and on to the flagstones. When it was out, no longer in that boot but on the ground, and the bag was still intact, he knew the worst was over.

1998, Ruth Rendell, A Sight For Sore Eyes, published 2010, page 260:

The body is constructed of welded steel panels, with the bonnet, doors and boot lid in aluminium on steel frames.

2003, Keith Bluemel, Original Ferrari V-12 1965-1973: The Restorer's Guide, unnumbered page:

Peers leant against the outside of the car a lit up her filter tip and watched as Bauer and Putin placed their compact suitcases in the boot of the BMW and slammed the boot lid down.

2008, MB Chattelle, Richmond, London: The Peter Hacket Chronicles, page 104:

(Australia, British, New Zealand, South Africa, automotive) The luggage storage compartment of a sedan or saloon car.

old boot

(British, slang) An unattractive person, ugly woman.


cheese

en-noun

cheese (countable and uncountable, plural cheeses or (archaic) cheesen)

cheeses (plural)
cheesen (archaic plural)

fill

dummy pattern to increase pattern density

Tok Pisin: sis

Borrowings

→ Abenaki: chiz

→ Cantonese: 芝士 (zi¹ si⁶⁻²)

→ Chichewa: tchizi

→ Coeur d'Alene: chis

→ Dhivehi: ޗީޒު (cīzu)

→ Fijian: jisi

→ Gilbertese: titi

→ Hakka: 起士 (chhí-sṳ̀)

→ Hindi: चीज़ (cīz)

→ Igbo: chiz

→ Japanese: チーズ (chīzu)

→ Korean: 치즈 (chijeu)

→ Malayalam: ചീസ് (cīsŭ)

desc

→ Mandarin: 起士 (qǐshì), 起司, 芝士 (zhīshì), 吉士 (jíshì)

→ Maori: tīhi

→ Marathi: चीझ (cījh)

→ Marshallese: jiij

→ Mohegan-Pequot: cihs; cheehs (obsolete)

→ Nepali: चिज (cij), चीज (cīj)

→ Punjabi: ਚੀਜ਼ (cīz)

→ Samoan: sisi

→ Tokelauan: hihi

→ Sinhalese: චීස් (cīs)

→ Swahili: chizi

→ Thai: ชีส (chíis)

→ Tongan: siisi

→ Tswana: tshise

→ Western Ojibwa: ᒌᐦᐢ (cîhs, jiis) (Saulteaux dialects)

→ Wu: 起司

→ Xhosa: itshizi

→ Zulu: ushizi

Etymology tree
Latin cāseusbor.
Proto-Germanic *kāsijaz
Proto-West Germanic *kāsī
Old English ċīese
Middle English chese
English cheese
From Middle English chese, from Old English ċīese, specifically the Anglian form ċēse, from Proto-West Germanic *kāsī, borrowed from Latin cāseus. Doublet of queso.
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Síes (“cheese”), West Frisian tsiis (“cheese”), Dutch kaas (“cheese”), German Low German Kees (“cheese”), German Käse (“cheese”).

etymon

1807, Nutt, F. (1807). The Complete Confectioner: Or, The Whole Art of Confectionary Made Easy: Containing, Among a Variety of Useful Matter, the Art of Making the Various Kinds of Biscuits, Drops ... as Also the Most Approved Method of Making Cheeses, Puddings, Cakes &c. in 250 Cheap and Fashionable Receipts. The Result of Many Years Experience with the Celebrated Negri and Witten. United Kingdom: reprinted, for Richard Scott and sold at his bookstore, no. 243 Pearl-street.
p.82-3, No.244. Damson Cheese: “Pick the damsons free from stalks···You may make plum or bullace cheese in the same way···”

(uncountable, UK) A thick variety of jam (fruit preserve), as distinguished from a thinner variety (sometimes called jelly)

(countable, UK) In skittles, the roughly ovoid object that is thrown to knock down the skittles.


bright

en-adj

bright (comparative brighter, superlative brightest)

brighter (comparative)
brightest (superlative)

The adjective is from Middle English bright, from Old English beorht, from Proto-West Germanic *berht, from Proto-Germanic *berhtaz (“bright”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerHǵ- (“to shine, to gleam, whiten”).
The noun is derived from Middle English bright (“brightness, brilliance; daylight; light”), from bright (adjective): see above.
The English word is cognate with Albanian bardhë (“white”), Dutch brecht (in personal names), Icelandic bjartur (“bright”), Lithuanian brekšta (“to dawn”), Middle Irish brafad (“blink of an eye”), Norwegian bjart (“bright, clear, shining”), Persian برازیدن (barâzidan, “to beautify; to befit”), Northern Luri بڵێز (bełız, “blaze”) Russian бре́зжить (brézžitʹ, “to dawn; to flicker faintly, glimmer; (figuratively) of a hope, thought, etc.: to begin to manifest, emerge”), Sanskrit भ्राजते (bhrājate), Scots bricht (“bright”), Welsh berth (“beautiful, fair, fine”) (obsolete).

cog

the candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long

[H]e felt the influence of the bright sky, and looked up smiling into its deep unfathomable blue.

1841 February–November, Charles Dickens, “Barnaby Rudge. Chapter 77.”, in Master Humphrey’s Clock, volume III, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 392:

Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes. The clear light of the bright autumn morning had no terrors for youth and health like hers.

1910, Emerson Hough, “A Lady in Company”, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 6:

Of climate or weather: not cloudy or gloomy; fair; also, of a period of time, the sky, etc.: characterized by much sunshine and good weather.

claro

of climate or weather: not cloudy or gloomy — see also fair

I woke up today feeling so bright that I decided to have a little dance.

Their spirits had risen a little at the discovery of the path, but now they sank into their boots; and yet they would not give it up and go away. The hobbit [Bilbo Baggins] was no longer much brighter than the dwarves. He would do nothing but sit with his back to the rock-face and stare[…].

1937 September 21, J[ohn] R[onald] R[euel] Tolkien, “On the Doorstep”, in The Hobbit: Or There and Back Again, revised edition, New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, published February 1966 (August 1967 printing), →OCLC, page 199:

transferred senses
transferred sense#English

(transferred senses, figuratively)
In good spirits; happy, optimistic.

hapur

in good spirits — see also happy, optimistic


business

en-noun

business (countable and uncountable, plural businesses)

businesses (plural)
biz (alternative clipping)
bisoness (alternative obsolete)
businesse (alternative obsolete)
busynesse (alternative obsolete)
bizness (alternative African-American-Vernacular-English pronunciation-spelling)
bidness (alternative African-American-Vernacular-English Southern pronunciation-spelling)

Tok Pisin: bisnis

→ Albanian: biznes

→ Belarusian: бі́знэс (bíznes)

→ Bulgarian: би́знес (bíznes)

→ Czech: business, byznys

→ Dutch: business

→ Indonesian: bisnis, bisnes

→ Faroese: besnissaður

→ Finnish: bisnes, business

→ French: business

→ Haitian Creole: biznis

→ Italian: business

→ Japanese: ビジネス (bijinesu)

→ Jersey Dutch: bääznäs

→ Marshallese: peejnej

→ Moroccan Arabic: بزناس (biznās)

desc

→ Newar: बनय्ज्या (banêjyā), बनेज्या (banejyā)

→ Pennsylvania German: Bisniss

→ Polish: biznes

→ Romanian: bișniță

desctree

→ Russian: би́знес (bíznes), би́знесъ (bíznɛs) — Pre-reform orthography (1918)
→ Armenian: բիզնես (biznes)
→ Yakut: биисинэс (biisines)

→ Slovak: biznis

→ Spanish: bisnes, bisne

→ Tatar: business

→ Ukrainian: бі́знес (bíznes)

→ Welsh: busnes

From Middle English busines, busynes, businesse, bisynes, from Old English bisiġnes (“business, busyness”), equivalent to busy + -ness. Doublet of busyness.

business

action carried out with a prop or piece of clothing

business in the front, party in the back

These new phones are the business!

(slang, British) Something very good; top quality. (possibly from "the bee's knees")


bell

→ Fiji Hindi: belo

→ Japanese: ベル (beru)

→ Korean: 벨 (bel)

From Middle English belle, from Old English belle (“bell”), from Proto-Germanic *bellǭ. Cognate with West Frisian belle, bel, Dutch bel, Low German Belle, Bel, Danish bjelde, Swedish bjällra, Norwegian bjelle, Icelandic bjalla.

I’ll give you a bell later.

(chiefly British, informal) A telephone call.

(British, vulgar, slang) Clipping of bell-end (“stupid or contemptible person”).


crime

en-verb

crime (third-person singular simple present crimes, present participle criming, simple past and past participle crimed)

crimes (present singular third-person)
criming (participle present)
crimed (participle past)
crimed (past)

From Middle English cryme, crime, from Old French crime, crimne, from Latin crīmen. Displaced native Old English firen.

Nevertheless, in the course of a few days he is again intoxicated, creates disturbance in his quarters, is confined by his sergeant, crimed, and brought before the commanding officer […]

1846, John Mercier McMullen, Camp and Barrack-room, Or, The British Army as it is, page 298:

(UK, military, transitive) To subject to disciplinary punishment.


chin

From Middle English chyn, from Old English ċinn (“chin”), from Proto-West Germanic *kinnu, from Proto-Germanic *kinnuz (“chin”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénus (“chin, jaw”).
Compare West Frisian/Dutch kin, Low German/German Kinn, Danish kind, Icelandic kinn, Welsh gen, Latin gena, Tocharian A śanweṃ, Ancient Greek γένυς (génus, “jaw”), Armenian ծնոտ (cnot), Persian چانه (čâne), Sanskrit हनु (hánu). Doublet of gena.

inh

(slang, British) A person of the upper class.


chin

en-verb

chin (third-person singular simple present chins, present participle chinning, simple past and past participle chinned)

chins (present singular third-person)
chinning (participle present)
chinned (participle past)
chinned (past)

He told me once that he used to be scared to death every time he started in a hard game for fear he’d get badly injured. Said it wasn’t until someone had jabbed him in the nose or ‘chinned’ him that he forgot to be scared.

1915, Ralph Henry Barbour, chapter 14, in Left Tackle Thayer, New York: Dodd, Mead, pages 183–184:

‘I’m in trouble, I hit a policeman—chinned him. He was messin’ me about, pushin’ me around on the pavement, so I chinned him, didn’t I? […]’

1966, Nell Dunn, “OUT with the Boys”, in Up the Junction, Philadelphia: Lippincott, page 88:

(chiefly UK, transitive) To punch or hit (someone), especially on the chin (part of the body).


then

From Middle English then(ne), than(ne), from Old English þonne, þanne, þænne (“then, at that time”), from Proto-West Germanic *þan, from Proto-Germanic *þan (“at that (time), then”), from earlier *þam, from Proto-Indo-European *tóm, accusative masculine of *só (“demonstrative pronoun, that”).
Cognate with Dutch dan (“then”), German dann (“then”), Swedish då (“then”), Icelandic þá (“then”). Doublet of than.

inh

‘She says Indian elephants are tidgy little things.’
 ‘They're not then.’ Emma was getting heated. ‘They're –’
 ‘Emma!’ said Jenny sharply. The child subsided.

2001, Eric Malpass, At the Height of the Moon, page 28:

(UK, dialect, affirmation) Used to contradict an assertion.


bubble

en-verb

bubble (third-person singular simple present bubbles, present participle bubbling, simple past and past participle bubbled)

bubbles (present singular third-person)
bubbling (participle present)
bubbled (participle past)
bubbled (past)

Partly imitative, also influenced by burble. Compare Middle Dutch bobbe (“bubble”) > Dutch bubbel (“bubble”), Low German bubbel (“bubble”), Danish boble (“bubble”), Swedish bubbla (“bubble”). The word was first used in its economic sense in association with the collapse of the South Sea Company in 1720, based on the metaphor of an inflated soap bubble bursting.

onom

imitative

(transitive, UK, slang) To grass (report criminal activity to the authorities).


bag

→ Japanese: バッグ

→ Korean: 백 (baek)

→ Malay: beg / بيݢ

→ Norwegian: bag

→ Tagalog: bag

From Middle English bagge, from Old Norse baggi (“bag, pack, satchel, bundle”) (whence also Old French bague (“bundle, package, sack”)); related to Old Norse bǫggr (“harm, shame; load, burden”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰak- (compare Welsh baich (“load, bundle”), Ancient Greek βάσταγμα (bástagma, “load”)).

كِيس

paper (or plastic) container given or sold to shoppers

(UK) A unit of measure of cement equal to 94 pounds.


button

→ German: Button

→ Hindi: बटन (baṭan)

→ Gujarati: બટન (baṭan)

→ Korean: 버튼 (beoteun)

→ Maori: pātene

→ Marathi: बटण (baṭaṇ)

→ Urdu: بَٹَن (baṭan)

From Middle English boton, botoun, from Old French boton (Modern French bouton), from Old French bouter, boter (“to push; thrust”), ultimately from a Germanic language. Doublet of Biden and beat. More at butt.

(UK, archaic) A unit of length equal to ¹⁄₁₂ inch.


bread

From Middle English brede (“breadth, width, extent”), from Old English brǣdu (“breadth, width, extent”), from Proto-Germanic *braidį̄ (“breadth”). Cognate with Scots brede, breid (“breadth”), Dutch breedte (“breadth”), German Breite (“breadth”), Swedish bredd (“breadth”), Icelandic breidd (“breadth”).

inh

(obsolete or UK dialectal, Scotland) Breadth.


brick

en-noun

brick (countable and uncountable, plural bricks)

⇒ Welsh: brics

From Late Middle English brik, bryke, bricke, from Middle Low German and Middle Dutch bricke ("cracked or broken brick; tile-stone"; modern Dutch brik), ultimately related to Proto-West Germanic *brekan (“to break”), whence also Old French briche and French brique (“brick”). Compare also German Low German Brickje (“small board, tray”). Related to break.

gloss

"cracked or broken brick; tile-stone"; modern Dutch <i class="Latn mention" lang="nl">brik</i>

cog

I was on deck watching the firing, and looking at the direction in which our guns were pointing, it was obvious that it was not going to be Centurion who was going to receive our bricks.

2019, Daniel Knowles, HMS Hood: Pride of the Royal Navy:


headbanger

headbangers (plural)
heidbanger (alternative)

We would therefore paralyse ourselves for no good reason other than the propagandistic appeasement of the Daily Mail, the Sun, my noble friend Lord Hamilton and a few other headbangers in the Commons on the Conservative side.

2010, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords, The Parliamentary Debates (Hansard).: House of Lords official report:

Corbyn's lack of ambition would turn out to be one of his great selling points. He was the man at the margin: a headbanger for most and a man of principles for a few.

2021 March 2, Donald Sassoon, Morbid Symptoms: An Anatomy of a World in Crisis, Verso Books, →ISBN, page 140:

Even the Brexit headbangers of the European Research Group rolled over like pussycats.

2021 November 2, John Crace, A Farewell to Calm: The New Normal Survival Guide, Faber & Faber, →ISBN:

(UK) A political hardliner, especially an obstructive one.


stay

en-adj

stay (comparative stayer or more stay, superlative stayest or most stay)

stayer (comparative)
more stay (comparative)
stayest (superlative)
most stay (superlative)
stey (alternative)
stee (alternative)
steigh (alternative)
sti (alternative)

From Middle English *steȝe, from Old English *stǣġe, an apocopated variant of stǣġel (“steep, abrupt”), from Proto-West Germanic *staigil (“steep”), see sty.

The Castle of Edr. is naturally a great strenth situate upon the top of a high Rock perpendicular on all sides, except on the entry from the burgh, which is a stay ascent and is well fortified with strong Walls, three gates each one within another, with Drawbridges, and all necessary fortifications.

1908, Publications of the Scottish History Society, volume 53, page 121:

(UK dialectal) (of a roof) Steeply pitched.

(UK dialectal) Difficult to negotiate; not easy to access; sheer.

(UK dialectal) Stiff; upright; unbending; reserved; haughty; proud.


ride

From Middle English riden, from Old English rīdan, from Proto-West Germanic *rīdan, from Proto-Germanic *rīdaną, from Proto-Indo-European *Hreydʰ-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reyH-.
Cognates
From Proto-Germanic: North Frisian ride (“to ride”), Saterland Frisian riede (“to ride”), West Frisian ride (“to ride”), Low German rieden (“to ride”), Dutch rijden (“to ride”), German reiten (“to ride”), Danish ride (“to ride”), Swedish rida (“to ride”).
From Indo-European: Welsh rhwyddhau (“to hurry”).

"Could you see the ride that goes down and round the point of the woods...?"
"I could see down it till it went round the corner."...
 "...Then Mr Fawcett comes down the ride, rushing his chair along like it was a racing car... He carried on down the ride. Next thing Miss Harmsworth comes down the ride from the field..."

2015, Roderic Jeffries, Death in the Coverts, →ISBN:

(UK) A road or avenue cut in a wood, for riding; a bridleway or other wide country path.

Stella, who in her day was a beautiful ride.


ring

→ French: ring
→ Romanian: ring

→ Hungarian: ring

→ Italian: ring

→ Japanese: リング

→ Polish: ring

→ Serbo-Croatian: ring

→ Spanish: ring

→ Turkish: ring

From Middle English ryng, from Old English hring (“ring, circle”), from Proto-West Germanic *hring, from Proto-Germanic *hringaz (“ring”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)krengʰ-, extended nasalized form of *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”). Doublet of rank and rink, as well as indirectly range.
Cognates
* West Frisian ring
* Low German Ring
* Dutch ring
* German Ring
* Swedish ring
* Finnish rengas
More distantly cognate with Proto-Slavic *krǫgъ (whence Bulgarian кръг (krǎg), Polish krąg, Russian круг (krug)).

(physical) A solid object in the shape of a circle.

(UK) A bird band, a round piece of metal put around a bird's leg used for identification and studies of migration.

(physical) A group of objects arranged in a circle.

(British) A large circular prehistoric stone construction such as Stonehenge.


ring

en-verb

ring (third-person singular simple present rings, present participle ringing, simple past rang or (nonstandard) rung, past participle rung)

rings (present singular third-person)
ringing (participle present)
rang (past)
rung (nonstandard past)
rung (participle past)

From Middle English ringen, from Old English hrinġan (“to ring”), from Proto-Germanic *hringijaną. Cognate with Dutch ringen, Swedish ringa. Of imitative origin.

զանգել

(tr.) to make something produce a resonant sound

I will ring you when we arrive.

(transitive, colloquial, British, Australia, New Zealand) To telephone (someone).


rise

From Middle English risen, from Old English rīsan, from Proto-West Germanic *rīsan, from Proto-Germanic *rīsaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rey- (“to rise, arise”). According to Kroonen (2013), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃er- (“to stir, rise”). See also raise.
Cognates
Cognate with West Frisian rize, Saterland Frisian riese (“to arise”), Dutch rijzen (“to rise, ascend, lift”), German Low German riesen (“to rise; arise”), German dialectal reisen (“to fall”), Norwegian Nynorsk risa (“to rise”), Icelandic rísa (“to rise”). Related also to German reisen (“to travel, fare”), Dutch reizen (“to travel”), Danish rejse (“to travel”), Swedish resa (“to travel”). Non-Germanic cognates include Albanian rris (“I raise, grow”) and Russian рост (rost, “growth”).

cog

(chiefly UK, also Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa) An increase in a quantity, price, etc.

The governor just gave me a rise of two pound six.

(UK, Ireland, Australia, rest of Commonwealth, sometimes Canada) Ellipsis of pay rise (“an increase in wage or salary”).


set

From Middle English set, sete, sette (“that which is set, the act of setting, seat”), from Old English set (“setting, seat, a place where people remain, habitation, camp, entrenchment, a place where animals are kept, stall, fold”) and Old English seten (“a set, shoot, slip, branch; a nursery, plantation; that which is planted or set; a cultivated place; planting, cultivation; a setting, putting; a stopping; occupied land”), related to Old English settan (“to set”). Compare Middle Low German gesette (“a set, suite”), Old English gesetl (“assembly”). According to Skeat, in senses denoting a group of things or persons, representing an alteration of sept, from Old French sette (“a religious sect”), from Medieval Latin secta (“retinue”), from Latin secta (“a faction”). See sect. It is quite possible that the modern word is more of a merger between both, however.

cog

Looking at pupil attainment, the study found that students with the same Key Stage 3 scores could have their GCSE grade raised or lowered by up to half a grade as a result of being placed in a higher or lower set.

2012 April 26, “Themes: Pupil grouping and organisation of classes”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), Department for Education, archived from the original on 2012-06-14:

(UK, education) A class group in a subject where pupils are divided by ability.


set

en-verb

set (third-person singular simple present sets, present participle setting, simple past and past participle setted)

sets (present singular third-person)
setting (participle present)
setted (participle past)
setted (past)

In setted classes, students are brought together because they are believed to be of similar 'ability'. Yet, setted lessons are often conducted as though students are not only similar, but identical—in terms of ability, preferred learning style and pace of working.

2008, Patricia Murphy, Robert McCormick, Knowledge and Practice: Representations and Identities:

At Amber Hill, setting was a high-profile concept, and the students were frequently reminded of the set to which they belonged.

2002, Jo Boaler, Experiencing School Mathematics: Traditional and Reform Approaches and Their Impact on Student Learning:

Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16. Charging school fees is illegal, and so is sorting pupils into ability groups by streaming or setting.

2013 July 19, Peter Wilby, “Finland spreads word on schools”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 30:

(UK, education) To divide a class group in a subject according to ability


shake

en-noun

shake (countable and uncountable, plural shakes)

From Middle English schaken, from Old English sċeacan, sċacan (“to shake”), from Proto-West Germanic *skakan, from Proto-Germanic *skakaną (“to shake, swing, escape”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)keg-, *(s)kek- (“to jump, move”).
Cognate with Scots schake, schack (“to shake”), West Frisian schaekje (“to shake”), Dutch schaken (“to elope, make clean, shake”), Low German schaken (“to move, shift, push, shake”) and schacken (“to shake, shock”), Old Norse skaka (“to shake”), Norwegian Nynorsk skaka (“to shake”), Swedish skaka (“to shake”), Danish skage (“to shake”), Dutch schokken (“to shake, shock”), Russian скака́ть (skakátʹ, “to jump”). More at shock.

cog

(UK, dialect) The redshank, so called from the nodding of its head while on the ground.


shed

en-verb

shed (third-person singular simple present sheds, present participle shedding, simple past and past participle shed or (nonstandard) shedded)

sheds (present singular third-person)
shedding (participle present)
shed (participle past)
shed (past)
shedded (nonstandard participle past)
shedded (nonstandard past)

From Middle English scheden, schede, from Old English scēadan, scādan (“to separate, divide, part, make a line of separation between; remove from association or companionship; distinguish, discriminate, decide, determine, appoint; shatter, shed; expound; decree; write down; differ”), from Proto-West Germanic *skaiþan, from Proto-Germanic *skaiþaną (compare West Frisian skiede, Dutch and German scheiden), from Proto-Indo-European *skeyt- (“to cut, part, divide, separate”), from *skey-.
See also Irish scian (“knife”), Lithuanian skėsti (“to spread”), ski̇́esti (“to separate”), Old Church Slavonic цѣдити (cěditi, “to filter, strain”), Ancient Greek σχίζω (skhízō, “to split”), Old Armenian ցտեմ (cʻtem, “to scratch”), Sanskrit च्यति (cyáti, “he cuts off”)). Related to shoad, shit, sheath.

cog

To shed something in two.

To shed the sheep from the lambs.

A metal comb shed her golden hair.

We are shed with each other by an enormous distance.

c. 1380, Geoffrey Chaucer, Boece
If there be any thing that knitteth himself to the ilk middle point [of a circle], it is constrained into simplicity (that is to say, into unmovablity), and it ceaseth to be shed and to flit diversely.

1460–1500, The Poems of Robert Henryson
The northern wind had shed the misty clouds from the sky;

1635, "Sermon on Philippians III, 7, 8", in Select Practical Writings of David Dickson (1845), Volume 1, page 166 Internet Archive
Lest […] ye shed with God.

(transitive, obsolete, UK, dialectal) To part, separate or divide.


shed

→ Scottish Gaelic: seada

→ Welsh: sièd

Dialectal variant of a specialized use of shade.

(British, derogatory, informal) An automobile which is old, worn-out, slow, or otherwise of poor quality.

Never saw that but we did stand and watch a pair of Sheds (156 and 165) speed north on a loaded steel.

2000 November 12, Bruce Garbutt, “Re: DRS to Cardiff (was Re: Tractor via Eddiestown)”, in uk.railway (Usenet):

(British, rail transport, informal) A British Rail Class 66 locomotive.


congregation

en-noun

congregation (countable and uncountable, plural congregations)

/ˌkɒŋɡɹɪˈɡeɪʃən/

/ˌkɑŋɡɹəˈɡeɪʃən/

From Middle English congregacioun, from Old French congregacion, from Latin congregātiō, itself from congregō (“to herd into a flock”). Adopted (1520s) by the English Bible translator William Tyndale, to render the Ancient Greek ἐκκλησία (ekklēsía, “those called together, (popular) meeting”) (hence Latin ecclēsia) in his New Testament, and preferred by 16th century Reformers instead of church.

cog

(UK, Oxford University) The main body of university staff, comprising academics, administrative staff, heads of colleges, etc.


tout

en-verb

tout (third-person singular simple present touts, present participle touting, simple past and past participle touted)

touts (present singular third-person)
touting (participle present)
touted (participle past)
touted (past)

From Middle English touten (“to jut out, protrude, gaze upon, observe, peer”), from Old English *tūtian (“to be sticking out, protrude”), related to Old English tȳtan (“to stand out, be conspicuous, shine”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *tut(t)- (“to stick out, project”). Compare Icelandic túta (“a teat-like prominence”), tútna (“to be blown up”). Possibly influenced by dialectal toot (“to stick out; project; peer out; peep”), from Middle English toten, totien, from Old English tōtian (“to peep out; look; pry; spectate”). Compare also Old English tot, ġetot (“pomp, splendour, vainglory”).

cog

(UK, slang, horse-racing, transitive) To spy out information about (a horse, a racing stable, etc.).

(UK, slang, horse-racing, intransitive) To spy out the movements of racehorses at their trials, or to get by stealth or other improper means the secrets of the stable, for betting purposes.


shut

en-verb

shut (third-person singular simple present shuts, present participle shutting, simple past shut, past participle shut or (obsolete, dialectal) shutten)

shuts (present singular third-person)
shutting (participle present)
shut (past)
shut (participle past)
shutten (dialectal obsolete participle past)

From Middle English shutten, shetten, from Old English scyttan (“to cause rapid movement, shoot a bolt, shut, bolt”), from Proto-Germanic *skutjaną, *skuttijaną (“to bar, bolt”), from Proto-Germanic *skuttą, *skuttjō (“bar, bolt, shed”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewd- (“to drive, fall upon, rush”).
Cognate with Dutch schutten (“to shut in, lock up”), Low German schütten (“to shut, lock in”), German schützen (“to shut out, dam, protect, guard”).

اِنْغَلَقَ

(intransitive) to close, to stop being open

shut the stable door after the horse has bolted

They generally shut the museum each day at 6 pm.

The supermarket shuts at eight o'clock.

Lots of shops in the town centre have shut because of the recession.

(transitive, intransitive) To close, in various senses.

(transitive, intransitive, chiefly British) To close (a business or venue) temporarily or permanently.


shut

Variation of chute or shute (archaic, related to shoot) from Old English scēotan.

(British, Shropshire dialect) A narrow alley or passage acting as a short cut through the buildings between two streets.


sit

en-verb

sit (third-person singular simple present sits, present participle sitting, simple past sat or (dated, poetic) sate, past participle sat or (archaic, dialectal) sitten)

sits (present singular third-person)
sitting (participle present)
sat (past)
sate (dated past poetic)
sat (participle past)
sitten (archaic dialectal participle past)
sit (infinitive)
sit (first-person present singular)
sat (first-person past singular)
sate (dated first-person past poetic singular)
sit (present second-person singular)
sat (past second-person singular)
sate (dated past poetic second-person singular)
sattest (past second-person singular)
sits (present singular third-person)
sat (past singular third-person)
sate (dated past poetic singular third-person)
sit (plural present)
sat (past plural)
sate (dated past plural poetic)
sit (present subjunctive)
sat (past subjunctive)
sate (dated past poetic subjunctive)
sit (imperative present)
sitting (participle present)
sat (participle past)
sitten (archaic dialectal participle past)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *sed-
Proto-Indo-European *-yeti
Proto-Indo-European *sédyeti
Proto-Germanic *sitjaną
Proto-West Germanic *sittjan
Old English sittan
Middle English sitten
English sit
From Middle English sitten, from Old English sittan, from Proto-West Germanic *sittjan, from Proto-Germanic *sitjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“sit”).
Cognates
Cognate with West Frisian sitte, Low German sitten, Dutch zitten, German sitzen, Swedish sitta, Norwegian Bokmål sitte, Norwegian Nynorsk sitja; and with Irish suigh, Latin sedeo, Russian сиде́ть (sidétʹ).

etymon

do not sit in Rome and strive with the Pope

where you stand depends on where you sit

(transitive, Australia, New Zealand, UK) To take, to undergo or complete (an examination or test).


slew

en-verb

slew (third-person singular simple present slews, present participle slewing, simple past and past participle slewed)

slews (present singular third-person)
slewing (participle present)
slewed (participle past)
slewed (past)

In all senses, a mostly British spelling of slue.

Wales, Northern England, some New England, Southern American, and Canadian

(transitive, British, slang) To make a public mockery of someone through insult or wit.

iemand te kakken zetten

to make a public mockery of someone through insult or wit


spent

(law, chiefly UK) Of legislation or an enactment: no longer in force due to all of its provisions having expired or been completed.

(law, chiefly UK) Of a conviction: no longer appearing on a person's criminal record.


spin

spin (third-person singular simple present spins, present participle spinning, simple past spun or (uncommon) span or (nonstandard) spinned, past participle spun or (nonstandard) spinned)

spins (present singular third-person)
spinning (participle present)
spun (past)
span (past uncommon)
spinned (nonstandard past)
spun (participle past)
spinned (nonstandard participle past)

From Middle English spinnen, from Old English spinnan, from Proto-Germanic *spinnaną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)penh₁-. Compare Low German spinnen, Dutch spinnen, German spinnen, Danish spinde, Swedish spinna.

But then again, unless someone struck lucky in those first few hours, there weren't even enough detectives to spin a drum [house].

(UK, law enforcement, slang, transitive) To search rapidly.


spin

en-noun

spin (countable and uncountable, plural spins)

Mr Weedon explains that this is a cell search - known by prisoners as a spin - and for obvious reasons it has to be carried out without any warning.

(UK, prison slang) A search of a prisoner's cell for forbidden articles.


spat

Shortening of spatterdash, from spatter + dash. 1779.

(automotive, UK, Australia) A piece of bodywork that covers the upper portions of the rear tyres of a car.


spoilt

en-adj

spoilt (comparative more spoilt, superlative most spoilt)

more spoilt (comparative)
most spoilt (superlative)
spoiled (alternative)


stick

en-verb

stick (third-person singular simple present sticks, present participle sticking, simple past and past participle stuck or (archaic) sticked)

sticks (present singular third-person)
sticking (participle present)
stuck (participle past)
stuck (past)
sticked (archaic participle past)
sticked (archaic past)

From Middle English stiken (“to stick, pierce, stab, remain embedded, be fastened”), from Old English stician (“to pierce, stab, remain embedded, be fastened”), from Proto-Germanic *stikōną (“to pierce, prick, be sharp”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tig-, *(s)teyg- (“to pierce, prick, be sharp”).
See also the related Proto-Germanic *stikaną, whence West Frisian stekke, Low German steken, Dutch steken, German stechen; compare also Danish stikke, Swedish sticka.
Cognate with the first etymology (same PIE root, different paths through Germanic and Old English), to stitch, and to etiquette, via French étiquette – see there for further discussion.

inh

throw enough mud at the wall and some of it will stick

throw things at the wall and see what sticks

would lose one's head if it wasn't stuck on

(intransitive, blackjack, chiefly UK) To stand pat: to cease taking any more cards and finalize one's hand.


stick

Possibly a metaphorical use of the first etymology ("twig, branch"), possibly derived from the Yiddish schtick.

I got some stick personally because of my walking attire. I arrived to training fully kitted out in sturdy walking boots.

2008 May 3, Chris Roberts, “It’s a stroll in the park!”, in Huddersfield Daily Examiner:


stank

From Old French estanc, (French étang), from Latin stagnum (“a pool”). Compare stagnant, stagnate.

And he [the hart] fleeth then mightily and far from the hounds, that is to say he hath gone a great way from them, then he will go into the stank, and will soil therein once or twice in all the stank and then he will come out again by the same way that he went in, and then he shall ruse again the same way that he came (the length of) a bow shot or more, and then he shall ruse out of the way, for to stall or squatt to rest him, and that he doeth for he knoweth well that the hounds shall come by the fues [footing] into the stank where he was.

c. 1425, Edward, Second Duke of York [i.e., Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York], “Of the Hart and His Nature”, in W[illia]m A[dolf] Baillie-Grohman, F[lorence] Baillie-Grohman, editors, The Master of Game by Edward, Second Duke of York: The Oldest English Book on Hunting, London: Chatto & Windus, published 1909, →OCLC, page 33:

(UK, dialect) Water retained by an embankment; a pool of water.

(UK, dialect) A dam or mound to stop water.


strike

en-verb

strike (third-person singular simple present strikes, present participle striking, simple past struck or (non-standard) striked or (all obsolete) strook or stroke or strake, past participle struck or (see usage notes) stricken or (both obsolete) strucken or strook)

strikes (present singular third-person)
striking (participle present)
struck (past)
striked (nonstandard past)
strook (obsolete past)
stroke (obsolete past)
strake (obsolete past)
struck (obsolete participle past)
stricken (obsolete participle past)
strucken (obsolete participle past)
strook (obsolete participle past)

→ German: streiken

From Middle English stryken, from Old English strīcan, from Proto-West Germanic *strīkan, from Proto-Germanic *strīkaną, from Proto-Indo-European *streyg- (“to stroke, rub, press”).
Cognate with Dutch strijken, German streichen, Danish stryge, Icelandic strýkja, strýkva.

der

lightning does not strike twice in the same place

lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place

lightning never strikes twice in the same place

Now we haue well bousd, let vs strike some chete.

1567, Thomas Harman, “The vpright Coſe cateth to the Roge. [The Upright Man speaketh to the Rogue.]”, in 'A Caveat or Warning for Common Cursitors, vulgarly called vagabonds'; reprinted in Charles Hindley, editor, A Caveat or Warning for Common Cursetors, Vulgarly called Vagabonds, London: Reeves and Turner, 1871, page 119:

Now we have well drunk, let us steal something.

Hee being thus duſted with meale, intreated the meale man to wipe it out of his necke, and ſtoopte downe his head: the meale man laughing to ſee him ſo rayed and whited, was willing to ſhake off the meal, and the whilſt, while hee was buſie about that, the Nippe had ſtroken the purſe and done his feate, and both courteouſly thanked the meale man and cloſely / went away with his purchaſe.

Greene, Robert (2017) “A discourse, or rather discovery of the Nip and the Foist, laying open the nature of the Cutpurse and Pick-pocket.”, in Ex-Classics Project, retrieved 2019-12-12, The Complete Cony-Catching by Robert Greene

He being thus dusted with meal, entreated the meal-man to wipe it out of his neck, and stooped down his head, the meal-man laughing to see him so arrayed and whited, was willing to shake off the meal, and while he was busy about that, the nip had stroken the purse and done his feat, and both courteously thanked the meal-man and closely went away with his purchase.

To have a sharp or severe effect on a more abstract level.

(intransitive, UK, obsolete, slang) To steal or rob; to take forcibly or fraudulently.


swim

From Middle English swymmen, from Old English swimman (“to swim, float”) (class III strong verb; past tense swamm, past participle geswummen), from Proto-West Germanic *swimman, from Proto-Germanic *swimmaną (“to swoon, lose consciousness, swim”), from Proto-Indo-European *swem(bʰ)- (“to be unsteady, move, swim”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots sweem, soom (“to swim”), Saterland Frisian swimme (“to swim”), West Frisian swimme (“to swim, float”), Dutch zwemmen (“to swim”), German schwimmen (“to swim”), Norwegian Bokmål and Danish svømme (“to swim”), Swedish simma (“to swim”), Norwegian Nynorsk symja (“to swim”).

der

(UK) A part of a stream much frequented by fish.


undertake

en-verb

undertake (third-person singular simple present undertakes, present participle undertaking, simple past undertook, past participle undertaken)

undertakes (present singular third-person)
undertaking (participle present)
undertook (past)
undertaken (participle past)
undirtake (alternative obsolete)

/ˌɐndəˈtæɪk/

From Middle English undertaken; equivalent to under- + take (after undernim).

(British, informal) To pass a slower moving vehicle on the curbside rather than on the side closest to oncoming traffic.


undertake

undertakes (plural)
undirtake (alternative obsolete)

/ˌɐndəˈtæɪk/

(British, informal) The passing of slower traffic on the curbside rather than on the side closest to oncoming traffic.


wear

wear (third-person singular simple present wears, present participle wearing, simple past weared or wore, past participle weared or worn or (obsolete) worne)

wears (present singular third-person)
wearing (participle present)
weared (past)
wore (past)
weared (participle past)
worn (participle past)
worne (obsolete participle past)
wer (alternative Scotland)
weir (alternative Scotland)

From Middle English weren, werien, from Old English werian (“to guard, keep, defend; ward off, hinder, prevent, forbid; restrain; occupy, inhabit; dam up; discharge obligations on (land)”), from Proto-West Germanic *warjan, from Proto-Germanic *warjaną (“to defend, protect, ward off”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to close, cover, protect, save, defend”).
Cognate with Scots wer, weir (“to defend, protect”), Dutch weren (“to aver, ward off”), German wehren (“to fight”), Swedish värja (“to defend, ward off”), Icelandic verja (“to defend”).

der

(now chiefly UK dialectal, transitive) To guard; watch; keep watch, especially from entry or invasion.

(now chiefly UK dialectal, transitive) To defend; protect.

to wear the wolf from the sheep

(now chiefly UK dialectal, transitive) To ward off; prevent from approaching or entering; drive off; repel.

(now chiefly UK dialectal, transitive) To conduct or guide with care or caution, as into a fold or place of safety.


wet

en-adj

wet (comparative wetter, superlative wettest)

wetter (comparative)
wettest (superlative)

Bislama: wet

→ Araki: wet

From Middle English wet (“wet, moistened”), wett, wette, past participle of Middle English weten (“to wet”), from Old English wǣtan (“to wet, moisten, water”), from Proto-West Germanic *wātijan, from Proto-Germanic *wētijaną (“to wet, make wet”), from Proto-Indo-European *wed- (“water, wet”) (also the source of water).
Cognate with Scots weit, wete (“to wet”), Saterland Frisian wäitje (“to wet; drench”), Icelandic væta (“to wet”). Compare also Middle English weet (“wet”), from Old English wǣt (“wet, moist, rainy”), from Proto-West Germanic *wāt, from Proto-Germanic *wētaz (“wet, moist”), related to Scots weit, weet, wat (“wet”), North Frisian wiat, weet, wäit (“wet”), Saterland Frisian wäit (“wet”), West Frisian wiet (“wet”), Middle Dutch wet (“wet, damp, watery”), Swedish and Norwegian våt (“wet”), Danish våd (“wet”), Faroese vátur (“wet”), Icelandic votur (“wet”).

cog

the cat would eat fish but would not wet her feet

"Wet! What currency that bit of slang has—and what awful power. It took me a long time to find out what the word meant, but after long research I think that I know. A man is wet if he isn't a 'regular guy'; he is wet if he isn't 'smooth'; he is wet if he has intellectual interests and lets the mob discover them; and, strangely enough, he is wet by the same token if he is utterly stupid. He is wet if he doesn't show at least a tendency to dissipate, but he isn't wet if he dissipates to excess. A man will be branded as wet for any of these reasons, and once he is so branded, he might as well leave college … "

1924, Percy Marks, chapter XVII, in The Plastic Age:

I think it’s time we stopped our cringing embarrassment about our history, about our traditions, and about our culture, and we stopped this general fight of self-recrimination and wetness.

2020, Boris Johnson quoted in "Proms row: Johnson calls for end to 'cringing embarrassment' over UK history," by Jim Waterson, The Guardian, Aug. 25, 2020

Don’t be so wet.

(British, slang) Ineffectual, feeble, showing no strength of character.


wet

en-noun

wet (countable and uncountable, plural wets)

(British, UK politics, derogatory) A moderate Conservative; especially, one who opposed the hard-line policies of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.


wind

en-verb

wind (third-person singular simple present winds, present participle winding, simple past and past participle winded or (proscribed) wound)

winds (present singular third-person)
winding (participle present)
winded (participle past)
winded (past)
wound (participle past proscribed)
wound (past proscribed)
winde (alternative obsolete)

⇒ Tok Pisin: winim

From Middle English wynd, wind, from Old English wind (“wind”), from Proto-West Germanic *wind, from Proto-Germanic *windaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wéh₁n̥tos (“wind”), from earlier *h₂wéh₁n̥ts (“wind”), derived from the present participle of *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”).
Cognates
Cognate with Dutch wind, German Wind, West Frisian wyn, Norwegian and Swedish vind, Icelandic vindur, Latin ventus, Welsh gwynt, Sanskrit वात (vā́ta), Russian ве́тер (véter), perhaps Albanian bundë (“strong damp wind”). Doublet of athlete, vent, weather and nirvana.

(transitive, British) To cause a baby to bring up wind by patting its back after being fed.

(transitive, British) To turn a boat or ship around, so that the wind strikes it on the opposite side.


round

rounds (plural)
around (alternative)
ron (alternative)

From Middle English round, rounde, from Old Northern French roünt, rund, Old French ront, runt, reont ( > French rond), from both Late Latin retundus and the original Latin rotundus. The noun developed partly from the adjective and partly from the corresponding French noun rond. Doublet of rotund.

rendi

card games: moment from the deal until the players are finished with the cards

For breakfast I had two rounds of toast and a mug of tea.


cook

cook (third-person singular simple present cooks, present participle cooking, simple past and past participle cooked)

cooks (present singular third-person)
cooking (participle present)
cooked (participle past)
cooked (past)

Audio (UK) "to cook"

some speakers from Northern England and Ireland

cuck (most accents without the foot-strut split)

Cook. To throw. Cook me that ball, throw me that ball. Glou.

1787, Francis Grose, A Provincial Glossary: With a Collection of Local Proverbs, and Popular Superstitions, London: Printed for S. Hooper, →OCLC, page 37:


bottle

Bislama: botel

Jamaican Creole: bokl, bakl

Sranan Tongo: batra

Aukan: bataa

→ Kari'na: patere

Tok Pisin: botol

Borrowings

→ Assamese: বটল (botol)

→ Brunei Malay: butul

→ Cornish: botel

→ Dutch: bottel (see there for further descendants)

→ Ese: butorua

→ Fiji Hindi: botal

→ Gamilaraay: baadhal

→ Georgian: ბოთლი (botli)

→ Gujarati: બાટલી (bāṭlī)

→ Gulf Arabic: بطل (buṭuḷ)

→ Kannada: ಬಾಟಲಿ (bāṭali)

desctree

→ Malay: botol
→ Hokkien: 帽突 (bō-tu̍t), 瓿瓵 (bo̍t-toi)
Indonesian: botol

→ Papiamentu: bòter

→ Maori: pātara

→ Marathi: बाटली (bāṭlī)

→ Nepali: बोतल (botal)

→ Pashto: بوتل (botál)

→ Pennsylvania German: Boddel

→ Persian: بطری (botri)

→ Pohnpeian: pwoatoal

→ Punjabi: ਬੋਤਲ (botal)

→ Samo: botolo

→ Scottish Gaelic: botal

→ Shona: bhotoro

→ Sinhalese: බෝතලය (bōtalaya)

→ Swazi: libhodlela

→ Welsh: potel

→ Xhosa: ibhotile, imbodlela

→ Yiddish: באָטל (botl)

→ Zulu: bhodlela

From Middle English botel (“bottle, flask, wineskin”), from Old French boteille, from Late Latin butticula, diminutive of buttis (“cask”). Doublet of botija.
Displaced native and pinne and non-native Old English ampella. Broadly overtook Old English flasce.

inh

You don’t have the bottle to do that!

He was going to ask her out, but he lost his bottle when he saw her.

(British, informal) (originally "bottle and glass" as rhyming slang for "arse") Nerve, courage.


bottle

en-verb

bottle (third-person singular simple present bottles, present participle bottling, simple past and past participle bottled)

bottles (present singular third-person)
bottling (participle present)
bottled (participle past)
bottled (past)

Because of complications she can't breast feed her baby and so she bottles him.

(transitive, British) To feed (an infant) baby formula.

The rider bottled the big jump.

(British, slang) To refrain from doing (something) at the last moment because of a sudden loss of courage.

jänistää

Arsenal bottled the Premier League.

(British, slang, sports) To throw away a leading position.

He was bottled at a nightclub and had to have facial surgery.

(British, slang) To strike (someone) with a bottle.

Meat Loaf was once bottled at Reading Festival.

(British, slang) To pelt (a musical act on stage, etc.) with bottles as a sign of disapproval.


bottle

From Middle English bottle, botel, buttle, from Old English botl (“building, house”), from Proto-West Germanic *bōþl, from Proto-Germanic *budlą, *buþlą, *bōþlą (“house, dwelling, farm”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰōw- (literally “to swell, grow, thrive, be, live, dwell”).
Cognate with North Frisian budel, bodel, bol, boel (“dwelling, inheritable property”), Dutch boedel, boel (“inheritance, estate”), Danish bol (“farm”), Icelandic ból (“dwelling, abode, farm, lair”). Related to Old English bytlan (“to build”). More at build.

cog

(UK, dialectal or obsolete) A dwelling; habitation.


box

en-noun

box (plural boxes or (nonstandard, computing, humorous) boxen)

boxes (plural)
boxen (humorous nonstandard plural)

Tok Pisin: bokis

→ Afrikaans: boks

→ Bengali: বাক্স (bakśo)

→ Bulgarian: бокс (boks)

→ Crimean Tatar: boks

→ Danish: boks

→ Dutch: box m

→ Faroese: boks

→ French: box m

→ German: Box f

→ Hindustani:

Hindi: बकस m (bakas), बक्सा m (baksā)

Urdu: بکس m (baks, bakas)

→ Icelandic: box n

→ Indonesian: boks

→ Irish: bosca m

→ Italian: box m

→ Japanese: ボックス (bokkusu)

→ Korean: 박스 (bakseu)

→ Maori: pāka

→ Marwari: बकस (baks, bakas)

→ Nepali: बाकस (bākas)

→ Norman: bosc m

→ Norwegian: boks m

→ Pashto: بکس (baks)

→ Persian: باکس (bâks)

→ Polish: boks m

→ Portuguese: box m

→ Russian: бокс m (boks)

→ Scottish Gaelic: bogsa m, bocsa

→ Spanish: box m

→ Swedish: box c

→ Welsh: bocs

Etymology tree
Ancient Greek πῠ́ξος (pŭ́xos)
Ancient Greek -ις (-is)
Ancient Greek πυξίς (puxís)bor.
Late Latin buxisbor.
Proto-West Germanic *buhsā
Old English box
Middle English box
English box
From Middle English box (“container, box, cup”), from Old English box (“box, case”), from Proto-West Germanic *buhsā (“box”) from Late Latin buxis (“box”), Latin pyxis (“small box for medicines or toiletries”), of uncertain origin; compare Ancient Greek πύξος (púxos, “box or tablet made of boxwood; box; cylinder”) and Ancient Greek πυξίς (puxís, “box or tablet made of boxwood; box; cylinder”). Doublet of piseog, pyx, and pyxis.
Cognate with Middle Dutch bosse, busse (“jar; tin; round box”) (modern Dutch bos (“wood, forest”), bus (“container, box; bushing of a wheel”)), Old High German buhsa (Middle High German buhse, bühse, modern German Büchse (“box; can”)), Swedish bössa (“box”).
The humorous plural form boxen is from box + -en, by analogy with oxen.

кутия

compartment or receptacle for receiving items

ramme

rectangular border around an image, text, etc.

квадратче

small area on a document for a tick mark

tofu

empty box displayed by some computer systems in place of a character not supported by available fonts

Senses relating to a three-dimensional object or space.

(colloquial, chiefly UK, Ireland) Short for squeeze box (“accordion or concertina”)


cuckoo

en-verb

cuckoo (third-person singular simple present cuckoos, present participle cuckooing, simple past and past participle cuckooed)

cuckoos (present singular third-person)
cuckooing (participle present)
cuckooed (participle past)
cuckooed (past)

From Middle English cokkou, kokkow, cukkuk, gokkouȝ, probably from Old French cocu, coquu, cucu (whence French coucou); ultimately onomatopoeic of the song of the male Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), perhaps via Latin cucūlus (“cuckoo”).
Compare dialectal English gowkoo (“cuckoo”). Displaced Middle English gnokken (“cuckoo”) and native Middle English yeke, ȝek (from Old English ġēac (“cuckoo”)), see English gowk.
The UK sense is by analogy from the bird's practice of brood parasitism.

She'll have been cuckooed. That'll be the Knezevics. They can't launder fast enough, so what do you do with it? Where do you put it? You hide it in somebody else's place; somebody who han't got a clue what's going on and couldn't do a fat lot about it if they did.

2023, Sally Wainwright, 26:06 from the start, in Happy Valley, season 3, episode 2, spoken by Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire):

(UK, law enforcement) To take over the home of a vulnerable person for the purposes of carrying out organized crime in a concealed way.


ice

Bislama: aes

→ Brunei Malay: ais

→ Japanese: アイス (aisu)

→ Korean: 아이스 (aiseu)

→ Malay: ais

→ Marshallese: aej, aij

→ Sinhalese: අයිස් (ayis)

→ Tokelauan: aiha

From Middle English is, from Old English īs (“ice”), from Proto-West Germanic *īs, from Proto-Germanic *īsą (“ice”) from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eyH- (“ice, frost”).
Cognates
See also Saterland Frisian Íes, West Frisian iis, Dutch ijs, German Low German Ies, German Eis, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish is; also Lithuanian ýnis (“glazed frost”), Russian и́ней (ínej, “hoarfrost”), Ossetian их (ix), ех (ex, “ice”), Persian یخ (yax), Northern Kurdish qeş. Superseded non-native Middle English glace (“ice”), borrowed from Old French glace (“ice”).


lake

en-verb

lake (third-person singular simple present lakes, present participle laking, simple past and past participle laked)

lakes (present singular third-person)
laking (participle present)
laked (participle past)
laked (past)
laik (alternative)

From Northern Middle English lake, lak, lac (also laik, layke; Southern loke), from Old English lāc (“play, sport, strife, battle, sacrifice, offering, gift, present, booty, message”), from Proto-West Germanic *laik, from Proto-Germanic *laikaz (“game, dance, hymn, sport”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyg- (“to bounce, shake, tremble”). Cognate with Old High German leih (“song, melody, music”), Old Norse leikr (whence Danish leg (“game”), Swedish leka (“to play”)), and Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌺𐍃 (laiks, “dance”); Doublet of lek.
Verb form partly from Middle English laken, from Old English lacan, from Proto-Germanic *laikaną, from Proto-Indo-European *leyg-. More at lay, -lock.

cog

(dialectal, Northern, UK) To leap, jump, exert oneself, play.


sovereign

sovereigns (plural)
soveraign (alternative archaic)
soveraigne (alternative archaic)
sovran (alternative archaic)
sovring (alternative pronunciation-spelling)
sovrin (alternative pronunciation-spelling)

→ Irish: sabhran

→ Russian: соверен (soveren)

→ Scottish Gaelic: sòbharan

→ Welsh: sofren

From Middle English sovereyn, from Old French soverain (whence also modern French souverain), from Vulgar Latin *superānus (compare Italian sovrano, Spanish soberano) from Latin super (“above”). Spelling influenced by folk-etymology association with reign. Doublet of soprano, from the same Latin root via Italian. See also suzerain, foreign.

souverain

one who is not a subject to a ruler or nation

No, someone who wears loads of sovereigns as well loads of gold and has uh a curly perm and peroxide blonde hair, orange, orange sunbed skin and a fringe like this blow-dried to death, that’s a ‘scally’.

2004, December 11, "Birkenhead, Merseyside" BBC Voices recording (0:06:52)

No visible tattoos, sovereigns, mismatched jewellery, scrunchies, large clips or hoop earrings.

2011 July 1, Caroline Davies, “Harrods 'ladies' code' drives out sales assistant”, in The Guardian:

(UK, slang) A large, garish ring; a sovereign ring.


dry

drys (plural)
dries (plural)
drie (alternative)

[d̠͡ɹ̠˔ʷaɪ̯]

Adjective and noun from Middle English drye, dryge, drüȝe, from Old English drȳġe (“dry; parched, withered”), from Proto-West Germanic *drūgī, *draugī, from Proto-Germanic *drūgiz, *draugiz (“dry, hard”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰerǵʰ- (“to strengthen; become hard”), from *dʰer- (“to hold, support”). The verb derives from Middle English drien, from Old English drȳġan (“to dry”), from Proto-West Germanic *drūgijan, from Proto-Germanic *drūgiz (“hard, desiccated, dry”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰerǵʰ- (“strong, hard, solid”).
cognates and related terms
 Cognate with Scots dry, drey (“dry”), North Frisian drüg, driig, Saterland Frisian druuch (“dry”), West Frisian droech (“dry”), Dutch droog (“dry”), Low German dröög (“dry”), German dröge (“dull”), Icelandic draugur (“a dry log”). Related also to German trocken (“dry”), West Frisian drege (“long-lasting”), Danish drøj (“tough”), Swedish dryg (“lasting, hard”), Icelandic drjúgur (“ample, long”), Latin firmus (“strong, firm, stable, durable”). See also drought, drain, dree.

cog

(British, UK politics) A radical or hard-line Conservative; especially, one who supported the policies of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s.


flat

en-adj

flat (comparative flatter, superlative flattest)

flatter (comparative)
flattest (superlative)
flatt (alternative obsolete)
flatte (alternative obsolete)

bumpy

antonym(s) of “having no variations in altitude”

→ Portuguese: flat

From Middle English flat, a borrowing from Old Norse flatr (compare Norwegian and Swedish flat, Danish flad), from Proto-Germanic *flataz, from Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- (“flat”); akin to Saterland Frisian flot (“smooth”), German Flöz (“a geological layer”), Ancient Greek πλατύς (platús), Latvian plats, Sanskrit प्रथस् (prathas, “extension”). Doublet of plat and pleyt.
The noun is from Middle English flat (“level piece of ground, flat edge of a weapon”), from the adjective.
The algebraic sense was coined by Serre in a 1956 paper, originally as French plat.

inh

We either burns the old brooms, or, if we can, we sells ’em for a ha’penny to some other boy, if he’s flat enough to buy ’em.

1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, published 1861:

(UK, slang, obsolete) Foolish; simple-minded.


flat

→ Portuguese: flate

From 1795, alteration of Scots flet (“inner part of a house”), from Middle English flet (“dwelling”), from Old English flet, flett (“ground floor, dwelling”), from Proto-Germanic *flatją (“floor”), from Proto-Germanic *flataz (“flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- (“flat”). Akin to Old Frisian flet, flette (“dwelling, house”). More at flet, flat₁.

cog

The excellence of French flats is so well known in America, that the owner will often refer to his property as "first class French flats."

1905, Sydney Perks, Residential flats of all classes, including artisans' dwellings: a practical treatise on their planning and arrangement, together with chapters on their history, financial matters, etc.,with numerous illustrations, page 204:

A kiss may be grand but it won’t pay the rental on your humble flat or help you at the automat.

1953 January 1, “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend”, in My Heart Belongs to Daddy, performed by Marilyn Monroe:

[NICELY]When you meet a gent paying all kinds of rent for a flat that could flatten the Taj Mahal. [BOTH]Call it sad, call it funny but it’s better than even money that the guy’s only doing it for some doll.

1955 November 3, “Guys and Dolls”, in Guys and Dolls (Original Broadway Cast Recording), performed by Stubby Kaye (as Nicely Nicely Johnson) and Johnny Silver (as Benny Southstreet):

Fifteen percent of this group said that they were not satisfied with the public housing estates and their HDB^([Singapore Housing & Development Board]) flats (see Tables 11 and 12 respectively).

1983, Tai Ching Ling, “Relocation and Population Planning: A Study of the Implications of Public Housing and Family Planning in Singapore”, in Wilfredo F. Arce, Gabriel C. Alvarez, editors, Population Change in Southeast Asia, page 184:

The Greater London Council formed the Estmanco company to manage a block of 60 council-owned flats. The council entered into an agreement with the company to sell off the flats to owner-occupiers.

2002, MIchael Ottley, Briefcase on Company Law, page 76:

When the Dolphin Square's flats were first offered to the public in 1936, the South Block was still under construction, and the North Block was a building site.

2014, Terry Gourvish, Dolphin Square: The History of a Unique Building, page 75:

Of course, closure of the West station took away the hotel's raison d'être. In May 2012, the local newspaper reported that this historic hotel, by then rated the town's worst (exemplified by its final review: "Please avoid at all costs"), was to be converted into 31 first-time-buyer one-bedroom flats.

2021 December 29, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and facts behind railway plaques: Bournemouth (circa 1880)”, in RAIL, number 947, page 60:

(chiefly British, New England, South Africa, India, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, archaic elsewhere) A complete domicile occupying only part of a building, especially one for rent


bankrupt

Partial calque of Italian bancarotta (literally “a broken bench”), from banca (“bank”, literally “bench”) + rotta (“broken, rupted”), which refers to an out-of-business bank, having its bench physically broken, signifying that the working moneylender was insolvent.

calque

(UK, law, obsolete) A trader who secretes himself, or does certain other acts tending to defraud his creditors.


tit

From Middle English tit, titte, tette, from Old English tit, titt, from Proto-West Germanic *titt, from Proto-Germanic *tittaz (“teat; nipple; breast”), of expressive origin.
Perhaps related to an original meaning “to suck”; compare Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-y-. Doublet of teat, which was borrowed from Old French.
Cognates
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Tit, Dutch tiet, dialectal Dutch tet, German Zitze, Titte, Hunsrik Ditz, Yiddish ציצע (tsitse).

onomatopoeic

expressive

Look at that tit driving on the wrong side of the road!

I know a lot of tits, Guv'nor. But I don't know any quite as fucking stupid as these two.

2000, Guy Ritchie, Snatch (motion picture), spoken by Errol (Andy Beckwith):

“What did you say to the cops?”
“I told them everything about the smuggling ring.”
“Why the fuck did you do that?”
“They were nice to me.”
“They’re always nice to people they want to get information from, you dumb tit.”

2002, Dick Plamondon, Have You Ever Been Screwed, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 234:

John Watson (to Sherlock Holmes): It's Lestrade. Says they're all coming over here right now. Queuing up to slap on the handcuffs, every single officer you ever made feel like a tit. Which is a lot of people.

2012 January 15, Stephen Thompson, "The Reichenbach Fall", episode 2-3 of Sherlock, 00:52:46-00:52:55

“I asked Nandor and Colin Robinson to come with me on the first day because I didn't want the class to look too empty. But now I cannot get those two tits to leave.”

2023 August 17, Jeremy Levick & Rajat Suresh, “Hybrid Creatures” (5:12 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows, season 5, episode 7, spoken by Nadja of Antipaxos (Natasia Demetriou):

(UK, Ireland, derogatory, slang) An idiot; a fool.

(UK, Ireland, slang, derogatory) A police officer; a "tithead".


sparrow

From Middle English sparwe, sparowe, from Old English spearwa, from Proto-West Germanic *sparwō, from Proto-Germanic *sparwô, from Proto-Indo-European *spḗr (“sparrow”).
Cognate with Dutch spreeuw (“starling”), Alemannic German Spar (“sparrow”), German Sperling (“sparrow”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål spurv (“sparrow”), Norwegian Nynorsk sporv (“sparrow”), Swedish sparv (“sparrow”), Breton frao (“crow”), Tocharian A spārāñ, Ancient Greek ψάρ (psár, “starling”).

cockney sparrow

I take it there 's scarcely a happier fellow alive than your honest town-bred smoke-dried cockney sparrow.

1878, Charles Henry Ross, Ally Sloper's guide to the Paris exhibition, page 54:

Professional cockney sparrow Martine has acted since childhood.

2005, Drama Faces: Martine McCutcheon, BBC:

(UK, chiefly London) A quick-witted, lively person.


rumour

en-noun

rumour (countable and uncountable, plural rumours)

From Middle English rumour, from Old French rumour, rumor, from Latin rūmor (“common talk”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *rewH- (“to shout, roar”).

der

Rumour had it (though not proved) that she descended from the house of the lords Talbot de Malahide

1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 16]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:

There were rumours, new rumours every morning, delightful and outrageous rumours, so that the lumps in the porridge were swallowed without comment and the fish-cakes were eaten without contumely.

1922, Michael Arlen, “1/1/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:

"Keep off Conductor Rails" said red-painted notices at the platform ends, for third-rails were laid in many places even where electric trains never normally ran, and there had been many rumours of impending electrification of the Wirral, as a natural extension of the Mersey system, a quarter of a century before the change was actually made.

1954 March, W. A. Tuplin, “Recollections of the Wirral Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 167:

I myself gave support to the summoning of the Estates General ... as merely mistaken . Similarly it might be held that Paradise originated in a rumour invented in hell to make society the more interesting . ' ' We need a saviour .

1969, Peter Vansittart, Pastimes of a Red Summer: A Novel, Owen, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 140:

Dame Rumour outstrides me yet again.

1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section I, page 18:

British, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Ireland spelling of rumor.


impose

en-verb

impose (third-person singular simple present imposes, present participle imposing, simple past and past participle imposed)

imposes (present singular third-person)
imposing (participle present)
imposed (participle past)
imposed (past)
impose (infinitive)
impose (first-person present singular)
imposed (first-person past singular)
impose (present second-person singular)
imposest (archaic present second-person singular)
imposed (past second-person singular)
imposedst (archaic past second-person singular)
imposes (present singular third-person)
imposeth (archaic present singular third-person)
imposed (past singular third-person)
impose (plural present)
imposed (past plural)
impose (present subjunctive)
imposed (past subjunctive)
impose (imperative present)
imposing (participle present)
imposed (participle past)

The verb is derived from Late Middle English imposen (“to place, set; to impose (a duty, etc.)”), borrowed from Middle French imposer, and Old French emposer, enposer (“to impose (a duty, tax, etc.)”) (modern French imposer), from im-, em- (variants of en- (prefix meaning ‘in, into’)) + poser (“to place, put”), modelled after:
* Latin impōnere (“to place or set (something) on; (figurative) to impose (a duty, tax, etc.)”), from im- (variant of in- (prefix meaning ‘on, upon’)) + pōnō (“to place, put; etc.”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂pó, *h₂epó (“away; off”) + *tḱey- (“to cultivate; to live; to settle”)); and
* Latin impositus (“established; put upon, imposed”), the perfect passive participle of impōnō: see above.
The noun is derived from the verb.

der

(UK, school or university slang) To subject (a student) to imposition (“a task inflicted as punishment”).


magpie

From Mag, a nickname for Margaret that was used to denote a chatterer, + archaic pie (“magpie”), from Old French pie, from Latin pīca, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peyk- (“woodpecker, magpie”). Displaced native Old English agu, "magpie".


beaver

en-noun

beaver (countable and uncountable, plural beavers or (senses 1 and 4) beaver)

beavers (plural)
beaver (plural)
Beaver (alternative)

From Middle English bever, from Old English befer, from Proto-West Germanic *bebru, from Proto-Germanic *bebruz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰébʰrus (“beaver”).
Cognate with West Frisian bever, Dutch bever, French bièvre, German Biber, dialectal Swedish bjur. Non-Germanic cognates include Welsh befer, Latin fiber, Lithuanian bẽbras, Russian бобр (bobr), Avestan 𐬠𐬀𐬎𐬎𐬭𐬀 (bauura), and Sanskrit बभ्रु (bábhru, “mongoose; ichneumon”).
Slang use to refer to a woman evolved from use to refer to pubic hair, which evolved from use to refer to beards, which evolved from use to refer to the furry animal or its fur.

cog

(Canada, US) Beaver pelts as an article of exchange or as a standard of value.

Finally it came on. It was a beauty, a beaver flick made in the late 1970s. It was called Big Black Leather Splits.

1969, Harlan Ellison, “A Boy and His Dog”, in The Beast that Shouted Love at the Heart of the World, New York: Open Road Media, published 2014, →ISBN:

Between you and me, uh, she might have been fifteen, but when you get that little red beaver right up there in front of you, I don’t think it's crazy at all and I don’t think you do either.

1975, Lawrence Hauben, Bo Goldman, directed by Miloš Forman, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (motion picture), spoken by Randle McMurphy (Jack Nicholson):

Let’s get some of that Saturday night beaver.

1997, Paul Thomas Anderson, Boogie Nights (motion picture), spoken by Reed Rothchild (John C. Reilly):

The store sold beaver books, fuck-suck books, homo books, novels, films, slides, playing cards, dildoes, cock rings, S&M gear, and French ticklers.

2004, James Ellroy, Destination: Morgue! L.A. Tales, New York: Vintage Books, →ISBN, pages 127–128:

[…] once she wore none at all, swears to this day that he saw her beaver that fateful Friday night.

2010, Dennis McFadden, Hart’s Grove: Stories:

(chiefly Canada, US, slang, countable) The pubic hair near a vulva or a vulva itself; (attributively) denoting films or literature featuring nude women.

“10-4, Beaver [CB talk for a female], we’re all going down to Plains tomorrow after Jimmy Carter wins.”

1977 January 13, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, “Jimmy Carter: New South Burn”, in Rolling Stone, [San Francisco or New York], retrieved 2022-12-01:

(US, offensive, slang) A woman, especially one who is sexually attractive.


wildcat

wildcats (plural)
wild-cat (alternative)
wild cat (alternative)

From Middle English wyld cat, wylde cat (in the plural as wild cattes, wylde catis, wyle cattes), equivalent to wild + cat. Cognate with Middle Low German wiltkatte, German Wildkatze, Swedish vildkatt.
Its adjectival senses were originally American and derived from the "wildcat banks" of Michigan, following its elevation to statehood in 1837. Two laws—one easing the requirements for establishing a new bank and another occasioned by the Panic of 1837 that removed the need for payment in specie—led to the creation and collapse of around 50 banks within two years. The term is apocryphally derived from a wildcat supposedly featured on the currency printed by one of these banks, but more probably derived from the remote locations "where the wildcats roamed" chosen by these banks to avoid oversight and minimize redemption of notes.

John Audubon
bobcat
wildcat
wildcat (disambiguation)
wildcat cartridge

Felis silvestris
Felis silvestris#Translingual

A cat that lives in the wilderness, specifically:

(UK) Felis silvestris, a common small Old World wild cat somewhat larger than a house cat.


dormouse

dormice (plural)
doormouse (alternative misspelling)

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

From Middle English dormowse, of uncertain origin. Possibly from a dialectal *dor-, from Old Norse dár (“benumbed”) + mous (“mouse”). More at doze, mouse.
The word is sometimes conjectured to come from an Anglo-Norman derivative of Old French dormir (“to sleep”) (as *dormouse (“tending to be dormant”), with second element mistaken for mouse), but no such Anglo-Norman term is known to have existed.

Any of several species of small, mostly European rodents of the family Gliridae (syns. Myoxidae, Muscardinidae).

(UK) Muscardinus avellanarius (hazel dormouse).


rabbit

en-verb

rabbit (third-person singular simple present rabbits, present participle rabbiting, simple past and past participle rabbited)

rabbits (present singular third-person)
rabbiting (participle present)
rabbited (participle past)
rabbited (past)

From Cockney rhyming slang rabbit and pork, to talk.

Stop your infernal rabbiting! Use proper words or nobody will listen to you!

1941 They Die with their Boots On, Gerald Kersh, William Heinemann Ltd., London.
To Barker, a row is a Bull-an'-a-Cow, a suit is a Whistle or Whistle-an'-flute, a kid is a Gord-Forbid ; a car is a Jam , or Jam-Jar ; talk is Rabbit , or Rabbit-an'-Pork ; beer is Pig's-Ear … and so on, up and down the language

(British, intransitive) To talk incessantly and in a childish manner; to babble annoyingly.