sub-lieutenant

commissioned officer
commissioned officer

(military, navy) A commissioned officer of the navy whose rank is immediately below that of a lieutenant.

(UK) A commissioned officer of the Royal Navy ranking above a midshipman and below a lieutenant.


noodle

en-verb

noodle (third-person singular simple present noodles, present participle noodling, simple past and past participle noodled)

noodles (present singular third-person)
noodling (participle present)
noodled (participle past)
noodled (past)

The origin of the noun is uncertain; it is possibly a variant of noddle (“the head”). The verb is derived from the noun.

(intransitive, British, dialectal, informal) To engage in frivolous behavior; to fool around or waste time.


cave

Borrowed from Latin cavē, second-person singular present active imperative of caveō (“to beware”). Used at Eton College, Berkshire.

Ssh! Cave! Mum's the word! Not 'arf, or what?

1989, Ben Elton, Richard Curtis, Private Plane (Blackadder Goes Forth), season 4, episode 4, spoken by Lt. George (Hugh Laurie):

(British, school slang) look out!; beware!


rest

From Middle English reste, from Old French reste, from Old French rester (“to remain”), from Latin restō (“to stay back, stay behind”), from re- + stō (“to stand”). Replaced native Middle English lave (“rest, remainder”) (from Old English lāf (“remnant, remainder”)).

der

(UK, finance) A surplus held as a reserved fund by a bank to equalize its dividends, etc.; in the Bank of England, the balance of assets above liabilities.


jammy

en-adj

jammy (comparative jammier, superlative jammiest)

jammier (comparative)
jammiest (superlative)
jammie (alternative)

jammy bastard

jammy sod

(UK, colloquial, of a person) Lucky; especially undeservedly so.


baggy

I said dad you're a shabby / You run around and groove like a baggy / You're only here just out of habit

1990, “Kinky Afro”, in Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches, performed by Happy Mondays:

(UK) A member of the 1980/90s British music and fashion movement.


bean

→ Fiji Hindi: biin

From Middle English bene, from Old English bēan, from Proto-West Germanic *baunu, from Proto-Germanic *baunō (“bean”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰabʰ- (“bean”). Cognate with Scots bene, bein (“bean”), West Frisian bean (“bean”), Dutch boon (“bean”), German Bohne (“bean”),
Swedish böna (“bean”),
Danish bønne (“bean”), Norwegian bønne (“bean”), Icelandic baun (“bean”), Latin faba (“bean”), Russian боб (bob, “bean”), Serbo-Croatian бо̏б/bȍb. Doublet of fava.

(British, slang, archaic) A guinea coin or sovereign.

I haven't got a bean.

(British, slang, chiefly in the negative) Money.


beak

Unknown; originally cant; first recorded in 17thC; probably related to obsolete cant beck "constable".

They take up men, Dick, for going about in women's clothes, and vice versaw, I suppose. You'll bail me, old fellaa, if I have to make my bow to the beak, won't you?

1859, George Meredith, chapter XXXVIII, in The Ordeal of Richard Feverel. A History of Father and Son. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC:

Harry looked rather bulky, you know, Tom, and the slop (policeman) says, 'Hallo, what you got here?' and by [blank] he took us both before the beak.

1866, Temple Bar: A London Magazine for Town and Country Readers:

Thus does history repeat itself, and that foolish beak, with Tom Linden before him, was but Felix judging Paul.

1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

That an unnamed 22-year-old will be up before the Colchester beak in March under the Road Traffic Act's recherché section 3 – covering inconsiderate driving and with a maximum fine of £5,000 – may at first sight seem a facetious use of court resources.

2014 January 24, Matthew Norman, “Hercules of the Yard can fix boorish Britain: There's a long list of possible miscreants for the Essex PC who made a splash over a puddle [print version: 25 January 2014]”, in The Daily Telegraph, page 27:

In 1854, ill health forced Henry [Fielding] to stop running the organisation that later became the Bow Street Runners, London's first professional police force, and John [Fielding] took over. This despite having lost his sight in a naval accident at the age of 19. He was known as the Blind Beak, and was said to be able to recognise as many as 3,000 criminals by their voices alone.

2014 April 12, Christopher Middleton, “Dream home: one of Chelsea's most historic houses is for sale: We deliver our verdict on a London landmark that comes with an impeccable legal pedigree [print version: What price justice? In this case, a cool £14.5m]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Property), London, page P9:

justice of the peace
justice of the peace

(slang, British) A justice of the peace; a magistrate.


daff

en-verb

daff (third-person singular simple present daffs, present participle daffing, simple past and past participle daffed)

daffs (present singular third-person)
daffing (participle present)
daffed (participle past)
daffed (past)

From Middle English daffen (“to render foolish”), from daf, daffe (“fool, idiot”). See above.

inh

Young Tam came up and eyed me quick With reddened cheek—Braw Tam was daffed like a chick—He could na speak—Ah Marie they are all gane hame

I made out—to put it clearly—that the Sultan had been far gone in his cups when Kiamil appeared before him; that he had called the Basha such 'daffing' names as 'renegade dog,' 'toothless old hound,' 'hound without scent, that could not smell out an intrigue under his nose;' which agreeable epithets doubtless were flung about because Lorimer, and not he, had got wind of the conspiracy of the notables.

1894, James MacLaren Cobban, The Red Sultan: A Story of Adventure, page 295:

"Perhaps, most Elysian of fair ladies, it would be, as one might say, more seemly if I, as a justice of the peace—" Brilliana daffed him down.

1904, Justin Huntly McCarthy, The Lady of Loyalty House, page 226:


daff

Get your daffs here - £2 a bunch.

You want a few more daffs on the decani side […]

1934, Dorothy L. Sayers, The Nine Tailors:

(British, informal) Clipping of daffodil.


comprehensive

Borrowed from late Middle French compréhensif, from Late Latin comprehēnsīvus, from Latin comprehendō.

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:

comprehensive school
comprehensive school


nancy

From Nancy, pet form of the female given names Agnes and Anne, under influence from earlier nan (“serving girl, maid; male homosexual”), itself from Nan, another pet form of the same names. Compare Mary.

(British, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, US, derogatory, slang, offensive) An effeminate man, especially a homosexual.


fancy

en-verb

fancy (third-person singular simple present fancies, present participle fancying, simple past and past participle fancied)

fancies (present singular third-person)
fancying (participle present)
fancied (participle past)
fancied (past)
fancie (alternative obsolete)
fansie (alternative obsolete)
fant’sy (alternative obsolete)
phancie (alternative obsolete)
phancy (alternative obsolete)
phansie (alternative obsolete)
phansy (alternative obsolete)
phant’sy (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English fancien, fantasien, fantesien, from Old French fantasier, from the noun (see above)).

I fancy a burger tonight for dinner.

Do you fancy going to town this weekend?

(British) Would like; have a desire for.

I fancy that girl over there.

How can you fancie one that lookes so fierce, / Onely diſpoſed to martiall Stratagems? / UUho when he ſhal embrace you in his arms / UUil tell how many thouſand men he ſlew.

c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene ii:

(British, informal) To be sexually, aesthetically or romantically attracted to.


burke

burke (third-person singular simple present burkes, present participle burking, simple past and past participle burked)

burkes (present singular third-person)
burking (participle present)
burked (participle past)
burked (past)

As soon as the executioner proceeded to his duty, the cries of ‘Burke him, Burke him—give him no rope’... were vociferated... ‘Burke Hare too!’

(UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, slang) To murder by suffocation.

"I don’t know that," interrupted the landlady; "Williams is a good hanging name: there was Williams who murdered the Marr's family, and Williams who burked all those poor dear children; I dare say he is some relation of theirs; but to think of his coming to the White Hart—it's no place for his doings, I can tell him: he sha'n't poison his wife in my house; out he goes this very night—I'll take the letter to him myself."

1832, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, The Keepsake 1833, One Peep was Enough, pages 303–304:

Perhaps he is Burked, and his body sold for nine pounds.

1833, T. Hook, Parson's Daughter, II. i. 26:

‘You don’t mean to say he was burked, Sam?’ said Mr. Pickwick, looking hastily round.

1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “Chapter 31”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC:

(UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, slang, historical) To murder for the same purpose as Burke, to kill in order to have a body to sell to anatomists, surgeons, etc.

The reporters left it out... Those who spoke in favour of the poor men, were what the reporters call burked.

1835, J. A. Roebuck, Dorchester Labourers, 6/1 (note):

He put away—burked—the Directors' letter, and went in to talk to Riley

1888, Rudyard Kipling, “A Bank Fraud,”, in Plain Tales from the Hills, Folio, published 2005, page 128:

Socrates and Plato burked the issue.

(UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, slang) To smother; to conceal, hush up, suppress.


burke

(British, slang) Alternative form of berk.


faeces

en-noun

faeces pl (normally plural, singular faex)

This paper reports on ingestion of soil by dairy cows using titanium analysis of faeces by the X-ray fluorescence technique, and gives the range of soil intakes of a year on both an individual and a herd basis.

1968 May, W. B. Healy, “Ingestion of Soil by Dairy Cows”, in New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research, page 487:

The fact that dogs have a well developed sense of smell suggests that they might be able to use the odour of faeces as a means of communicating.

1984 April 19, David F. Chantrey, James B. Reid, C. E. Davie, “Dog Business”, in New Scientist, page 48:

Urine and faeces are complete fertilizers of high quality with low levels of contaminants such as heavy metals. Urine is rich in nitrogen, while faeces are rich in phosphorous, potassium and organic matter.

2004, Håkan Jönsson, Håkan Jönsson, Anna Richert Stintzing, Björn Vinnerås, Eva Salomon, Guidelines on the Use of Urine and Faeces in Crop Production, page 1:

UK, Canada, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and India standard spelling of feces.


nappy

A diminutive in -y. The base is probably napkin but possibly French nappe directly (note that napkin is already a diminutive).

You will notice that disposable nappies are sold in boy and girl versions. They vary in where the thickest padding is provided.

1995, Jennie Lindon, Lance Lindon, Leandra Negrini, Caring for Young Children, page 60:

Other equipment required was soap for hand washing and washing of nappies, a washing line for the drying of nappies,[…].

2005, Medical Association of Malawi, “Malawi Medical Journal: The Journal of Medical Association of Malawi”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), volume 17, page 39:

You could burn disposable nappies (not a very practical option); otherwise, it′s probably best to take a supply of large plastic bags or nappy sacks with you and to dispose of them as thoughtfully as you can.

2008, Isabelle Young, Healthy Travel: Asia & India, 2nd edition, Lonely Planet, page 275:

In response we mailed hundreds of nappies to students in halls. On the nappy was a simple message, IT'S A LOT EASIER TO PUT ON A CONDOM.

2009, Chris Arnold, Ethical Marketing and The New Consumer, page 55:

(British, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand) An absorbent garment worn by a baby or toddler who does not yet have voluntary control of their bladder and bowels or by someone who is incontinent; a diaper.


necessary

necessary (plural necessaries or necessarys)

necessaries (plural)
necessarys (plural)

/ˈnɛsəˌsɛɹi/

/ˈnɛsəˌsɛɹi/

From Middle English necessarye, from Old French necessaire, from Latin necessārius (“unavoidable, inevitable, required”), variant of necesse (“unavoidable, inevitable”), probably from ne or non cessum, from the perfect passive participle of cēdō (“yield; avoid, withdraw”); see cede.
Older use as a noun in reference to an outhouse or lavatory under the influence of English and Latin necessārium, a medieval term for the place for monks’ “unavoidable” business, usually located behind or attached to monastic dormitories.

der

It soon became fashionable for even the poorest families to have a necessary not far from their cabin. […] The more affluent settlers painted their necessarys in bright colors and carved their names on the doors.

2009, Don Corbly, The Last Colonials, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 67:

(chiefly UK, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, archaic, euphemistic, usually with the definite article) A place to do the "necessary" business of urination and defecation: an outhouse or lavatory.

Rhode Island; Massachusetts; Rhode Island; Massachusetts


bulldog

→ French: bouledogue

→ German: Bulldogge

→ Portuguese: buldogue

From bull + dog, in reference to bullbaiting.

[…] and was confronted by a “bulldog,” a proctor's assistant in charge of discipline, who asked if he was a member of the university since he wasn't wearing a gown, and he was able to say that he wasn't, […]

2019, Thomas Merton, Patrick F. O'Connell, Medieval Cistercian History (page lxxiii)

(UK, Oxford University slang) One of the proctors' officers.

"... playing bulldog in the yard so I know you're fit enough to fight. Have you decided when you're coming back?”

2008 08, Christ Kennedy, Two Sons Nelson, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 304:

[…] playing bulldog on the plaza in front of the meeting hall.

2010 April 29, Bill Svelmoe, Spirits Eat Ripe Papaya, Wipf and Stock Publishers, →ISBN, page 138:

[…] playing bulldog, that game where you have two teams, one team runs and the other one catches. You have to run from […]

2018, Avril Brock, Pam Jarvis, Yinka Olusoga, Perspectives on Play: Learning for Life:

Once Tyson skidded on some wet leaves when he and his friends were playing Bulldog in the park. As he lay on the ground they all laughed at him, even Ajay, and although he'd twisted his ankle, what hurt most was his pride.

2018 June 14, Irvine Welsh, A.L. Kennedy, Meera Syal, John Niven, Pauline Melville, Daisy Buchanan, Christopher Brookmyre, Zoe Venditozzi, Nina Stibbe, Mike Gayle, Murray Lachlan Young, Barney Farmer, 24 Stories: of Hope for Survivors of the Grenfell Tower Fire, Random House, →ISBN:

(chiefly UK, sometimes capitalized) The children's game of British Bulldog or Red Rover.


rare

en-adj

rare (comparative rarer, superlative rarest)

rarer (comparative)
rarest (superlative)

From Middle English rare, from Old French rare, rere (“rare, uncommon”), from Latin rārus (“loose, spaced apart, thin, infrequent”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁- (“friable, thin”). Replaced native Middle English gesen (“rare, scarce”) (from Old English gǣsne), Middle English seld (“rare, uncommon”) (from Old English selden), and Middle English seldscene (“rare, rarely seen, infrequent”) (from Old English seldsēne).

cog

For the adverb (e.g. rarely) see Thesaurus:occasionally

Sees her reflection in a butcher shop.
She finds it all quite rare
That her meat's all vanity fair.

1981, Chris Difford (lyrics), Glenn Tilbrook (vocal), "Vanity Fair" (song)


leukaemia

en-noun

leukaemia (countable and uncountable, plural leukaemias)

1979, Medical Association of South Africa, South African Medical Journal, Volume 55, Issues 1-14, page 9,
On the other hand, adult respiratory distress syndrome is a prominent complication in patients with acute leukaemia and to this must be added the whole spectrum of opportunistic infections.

1992, Charles L. Sawyers, The bcr-abl Gene in Chronic Myelogenous Leukaemia, Owen N. Witte (editor), Cancer Surveys, Volume 15: Oncogenes in the Development of Leukaemia, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, page 37,
The molecular biologists′ vision that the cloning of the chromosomal translocations found in human leukaemias would lead to the identification of the genes that cause these leukaemias has become a reality with the demonstration that the fusion protein generated by the chromosomal translocation found in chronic myelogenous leukaemia (CML) can induce leukaemia in mice (Daley et al, 1990; Kelliher et al, 1990).

2009, M. C. G. Israëls, The Shortcomings of Animal Research in Leukæmia, Ciba Foundation Symposium, Leukaemia Research, page 28,
In transmitted mouse leukaemia the cells remain fixed in type, but tissue culture methods applied to human acute leukaemias show that these cells are not fixed in type.

2010, Sheryl Persson, Smallpox, Syphilis and Salvation: Medical Breakthroughs That Changed the World, Exisle Publishing, NSW, page 283,
There are different types of childhood leukaemia, which can be classified as acute or chronic. In children, about 98 per cent of leukaemias are acute.


deaf

en-adj

deaf (comparative deafer, superlative deafest)

deafer (comparative)
deafest (superlative)

From Middle English deef, from Old English dēaf, from Proto-West Germanic *daub, from Proto-Germanic *daubaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“to whisk, smoke, darken, obscure”). Cognate with Ancient Greek τυφλός (tuphlós, “blind”). See also dumb. Doublet of daff, dof, and dowf.

اَلصُّمّ

unable to hear, used as a substantive: deaf people considered as a group

a deaf nut; deaf corn

If the season be unkindly and intemperate, they [peppers] will catch a blast; and then the seeds will be deafe, void, light, and naught.

1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “(please specify |book=I to XXXVII)”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], (please specify |tome=1 or 2), London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC:

(obsolete, UK, dialect) Decayed; tasteless; dead.


chase

en-noun

chase (countable and uncountable, plural chases)

From Middle English chacen, from Anglo-Norman chacer, Old French chacier, from Vulgar Latin *captiāre, from Latin captāre, frequentative of capere. Compare French chasser (“to hunt”, “to chase”), Spanish cazar (“to hunt”), Portuguese caçar (“to hunt”)
, see Norwegian skysse (“to hunt”).
Doublet of catch and related to capture. Displaced native Old English ōht, ēhtnes, and wāþ. Broadly overtook Old English huntaþ.

Outside, the stately oaks, rooted for ages in the green ground which has never known ploughshare, but was still a chase when kings rode to battle with sword and shield and rode a-hunting with bow and arrow, bear witness to his greatness.

1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, chapter 14, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC:

(British) A large country estate where game may be shot or hunted.


whack

Uncertain. Originally Scottish; probably onomatopoeic, but compare Middle English thakken, from Old English þaccian (whence Modern thwack by conflation with whack). Sense 6 of the verb is likely a semantic loan from Malay hentam (“to strike; to do something carelessly”).

sl

I don’t care about much wine afterwards—I take my whack at dinner—I mean my share, you know; and when I have had as much as I want I toddle up to tea.

1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 39, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

“It’s damned tame, whatever it is, comin’ in here at feedin’ time an’ gettin’ its whack of fish.”

1906 May–October, Jack London, chapter 2, in White Fang, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., published October 1906, →OCLC, part 1 (The Wild), page 16:

“[…] O'Cannon's a taxpayer. He pays his whack towards the upkeep of the State School up in town—”

1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter VII, in Capricornia, New York: Appleton, page 108:

For one thing I had a splendid supper when I got on board—a whack of cold, lean beef and pighells, bread, butter ad lib., tea, and plenty of good bread.

1951, Katherine Mansfield, Letters to John Middleton Murry, 1913-1922:

There were problems over the installation of the engine and the handling. The team had paid top whack for the two Coopers, but the company gave them no help at all.

2014, Anthony Pritchard, Grand Prix Ferrari, page 203:

(originally UK cant, somewhat dated) A share, a portion, especially a full share or large portion.


whack

en-verb

whack (third-person singular simple present whacks, present participle whacking, simple past and past participle whacked)

whacks (present singular third-person)
whacking (participle present)
whacked (participle past)
whacked (past)

Recently I was over in Ireland, I love the place, proper fishing, can't whack it!

(UK, chiefly in the negative) To surpass; to better.


batty

From bottom, possibly influenced by botty or butt.

For example, recent Jamaican 'raga' lyrics by Buju Banton and Brand Nubian attach the affirmation of black identity to crude animosity towards homosexuality and contain offensive language against the 'batties' as icons of non-blackness.

1996, Rudi Bleys, The geography of perversion:

(Jamaica, UK, Canada, derogatory) A homosexual man.


chatty

en-adj

chatty (comparative chattier, superlative chattiest)

chattier (comparative)
chattiest (superlative)

Now there are plans to put up a cheap and chatty wooden fence which will not provide anything like the security the old wall did and it will not have the same character.

2014, Ian Robson, “Fenham residents campaign against plans to replace wall with wooden fence”, The Chronicle:

(British, Australia, New Zealand, dated or dialect) Infested with lice; or, (figuratively) dirty, worn or of poor quality; lousy.


wallop

en-noun

wallop (countable and uncountable, plural wallops)

From Middle English wallopen (“gallop”), from Anglo-Norman [Term?], from Old Northern French walop (“gallop”, noun) and waloper (“to gallop”, verb) (compare Old French galoper, whence modern French galoper), from Frankish *wala hlaupan (“to run well”) from *wala (“well”) + *hlaupan (“to run”), from Proto-Germanic *hlaupaną (“to run, leap, spring”), from Proto-Indo-European *klaub- (“to spring, stumble”). Possibly also derived from a deverbal of Frankish *walhlaup (“battle run”) from *wal (“battlefield”) from Proto-Germanic [Term?] (“dead, victim, slain”) from Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“death in battle, killed in battle”) + *hlaup (“course, track”) from *hlaupan (“to run”). Compare the doublet gallop.

der

(UK, Scotland, dialect) A quick rolling movement; a gallop.


mucker

Fancy a pint, me old mucker?

(UK, slang, Southern England, Northern Ireland) Friend, acquaintance.


pinta

From the pronunciation of pint of milk. Compare cuppa.


gallon

→ Cebuano: galon

→ Czech: galon

→ Irish: galún

→ Maori: kārani

→ Portuguese: galão

→ Serbo-Croatian: galon

→ Spanish: galón

→ Swahili: galoni

→ Turkish: galon

From Middle English gallon, galoun, galun, from Old Northern French galun, galon (“liquid measure”) (compare Old French jalon), from Late Latin galum, galus (“measure of wine”), from Vulgar Latin *galla (“vessel”), possibly from Gaulish [Term?], ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kel- (“goblet”). Cognate with Ancient Greek κύλιξ (kúlix, “cup”), Sanskrit कलश (kalaśa, “jar, pitcher; measure of liquid”). Related to Old French gille (“wine measure”) (from Medieval Latin gillō (“earthenware jar”)), Old French jale (“bowl”), Old French jaloie (“measure of capacity”).

cog

(British, Canada) exactly 4.54609 liters; an imperial gallon


pod

Origin uncertain. Perhaps from Middle English *pod ("seed-pod, husk, shell, outer covering"; attested in pod-ware (“legume seed; seed grain”)), itself possibly from Old English pād (“an outer garment, covering, coat, cloak”), from Proto-West Germanic *paidu, from Proto-Germanic *paidō (“coat, smock, shirt”), from Proto-Indo-European *baiteh₂- (“woolen clothes”). If so, then cognate with Old Saxon pēda (“skirt”), German dialectal Pfeid, Pfeit (“shirt”), Gothic 𐍀𐌰𐌹𐌳𐌰 (paida, “mantle, skirt”), and perhaps Albanian petk (“gown, garment, dress, suit”) and Ancient Greek βαίτη (baítē, “goat-skin, fur-coat, tent”).

unc

uncertain

gloss

"seed-pod, husk, shell, outer covering"; attested in <i class="Latn mention" lang="enm">pod-ware</i> (“legume seed; seed grain”)

ncog

cart, that is clouted and shod,
cart ladder and wimble, with perser and pod

1557 February 13 (Gregorian calendar), Thomas Tusser, A Hundreth Good Pointes of Husbandrie, London: […] Richard Tottel, →OCLC; republished London: […] Robert Triphook, […], and William Sancho, […], 1810, →OCLC:


dock

A dock (sense 1, sense 2) for cruise ships
A laptop docking (sense 5) station
A GUI dock (sense 6) on Linux
From Early Modern English meaning "area of mud in which a ship can rest at low tide, dock", borrowed from either Dutch dok (“dock, wharf”) or Middle Low German docke (“dock, wharf”), both from Middle Dutch docke (“port, harbour”), of uncertain origin. The original sense may have been "the furrow a grounded vessel makes in a mud bank". Compare Danish dok, Dutch dok, West Frisian dok, German Dock, Low German Dock, Swedish docka.
Some sources link this word to an unattested Middle Dutch *docke (“watercourse, trench, canal”), which is a ghost word, only being inferred from Mediaeval Latin documents in the form of ducta, doctus, doccia (“conduit, canal”). However, if this theory is correct, then it would relate the word to Italian doccia (“drainpipe”), making dock a doublet of douche and duct.
An alternative theory ties Middle Dutch docke to a North Germanic or Scandinavian source, notably Old Norse dǫkk, dökð (“depression in the landscape, pit, pool, trench”); compare Icelandic dökk, Norwegian dokk (“hollow, low ground”), Swedish dank (“marshy ground”). If so, this would make dock a doublet of dank.

multiple image

A dock (sense 􂀽1, sense 􂀽2) for cruise ships

ThinkPad Mini Dock Series 3, Type 4337-9664.jpg

noncog

(UK, nautical) The body of water next to and around a pier.

nasa

body of water between two piers or wharves


take up

en-verb

take up (third-person singular simple present takes up, present participle taking up, simple past took up, past participle taken up)

takes up (present singular third-person)
taking up (participle present)
took up (past)
taken up (participle past)
take one up (alternative)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-take up.wav

elfogad

to accept (a proposal, offer, request, etc.) from

(transitive) To set about doing or dealing with (something).

(transitive, chiefly British) To pay off, to clear (a debt, loan, mortgage, etc.).


liquor

en-noun

liquor (countable and uncountable, plural liquors)

liquors (plural)
liquour (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English licour, from Anglo-Norman licour, from Latin liquor (“fluidity, liquidness, a fluid, a liquid”), from liquere (“to be fluid or liquid”); see liquid. Doublet of liqueur.

der

(UK, cooking) A parsley sauce commonly served with traditional pies and mash.


seaman

From Middle English seeman, seman, from Old English sǣmann. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Seemon (“seaman, sailor”), West Frisian seeman (“seaman, sailor”), Dutch zeeman (“seaman, sailor”), German Low German Seemann (“seaman, sailor”), German Seemann (“seaman, sailor”), Swedish sjöman (“seaman, sailor”), Norwegian sjømann (“seaman, sailor”). Equivalent to sea + -man.

cog

(British, Navy) A person of the lowest rank in the Navy, below able seaman.


sportsman

→ Korean: 스포츠맨 (seupocheumaen)

→ Russian: спортсме́н (sportsmén)

→ Welsh: sbortsmon

On the contrary, the difference between the worse male and female sportsmen was 54 ms. Among the male sportsmen [...]. Among the female sportsmen [...]

2014, Libor Flemr, Jiří Němec, Kateřina Kudláčková, editors, Physical activity in science and practice: Conference Proceedings | In celebration of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, Charles University in Prague [Prague, 19-21 June 2013], page 237:

In both cases the female sportsmen were Nordic skiers.

2008, Atko Viru, Adaptation in Sports Training, Informa Healthcare USA, New York, p. 227 (Chapter 9: Gender Differences in Training Effects, sub-chapter Metabolic Capacities in male and female Athletes)

(UK) A man who engages in sports; an athlete.


kite

kites (plural)
kight (alternative)
kyte (alternative)

The noun is from Middle English kyte, kīte, kete (“a kite endemic to Europe, especially the red kite (Milvus milvus)”), from Old English cȳta (“kite; bittern”), from Proto-West Germanic *kūtijō, diminutive of Proto-Germanic *kūts (“bird of prey”), from Proto-Indo-European *gewH-d- (“to cry, screech”). The English word is cognate with Scots kyt, kyte (“kite; bird of prey”), Middle High German kiuzelīn, kützlīn (“owling”) (modern German Kauz (“owl”)). Possibly a doublet of coot.
Sense 3 (“lightweight toy”) is from the fact that it hovers in the air like the bird.
The verb is derived from the noun.

der

Brill (Scophthalmus rhombus) Also known as kite or pearl. Brill reaches a maximum length of 75cm (29½in). It lives in the Eastern Atlantic, from Iceland to Morocco, throughout the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.

2010, “Fish and Seafood”, in Helena Caldon, Fiona Corbridge, Mary Scott, Belinda Wilkinson, editors, The Cook’s Book of Ingredients, London: Dorling Kindersley, →ISBN, page 69:

(British, dialectal) The brill (Scophthalmus rhombus), a type of flatfish.


consultant

From French consultant, present participle of consulter, from Latin cōnsultāre (“to deliberate, consult”), frequentative of cōnsulere (“to consult, deliberate, consider, reflect upon, ask advice”), from com- (“together”) + -sulere, of uncertain origin.

(medicine, UK, Ireland) A senior hospital-based physician or surgeon who has completed all specialist training and has been placed on the specialist register in their chosen speciality, roughly equivalent to an attending physician in North America.


bouncer

Noting a shop where goods are piled on the counter, or within reach, a man goes in called a bouncer, and generally asks to look at some handkerchiefs, selecting a time when there is only one shopman in the way, breakfast-time for instance; whilst this is going on, a well-dressed youth comes in with a blue bag in his hand, asking for shoe-ties, or some trifling article. Now the work begins; […]

1832, Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country, volume 6, page 478:

(UK, slang, obsolete) Short for shop-bouncer


Jacob

From Middle English Iacob, from Late Latin Iācōbus, from Ancient Greek Ἰάκωβος (Iákōbos), from Biblical Hebrew יַעֲקֹב (yaʿăqōḇ, literally “he will/shall heel”), from עָקֵב (ʿāqēḇ, “heel”). Doublet of James.

Where's the Jacob? — the what, sir? — the Jacob! the ladder ye fool!

1825, M. Egerton, Airy Nothings; Or, Scraps and Naughts, and Odd-cum-shorts, page 26:


chorus

en-noun

chorus (plural choruses or (dated) chorusses or (rare) chori)

choruses (plural)
chorusses (dated plural)
chori (plural rare)

The noun is borrowed from Medieval Latin chorus (“church choir”), Latin chorus (“group of dancers and singers; dance”), from Ancient Greek χορός (khorós, “group of dancers and singers, choir, chorus; dance accompanied by song; round dance”); further etymology uncertain, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰer- (“to encircle, enclose”) or *ǵʰoros. Doublet of choir, chore, and hora.
The plural form chori is from Latin chorī, from Ancient Greek χοροί (khoroí).
The verb is derived from the noun.

der

Enter Chorus. / Cut is the branch that might haue growne ful ſtraight, / And burned is Apolloes Laurel bough, / That ſometime grew within this learned man: […]

1589–1592 (date written), Ch[ristopher] Marl[owe], The Tragicall History of D. Faustus. […], London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Thomas Bushell, published 1604, →OCLC, signature [F3], recto:

Ya're as good as a Chorus my lord.

c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shake-speare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (First Quarto), London: […] [Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] L[ing] and Iohn Trundell, published 1603, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:

Palinode. / Amo[rphus]. From ſpaniſh ſhrugs, french faces, ſmirks, irps, and all affected humours: / Chorvs. Good Mercvry defend vs.

1600 (first performance), Beniamin Ionson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Cynthias Reuels, or The Fountayne of Selfe-Loue. […]”, in The Workes of Beniamin Ionson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby, published 1616, →OCLC, Act V, scene xi, page 267:

Enter Time, the Chorus. [stage direction]

c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], page 289, column 2:

(by extension, chiefly British, theater, historical) An actor who reads the prologue and epilogue of a play, and sometimes also acts as a commentator or narrator; also, a portion of a play read by this actor.


American football

tlb

(UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Myanmar, South Africa, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei)

"Chain mail, or an American football suit - that's what you'll want."

1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

A team sport similar to rugby football, played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end.


section

en-verb

section (third-person singular simple present sections, present participle sectioning, simple past and past participle sectioned)

sections (present singular third-person)
sectioning (participle present)
sectioned (participle past)
sectioned (past)

From Middle English seccioun, from Old French section, from Latin sectiō (“cutting, cutting off, excision, amputation of diseased parts of the body, etc.”), from sectus, past participle of secāre (“to cut”). More at saw.

der

Tribunals were set up as watchdogs in cases of compulsory detention (sectioning). […] Informal patients, however, could be sectioned, and this was often a fear of patients once they were in hospital.

1998, Diana Gittins, Madness in its Place: Narratives of Severalls Hospital, 1913-1997, Routledge, →ISBN, page 45:

The doctor then sectioned her, making her an involuntary patient, and had her moved to a secure ward.

a. 2000, Lucy Johnstone, Users and Abusers of Psychiatry: A Critical Look at Psychiatric Practice, Second edition, Routledge, published 2000, →ISBN, page xiv:

After explaining that for 7 years, from ’88 to ’95, I was permanently sectioned under the Mental Health act, robbed of my freedom, my integrity, my rights, I wrote at the time;- […]

2006, Mairi Colme, A Divine Dance of Madness, Chipmunkapublishing, →ISBN, page 5:

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) To commit (a person) to a hospital for mental health treatment as an involuntary patient. So called after various sections of legal acts regarding mental health.


twister

From Middle English twyster, equivalent to twist + -er.

“I don't know if it's my imagination, Kipper,” I said, “but something gives me the impression that at moment of going to press you aren't too sold on Bobbie.” He shrugged a shoulder. “Oh, I wouldn't say that. Apart from wishing I could throttle the young twister with my bare hands and jump on the remains with hobnailed boots, I don't feel much about her one way or the other.”

1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter IX:

(British, colloquial) A crook, a villain.


smoker

All grins and tuxes at some charity smoker in a city-centre hotel.

2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 129:

(informal, dated, UK, Cambridge University) A social event featuring sketches, songs, etc., whether or not smoking is carried out.


frame

→ Korean: 프레임 (peureim)

→ Swahili: fremu

From Middle English frame (“profit, benefit, advantage; a structure composed according to a plan”), from the verb (above) and also from Old Norse frami (“advantage, fame, bravery, efficiency, privilege, honor”); and frame (“a framework or structure of any kind”) which is of uncertain origin. The latter is usually regarded as a derivative of former; however, compare the rare Anglo-Norman and Old French frame, fraine (“frame, framework”), itself of uncertain origin, which might be a borrowing from the English, from the Norse, or even possibly ultimately from Frankish *hramu (“frame”) related to Dutch raam (“window frame”).

der

a stocking frame; a lace frame; a spinning frame

(engineering, dated, chiefly UK) Any of certain machines built upon or within framework.


vine

From Middle English vīne, from Anglo-Norman vigne, from Vulgar Latin vīnia, from Latin vīnea (“vines in a vineyard”), from vīneus (“related to wine”), from vīnum (“wine”), from Proto-Italic *wīnom, from Proto-Indo-European *wóyh₁nom (“vine, wine”), from *weh₁y- (“to twist, wrap”). Doublet of wine.

ivy vine

Ampelopsis cordata; Parthenocissus quinquefolia

They picked the grapes off the vine.

Irám indeed is gone with all its Rose,
And Jamshýd's Sev'n-ring'd Cup where no one knows;
But still the Vine her ancient Ruby yields,
And still a Garden by the Water blows.

1859, Edward Fitzgerald, The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám: The Astronomer-Poet of Persia, page 2:

(especially UK) A climbing plant that produces grapes.


"Two 99s please. And your story." The ice cream was in insulated compartments and he scooped it out […]

2008, Ian Pattinson, Global Weirding, →ISBN:

'Two 99s for you, young man. A Fab? Yes, here you are, madam. A Mivvi coming up.' As he handed over the ices, the kids ran or just sauntered off. I don't know if the ice-cream man thought some adult was going to appear and pay for the lot, […]

2011, On The Cobbles: Jimmy Stockin, →ISBN:

'Two 99s, please.' Copper Pie held them while I searched for the right money. […] Copper Pie was still on the ground, holding the ice creams […]

2012, T. M. Alexander, A Thousand Water Bombs, →ISBN:

(UK, Ireland) An ice cream cone with a chocolate flake inserted into the ice cream.


chunder

en-noun

chunder (countable and uncountable, plural chunders)

Unknown and debated origin. Possibly a shortening of Chunder Loo, itself a presumed rhyming slang for spew (said to be derived from the cartoon character “Chunder Loo of Akim Foo”, drawn by Norman Lindsay for a series of boot-polish advertisements in the early 1900s), but the rhyming slang usage is not actually recorded. Alternatively, possibly from the nautical phrase "*Watch under!" ("Look out below!"), used to warn people on lower decks that someone above was vomiting over the side of the ship, though this is likewise unsubstantiated and may simply be due to folk etymology. Also possibly from tunder, a dialectal pronunciation of thunder; or borrowed from Scots *junder, junner, chunner (“to bump, knock against", also "to break or spill the contents of”), a frequentative form of jund, chund, jundie (“to jog, jostle, annoy, upset”). First attested in c. 1950.

unk

Unknown and debated origin

I had puke streamers hanging from both nostrils; it wasn′t as watery as my chunder usually is (from drinking).

1996 April 24, Andrew Shore, “Nose Chunder (was Re: Grogan Epidemic at ERR)”, in alt.tasteless (Usenet):

(UK, Commonwealth, Ireland, slang) Vomit.

I would guess it points up the difference between the involuntary chunder where you cannot choose the time place or direction, and the self-induced chunder which facilitates further consumption of alcohol after your theoretical limit is reached.

2001 September 9, John Dean, “‘chunder’”, in alt.usage.english (Usenet):

(UK, Commonwealth, Ireland, slang) An act of vomiting.


chunder

en-verb

chunder (third-person singular simple present chunders, present participle chundering, simple past and past participle chundered)

chunders (present singular third-person)
chundering (participle present)
chundered (participle past)
chundered (past)

unk

Unknown and debated origin

I come from a land down under / Where beer does flow and men chunder / Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder? / You better run, you better take cover

1980, Colin Hay, Ron Strykert, “Down Under”, performed by Men at Work:

2008, Isabelle Young, Tony Gherardin, Central and South America, Lonely Planet, page 70,
There are plenty of winding roads, diesel fumes, crowded public transport and various less than sweet odours to get you chundering when you′re on the move in this part of the world, so take a good supply of motion sickness remedies if you know you′re susceptible to this.

“You might have chundered,” said Kate, laughing, “but at least you didn′t get any on yourself—sign of a true lady.”

2009, William Efford, Picaroon, page 313:

Pretty soon just about everyone onboard was leaning over the rail chundering like sick dogs.

2010, Norman Jorgensen, Jack′s Island, page 3:

(Australia, New Zealand, British, slang) To throw up, to vomit, particularly from excessive alcohol consumption.


sponge

en-noun

sponge (countable and uncountable, plural sponges)

→ Hindi: स्पंज (spañj)

→ Japanese: スポンジ (suponji)

→ Korean: 스펀지 (seupeonji)

→ Pashto: سپنج (spanj)

→ Welsh: spynj

→ Malay: span

From Middle English sponge, from Old English spunge, taken from Latin spongia, from Ancient Greek σπογγιά (spongiá), from σπόγγος (spóngos).

(countable, uncountable, British) A type of steamed pudding.


swish

en-adj

swish (comparative swisher or more swish, superlative swishest or most swish)

swisher (comparative)
more swish (comparative)
swishest (superlative)
most swish (superlative)

This restaurant looks very swish — it even has linen tablecloths.

All the shabby railway buildings in front of the station concourse have either been removed or transformed into a shopping complex and swish homes.

2020 June 3, Howard Johnston, “Regional News: Cambridge”, in Rail, page 23:

(British, colloquial) sophisticated; fashionable; smooth.


rubbish

en-noun

rubbish (usually uncountable, plural rubbishes)

rubbishes (plural)
rubbage (alternative)

Inherited from Middle English robous (“rubbish, building rubble”), further origin uncertain; possibly from Anglo-Norman rubous, rubouse, rubbouse (“refuse, waste material; building rubble”), and compare Anglo-Latin rebbussa, robousa, robusium, robusum, rubisum, rubusa, rubusium (although the Anglo-Norman and Anglo-Latin words may be derived from the English word instead of the other way around, as there are no known Old French cognates of the word). The English word may be related to rubble, though the connection is unclear. Possibly derived ultimately from Old Norse rubba (“to huddle, crowd together, heap up", also possibly "to rub, scrape”), from Proto-Germanic *rubbōną (“to rub, scrape”). Compare Swedish rubba (“to move, displace, dislodge, upset”).
The verb is derived from the noun.

cog

Everything the teacher said during that lesson was rubbish. How can she possibly think that a bass viol and a cello are the same thing?

I ſhall […] lay out of my way the whole bede-roll of citations and precedents which they have produced, that heterogeneous heap of rubbiſh, which is only calculated to confound your Lordſhips, and miſlead the argument.

1774 April, “Summary of the Arguments of the Council and Judges in the Great Cause, which was Lately Heard before the House of Peers, for Ascertaining the Right of Literary Property. […]”, in Sylvanus Urban [pseudonym; Edward Cave], editor, The Gentleman’s Magazine, and Historical Chronicle, volume XLIV, London: Printed […], for D[avid] Henry, and sold by F[rancis] Newbery, […], →OCLC, page 149, column 2:

"Essays about what?" / "Oh—rubbish mostly." / There was a moment's pause. / "Oh, Lovat, don't be so silly. You know you don't think your essays rubbish," put in Harriet. "They're about life, and democracy, and equality, and all that sort of thing," Harriet explained.

1923, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “Neighbours”, in Kangaroo, London: Martin Secker […], →OCLC, pages 27–28:

But just now she felt that there was something flippant and unseemly in talking such fantastic rubbish: dreams seemed out of place when reality was so heartbreaking.

1933, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], chapter II, in The Way of the Scarlet Pimpernel, New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, published 1934, →OCLC, pages 23–24:

(by extension, chiefly Commonwealth) Nonsense.


rubbish

en-adj

rubbish (comparative more rubbish or rubbisher, superlative most rubbish or rubbishest)

more rubbish (comparative)
rubbisher (comparative)
most rubbish (superlative)
rubbishest (superlative)

This has been a rubbish day, and it’s about to get worse: my mother-in-law is coming to stay.

Disk interfaces have been around since the year dot, as people soon realised that the microdrive was unreliable, unstable and generally rubbish for the storage of anything, useless except as a rather small beermat.

1989 June, Phil Snout [pseudonym; Phil South], “Rage Hard”, in Matt Bielby, editor, Your Sinclair, number 42, London: Dennis Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 82, column 1:

A-level students will study Russell Brand's views on drugs and Caitlin Moran's Twitter feed alongside more conventional literature in a new A-level that was immediately denounced as "rubbish" by sources at the Department for Education.

2014 May 6, Richard Adams, “English A-level with Russell Brand and Dizzee Rascal on reading list under fire”, in The Guardian:

(chiefly UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, colloquial) Exceedingly bad; awful.


rubbish

en-verb

rubbish (third-person singular simple present rubbishes, present participle rubbishing, simple past and past participle rubbished)

rubbishes (present singular third-person)
rubbishing (participle present)
rubbished (participle past)
rubbished (past)

In my judgment, it is not Christian—I think that is the proper way to put it—to rubbish the leaders of our trade union movements, both employers' and workers'. [...] The employers are quite right in rubbishing this section. The recently retired Chief Ombudsman rubbished it. The insurance guild, not exactly known as a militant trade union until recently, has rubbished it. Twenty-nine leaders in our community have rubbished it.

1977 August 17, A[rthur] J[ames] Faulkner, “Human Rights Commission Bill”, in Parliamentary Debates (Hansard): Third Session, Thirty-eighth Parliament (House of Representatives), volume 412, Wellington: E. C. Keating, government printer, published 1978, →OCLC, pages 2307–2308:

We're messing around at work, the three of us, getting ready to go home and rubbishing each other's five best side one track ones of all time [...]

1995, Nick Hornby, chapter 13, in High Fidelity, London: Victor Gollancz, →ISBN, page 122:

Oh, there is fuel enough for the memoirs, even if Marion's eyes glaze over, periodically, during tea or one of Corrie's rather awful lunches [...]. The names flow forth, and are rubbished or extolled, [...]

2011, Penelope Lively, chapter 1, in How It All Began, London: Fig Tree, Penguin Books, →ISBN; republished New York, N.Y.: Penguin Books, 2012, →ISBN, page 11:

'It's the first real acting job I've had and he completely rubbishes it. My career will be over before it even starts.' / 'I wouldn't take it too personally,' Shelley said as she reloaded the café dishwasher. 'Bryn Dwyer rubbishes just about everything. [...']

2012, Melanie Milburne, chapter 1, in The Virgin’s Price, London: Mill & Boon Sexy, →ISBN:

Such irresponsible comments seem to me clearly an attempt for political reasons to rubbish a past that was of a far better quality than anything that exists today.

2020 May 20, Barry Doe, “McLoughlin unfair with opinion of late-BR rail”, in Rail, page 65:

Delia's Complete Cookery Course is still in print more than 40 years since its first publication. “Everybody did rubbish it,” she says.

2023 July 15, Josh Noble, quoting Delia Smith, “‘Life is not a bowl of cherries’”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 3:

(transitive, chiefly UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, colloquial) To criticize, to denigrate, to denounce, to disparage.

haukkua

to criticize, denigrate — see also criticize, denigrate


doll

doll (third-person singular simple present dolls, present participle dolling, simple past and past participle dolled)

dolls (present singular third-person)
dolling (participle present)
dolled (participle past)
dolled (past)

Probably variant of archaic dool (“boundary marker”).

2023 November 24, “Sean Quinlan: I get the frustration at fences being dolled off because of low sun - but trust jockeys when we say it's not safe”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):

(UK, transitive) To place a barrier in front of (a section of the course that is to be omitted from a horse race).


nursery

en-noun

nursery (countable and uncountable, plural nurseries)

Carolina Stanley
Fritz von Uhde
Kunsthalle Hamburg
María Eugenia Vidal

From Middle English noricerie, norserye (“children's nursery; state of being fostered or nursed; education, upbringing”) [and other forms], from Old French norricerie, nourricerie, from norrice, nourrice (modern French nourrice (“childminder, nanny; wet nurse”)) + -erie (suffix forming feminine nouns). Norrice and nourrice are derived from Late Latin nūtrīcia (“wet nurse”), from Latin nūtrīcius (“that nurses or suckles; nourishing”), from nūtriō (“to breastfeed, nurse, suckle”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh₂- (“to flow”). The English word may be analysed as nourice, nurse + -ery (suffix forming nouns meaning ‘place of’).

refn

From the collection of the Kunsthalle Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.

nb...

norceri, norcerie, norcery, norcerye, norisri, norisrie, norisserie, norisserye, norserie, norserye, norsheri, norshery, norysrye, nursery

де́тска я́сла

place where nursing or the raising of children is carried out

разса́дник

place where anything is fostered and growth promoted

(countable) A place where nursing (“breastfeeding”) or the raising of children is carried on.

(UK, chiefly British) An institution for small children who not yet have begun primary school during daytime (when their parents work); a daycare centre.

я́слі

place where the pre-school children of working parents are supervised during the day — see also nursery school


hanging

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

nonlemma

MUGSEY: Yeah. You fancy ‘im don’ you.
LEANNE: No I don’t. Shut yer mouth.
MUGSEY: Your mum said he’s gonna end up just like his dad.
LEANNE: She don’ even know Bingo. Anyway, I don’t fancy ‘im, ‘e’s hanging.

(UK, slang, of a person, originally Manchester) Ugly; very unattractive; disgusting.


scrap

en-noun

scrap (countable and uncountable, plural scraps)

From Middle English scrappe, from Old Norse skrap, from skrapa (“to scrape, scratch”), from Proto-Germanic *skrapōną, *skrepaną (“to scrape, scratch”), from Proto-Indo-European *skreb-, *skrep- (“to engrave”). Cf. Swedish skräp (“garbage”).

(UK, in the plural) A piece of deep-fried batter left over from frying fish, sometimes sold with chips.


nipper

Heard what I was saying, and nipped off to the patrols the very next day. Pretty smart for a nipper of seven, eh?

1949 June 8, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC; republished [Australia]: Project Gutenberg of Australia, August 2001, part 1, page 55:

No, this is not a creche: nippers should not be running around, fighting under the pool table or generally creating havoc (this applies to dogs, too).

2018 June 6, Tony Naylor, “The new rules of pub etiquette: don't flirt with bar staff or steal the glasses”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:


tot

Borrowed from Scots tot, a shortened form of totum (“small child; tot”), of uncertain origin, perhaps shortened from totter (“to move in an unsteady way”),
Compare tottle, also Old Norse tottr (“name of a dwarf”), Swedish tutte (“small child”), Danish tommeltot (“little child”).

Whoe answeared like a toute, or a maddman, as he was, that he was for the Kinge.

a. 1660, A Contemporary History Of Affairs In Ireland:

(UK, dialect, obsolete) A foolish fellow.


tot

en-verb

tot (third-person singular simple present tots, present participle totting, simple past and past participle totted)

tots (present singular third-person)
totting (participle present)
totted (participle past)
totted (past)

a totted debt

(UK, historical) To mark (a debt) with the word tot (Latin for "so much"), indicating that it was good or collectible for the amount specified.


tame

tame (third-person singular simple present tames, present participle taming, simple past and past participle tamed)

tames (present singular third-person)
taming (participle present)
tamed (participle past)
tamed (past)

From Middle English tamen (“to cut into, broach”). Compare French entamer.

inh

In the time of famine he is the Joseph of the country, and keeps the poor from starving. Then he tameth his stacks of corn, which not his covetousness, but providence, hath reserved for time of need.

1642, Thomas Fuller, The Holy State, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Roger Daniel for John Williams, […], →OCLC:

(obsolete, UK, dialect) To broach or enter upon; to taste, as a liquor; to divide; to distribute; to deal out.


Jr

(British) A title used after a son's name when his father has the same name.


sportswoman

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-sportswoman.wav

(UK) A woman who engages in sports; a female athlete.


cure

The mud was thick — the crossing clean — / A well dressed man, genteel of mien — / Walked through the first (he might be poor), / The sweeper muttered, "He's a Cure."

1855, Mark Lemon, Henry Mayhew, Tom Taylor, Punch, volumes 29-32, page 201:

(UK, slang, obsolete) An eccentric person.


clapboard

en-noun

clapboard (countable and uncountable, plural clapboards)

From Middle English clapholt, from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch klapholt. The part "holt" was later calqued to "board".

(archaic, UK) An oak board of a size used for barrel staves.


slope

en-verb

slope (third-person singular simple present slopes, present participle sloping, simple past and past participle sloped)

slopes (present singular third-person)
sloping (participle present)
sloped (participle past)
sloped (past)

I sloped in through the back door, hoping my boss wouldn't see me.

She watched him disappear out of sight, before sloping back to her room.

2009 October 29, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Mr Stink, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:

(UK, colloquial, usually followed by a preposition) To try to move surreptitiously.


vend

From French vendre, from Old French vendre, from Latin vendere, from vēnum (“(something for) sale”) + dare (“to give”).

(UK, Australia, dated) The total sales of coal from a colliery.


tumble

tumble (third-person singular simple present tumbles, present participle tumbling, simple past and past participle tumbled)

tumbles (present singular third-person)
tumbling (participle present)
tumbled (participle past)
tumbled (past)

From Middle English tumblen (“to fall over and over again, tumble”), frequentative of Middle English tumben (“to fall, leap, dance”), from Old English tumbian, from Proto-Germanic *tūmōną (“to turn, rotate”). Cognate with Middle Dutch tumelen (whence Dutch tuimelen), Middle Low German tumelen, tummelen, German taumeln and Danish tumle.

der

Speaking of this language, a costermonger said to me: "The Irish can't tumble to it anyhow; the Jews can tumble better, but we're their masters. Some of the young salesmen at Billingsgate understand us, — but only at Billingsgate; […]

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

(obsolete, UK, slang) To comprehend; often in tumble to.


slot

en-verb

slot (third-person singular simple present slots, present participle slotting, simple past and past participle slotted)

slots (present singular third-person)
slotting (participle present)
slotted (participle past)
slotted (past)

From Middle English slot, from Old French esclot, likely from Old Norse slóð (“track”). As a gambling machine, via clipping of slot machine. Compare sleuth. The scheduling (calendar) sense is by a metaphor whereby the time span is equated with the segment of a page or part of a device that represents it.

One young soldier told me he couldn't bear to shoot the wild game in Rhodesia, but he had no trouble "slotting" floppies. "The more I kill," he said, "the better I feel. They're ruining everything for us."

1978 Spring, Collins Reynolds, editor, The Bridge, volume 3, number 1, Center for Research and Education, page 31:

Two males and a female from Northern Ireland had been identified, tracked and 'slotted'.

2012, Davy Thompson, Uniforms and Boats, page 59:

They fired into the air on automatic and I thought, here we go, all I need is for one of these rounds to come down and slot me through the head.

2013, Andy McNab, Bravo Two Zero: The 20th Anniversary Edition, page 184:

(slang, British, Rhodesia, sometimes elsewhere in the Commonwealth) To kill.


slot

slots (present singular third-person)
slotting (participle present)
slotted (participle past)
slotted (past)
slote (alternative)

From Middle English slot, from Middle Low German slot or Middle Dutch slot, ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *slot, from Proto-Germanic *slutą, related to the verb *sleutaną (“to lock”). Cognate with Dutch slot, German Schloss (“door-bolt”).
The verb is probably from Middle Dutch sluten (“to close, to lock”) (Modern Dutch sluiten (“to close”)).

der

to slot a door

(obsolete, transitive, UK, dialectal) To shut with violence; to slam.


hundreds and thousands

100s and 1000s (alternative)
100s & 1000s (alternative)

PIE word
 *ḱm̥tóm
From hundreds + and + thousands. Sense 2 (“tiny balls or strands of multicoloured sugar”) is from the fact that the confectionery is made up of numerous sugar pieces.

So there you have them - Onoda, Gund, Eclipse - all squidged together on the same spoon, their flavours intermingling under a bleeding crust of hundreds-and-thousands.

2003, Neil Wills, “Surfers′ Paradise”, in Third Way, page 12:

Hundreds and thousands, commonly yet boringly called “sprinkles” in North America, are enough to make any child smile. Sprinkled over a cookie and sandwiched around creamy ice cream makes for sheer bliss!

2007, Pippa Cuthbert, Lindsay Cameron Wilson, Cookies!, New Holland Publishers (UK), archived from the original on 2016-09-17, page 96:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) Tiny balls or strands of multicoloured sugar, sprinkled over ice cream, desserts or party foods.


leeway

en-noun

leeway (countable and uncountable, plural leeways)

From lee (“side away from the wind”) + way.

[...] there was plenty of opportunity to modernise in the years up to 1939, but since then the Second World War and its aftermath of expenditure rigidly controlled by Government held up any progress until at last the purse-strings were unloosed five years ago. But an enormous amount of leeway needs to be made up.

1960 April, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Trains Illustrated, page 209:

(British) An adverse discrepancy or variation in a cumulative process, usually in the phrase make up leeway.


blast

From Middle English blasten, blesten, from Old English blǣstan (“to blow, blast”), from Proto-West Germanic *blēstijan, from Proto-Germanic *blēstijaną. Possibly related to Middle High German blesten (“to stand out, plop, splash”).

noncog

Now, where's my Labour membership card, so I can consider whether to tear it up? Blast, it's plastic...

2025 February 19, Christian Wolmar, “Reeves talks of 'growth' but pays lip service to the railway”, in RAIL, number 1029, page 35:

(chiefly British, informal, mildly blasphemous) Used to show anger or disappointment: damn


bin

en-verb

bin (third-person singular simple present bins, present participle binning, simple past and past participle binned)

bins (present singular third-person)
binning (participle present)
binned (participle past)
binned (past)

From Middle English bynne, from Old English binn (“crib, manger”), from Proto-West Germanic *binnu, *binnā, from Gaulish benna (“four-wheeled cart; caisson”) (compare Old Irish buinne, Welsh ben (“cart”), Old Breton benn (“caisson”)). Cognate with West Frisian bin (“wicker basket”), Middle Dutch benne (“basket”), whence modern Dutch ben (“wicker basket”), German Benne (“wheelbarrow”).

der

He put the bank statement in the shoebox marked "Bank Statements" and binned the rest.

2008, Tom Holt, Falling Sideways, Orbit books,, →ISBN, page 28:

(chiefly British, informal) To dispose of (something) by putting it into a bin, or as if putting it into a bin.

dumpen

informal: dispose of in a bin or as if in a bin

This splendid eloquence was promptly binned by the pope, […]

2002, Christopher Harvie, Scotland: A Short History, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 59:

The CC [Co-ordinating Centre] had long since binned the idea of catching the regular shuttle service, […]

2005, Ian Oliver, War and peace in the Balkans: the diplomacy of conflict in the former Yugoslavia, I.B. Tauris, →ISBN, page 238:

NR also wants more effort made to bin out-of-date 1970s technology, but only replacing it with equipment that meets customer needs, rather than high-tech kit just for the sake of it.

2021 September 22, Howard Johnston, “NR: stop firefighting and plan for long-term progress”, in RAIL, number 940, page 11:

(British, informal) To throw away, reject, give up.


smash

en-noun

smash (countable and uncountable, plural smashes)

→ Czech: smeč

→ Serbo-Croatian: smeč

→ Turkish: smaç

Uncertain, probably of onomatopoeic origin. Compare Swedish smask (“to smack with the lips”), dialectal Swedish smaska (“to smack, kiss”), Danish smaske (“to smack with the lips”), Low German smaksen (“to smack with the lips, kiss”).

cog

The driver and two passengers were badly injured in the smash.

(UK, Ireland, colloquial) A traffic collision.


smash

en-verb

smash (third-person singular simple present smashes, present participle smashing, simple past and past participle smashed)

smashes (present singular third-person)
smashing (participle present)
smashed (participle past)
smashed (past)

→ Catalan: esmaixar

(UK, Ireland, slang, obsolete) To pass counterfeit money.


mild

milds (plural)
milde (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English milde, from Old English milde (“mild”), from Proto-Germanic *mildijaz (“mild”), from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to beat, pound, grind”).
Cognate with Scots mild, myld (“mild”), Saterland Frisian milde (“mild”), West Frisian myld (“mild”), Dutch mild (“mild”), Low German milde (“mild”), German mild (“mild”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian Bokmål mild (“mild”), Icelandic mildur (“mild”), Latin mollis (“soft, gentle”), Lithuanian malonus (“pleasing, pleasant, kind”), Old Norse mildr.

cog

'Let me get this for the lady,' I said to Fange, who was pulling her a pint of mild.

1998, Robert Rankin, The Dance of the Voodoo Handbag, page 112:

But Stella shouldn't really be drunk in pints the same way our dads used to drink bitter or mild that was effectively half as strong.

2011, Pete Brown, Three Sheets to the Wind:

(British) A relatively low-gravity beer, often with a dark colour; mild ale


blackberry

Rubus fruticosus
Rubus leucodermis
Rubus occidentalis

From Middle English blakberie, blakeberie (“brambleberry”), from Old English blacu berġe, blæcberġe (attested in plural blaca berġan, equivalent to black + berry.

absolute state like in Syriac but not attested

ܦܛܠ (pṭal) (indeclinable) (neither means blackberry reliably but also thornbush, bramble. briar)

פטל (*pṭal) (indeclinable) (neither means blackberry reliably but also thornbush, bramble. briar)


through

From Middle English thrugh, thruch, thruh, metathetic variants of thurgh, thurh, from Old English þurh, from Proto-Germanic *þurhw (“through”), from Proto-Indo-European *tr̥h₂kʷe, suffixed zero-grade from *terh₂- (“to pass through”) + *-kʷe (“and”). Cognate with Scots throch (“through”), West Frisian troch (“through”), German durch (“through”), Dutch door (“through”), Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌷 (þairh, “through”), Latin trans (“across, over, through”), Albanian tërthor (“through, around”), Welsh tra (“through”). See also thorough.

thoo (alternative pronunciation-spelling)
thorough (alternative)
thorow (alternative obsolete)
thorugh (alternative common)
thro' (alternative archaic poetic)
throughe (alternative obsolete)
thru (alternative US informal)
thrue (alternative obsolete)

Manchester United are through to the FA Cup Final for the thirteenth time.

(chiefly UK, Commonwealth, Ireland, rare in Canada) (usually followed by "to") Able to progress (to the next stage or a higher level) following success in an exam, sports match, etc.


jar

Inherited from Middle English jarre (“jar”), from Medieval Latin jarra, or from Middle French jarre (“liquid measure”) (from Old French jare; modern French jarre (“earthenware jar”)), or from Spanish jarra, jarro (“jug, pitcher; mug, stein”), all from Arabic جَرَّة (jarra, “earthen receptacle”).
The word is cognate with Italian giara (“jar; crock”), Occitan jarro, Portuguese jarra, jarro (“jug; ewer, pitcher”).
The verb is derived from the noun.

der

caught with one's fingers in the cookie jar

(British, Ireland, colloquial) A pint glass

About a shopping trolley, I thought I'd let ye know. Ya'd try to push it straight but it never seems ta go. Ya'd wobble through the car park, hopping off the cars. Anyone would think ya had a few auld jars.

2013 March 15, “The Shopping Trolley” (track 10), in Horsing Around, performed by Richie Kavanagh:

(British, Ireland, colloquial, metonymic) A glass of beer or cider, served by the pint.


soft

en-adj

soft (comparative softer, superlative softest)

softer (comparative)
softest (superlative)

hard

antonym(s) of “giving way under pressure”

firm

antonym(s) of “lacking strength or resolve”

From Middle English softe, from Old English sōfte, alteration of earlier sēfte (“soft”), from Proto-West Germanic *samft(ī) (“level, even, smooth, soft, gentle”) (compare *sōmiz (“agreeable, fitting”)), from Proto-Indo-European *semptio-, *semtio-, from *sem- (“one, whole”). Cognate with West Frisian sêft (“gentle; soft”), Dutch zacht (“soft”), German Low German sacht (“soft”), German sanft (“soft, yielding”), Old Norse sœmr (“agreeable, fitting”), samr (“same”). More at seem, same.

inh

He made soft fellows stark noddies, and such as were foolish quite mad.

1621, Robert Burton, The Essential Anatomy of Melancholy:

A longing after sensual pleasures is a dissolution of the spirit of a man, and makes it loose, soft, and wandering.

1650, Jeremy Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living:


soft

en-noun

soft (countable and uncountable, plural softs)

At the end of the two years and a half I got into the way of forged Bank-of-England notes. A man I knew in the course of business, said, ‘I would cut that game of ‘smatter-hauling,’ (stealing handkerchiefs), and do a little soft,’ (pass bad notes).

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

Putting his mouth to my ear, he whispered hoarsely. "Do you want to buy any queer soft?"
[…] In my dream I had been haunted by a counterfeiter, vulgarly called "a smasher."

(UK, slang, obsolete, uncountable) Banknotes.


boil

en-verb

boil (third-person singular simple present boils, present participle boiling, simple past and past participle boiled or (nonstandard, regional) boilt)

boils (present singular third-person)
boiling (participle present)
boiled (participle past)
boiled (past)
boilt (nonstandard participle past regional)
boilt (nonstandard past regional)

From Middle English boillen, from Old French boillir (see French bouillir) from Latin bullīre (“to bubble, boil”), from bulla (“bubble”). Displaced native Old English weallan (intransitive) and wiellan (transitive). More at wall, well.

kook

(transitive) heat (a liquid) until it begins to turn into a gas

'I'll boil the kettle,' he said.

1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section I, page 14:

(transitive, UK, informal) To bring to a boil, to heat so as to cause the contents to boil.


handbag

handbag (third-person singular simple present handbags, present participle handbagging, simple past and past participle handbagged)

handbags (present singular third-person)
handbagging (participle present)
handbagged (participle past)
handbagged (past)

From hand + bag. The music genre is named from women dancing around a pile of their handbags in nightclubs. The verb is a reference to Margaret Thatcher's handbag.

‘Apparently Birt happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time on Sunday afternoon. Virginia saw him and handbagged him. She really was very cross.’

1995, Nicholas Jones, Soundbites and Spin Doctors, London: Cassell, →ISBN, page 202:

My favourite part of the whole day was being handbagged by a reader who was quivering with rage and said, ‘You've changed everything!’ and complained about everything, even how easy the crossword was, as Dower filmed every foam-flecked word.

2010, Rachel Johnson, A Diary of the Lady, London: Fig Tree, →ISBN, page 168:

(British, transitive, humorous) To attack verbally or subject to criticism (typically used of a woman).


tush

(UK, obsolete slang) Clipping of tusheroon, itself an alternative form of tosheroon.


deffo

en-adj

deffo (comparative more deffo, superlative most deffo)

more deffo (comparative)
most deffo (superlative)

From definitely or definite + -o (diminutive suffix).

I know for certain they′re not speaking to each other, that′s for deffo, not that I′ve even seen them in the same room over the last week to confirm their silence.

2003, Grace Dent, LBD: it′s a girl thing, page 45:

‘An infection. Nothing serious. They′ll have some colour in them soon, for deffo.’

2009, Joe Stretch, Wildlife, unnumbered page:

“Couldn′t say for deffo, probably at least fifteen years old, but I know they don′t make them like these any more for exactly the reason you′ve just seen. The security systems shite.”

2009, Stephen Leonard Lancashire, Immaculate Deception, page 271:

Needles wilted under the force of Pegg′s demand, his eyes widened and he seemed to shrink in size, and I can′t say for deffo but I think he probably wet himself.

2010, Simon Pegg, Nerd Do Well, page 25:

(colloquial, Australia, UK, Ireland, Canada, usually with for) Definite.


deffo

He told me that he's deffo going to be there tonight.

And I deffo don′t believe in me, cos I′m a proper knobhead, aren′t I, and always have been.

2009, Nick Leather, Billy Wonderful, page 12:

It′s weird, but even though Dosser was only grounded for like two weeks, I was actually starting to kind of miss him, and I deffo would′ve loved to have gone for a good old-fashioned crow-hunt that Saturday afternoon,[…].

2011, Andrew Fitzpatrick, Strictly Legal, page 128:

‘[…]And no giving in at the slightest whimper. Agreed?’
‘Deffo!’ He couldn′t see my fingers crossed behind my back.

2011, Maggie Graham, Me and My Animals, page 142:

(colloquial, chiefly Australia, UK, Ireland, Canada) Definitely.


plough

en-verb

plough (third-person singular simple present ploughs, present participle ploughing, simple past and past participle ploughed)

ploughs (present singular third-person)
ploughing (participle present)
ploughed (participle past)
ploughed (past)
plow (alternative US)

From Middle English plouh, plow, plugh(e), plough(e), plouw, from Old English plōh (“hide of land, ploughland”) and Old Norse plógr (“plough (the implement)”), both from Proto-Germanic *plōgaz, *plōguz (“plough”). Cognate with Scots pleuch, plou, North Frisian plog, West Frisian ploech, Low German Ploog, Dutch ploeg, Russian плуг (plug), German Pflug, Danish plov, Swedish and Norwegian plog, Icelandic plógur. Replaced Old English sulh (“plough, furrow”); see sullow.

der

The good Professor scolded, predicted that they would all be either gulfed or ploughed.

1863, Henry Kingsley, Austin Elliot, page 123:

You see, Miss Dodd, an university examination consists of several items: neglect but one, and Crichton himself would be ploughed; because brilliancy in your other papers is not allowed to count; that is how the most distinguished man of our day got ploughed for Smalls.

I knew one of that lot at Corpus; in fact, we were crammed by the same tutor for "smalls," and both got ploughed.

1895, Roger Pocock, The Rules of the Game:

(UK, university slang, transitive) To fail (a student).


underground

undergrounds (plural)
under ground (alternative uncommon)

/ˌʌndəˈɡɹaʊnd/

/ˌʌndɚˈɡɹaʊnd/

From Middle English undergrounde (adverb), equivalent to under + ground or under- + ground. Compare Dutch ondergrond, ondergronds, German Untergrund, Danish undergrunds.

London Underground

(chiefly British) Synonym of subway: a railway that is under the ground.


bushel

From Middle English busshel, from Old French boissel, from boisse, a grain measure based on Gaulish *bostyā (“handful”), from Proto-Celtic *bostā (“palm, fist”) (compare Breton boz (“hollow of the hand”), Old Irish bas), from Proto-Indo-European *gwost-, *gwosdʰ- (“branch”).

(UK) The iron lining in the nave of a wheel.


tun

tuns (plural)
tunne (alternative obsolete)
tonne (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English tunne, tonne (“cask, barrel”), from Old English tunne (“tun, cask, barrel”), from Proto-Germanic *tunnǭ, *tunnō (“tun, barrel, cask”), from Latin tunna, probably of Gaulish origin.
Cognate with North Frisian tenn (“tun, barrel, cask”), Dutch ton (“tun, barrel, cask”), German Tonne (“tun, barrel, drum”), Danish tønde (“barrel”), Swedish tunna (“barrel, cask, tun”), Icelandic tunna (“barrel”). Compare also Old French tonne, French tonneau (“ton, barrel”), Medieval Latin tunna (“cask”), Middle Irish tunna (“cask”), Welsh tynell (“tun, barrel”). It is uncertain whether the Germanic or the Celtic forms are the original.


hogshead

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

From Late Middle English hogshead, hagyshed, hogeyshed, hoggesyde, hokkeshed, Middle English hoggeshed, hogges-hed, hogeshed, hoggeshede, hoggesheed, hoggesheudes, hoggesheved, hoggishede, hoggisheed, hoggyssehed, hogyshed, hoogeshed (“measure of liquid capacity equivalent to about 63 gallons; large barrel or cask”, literally “hog’s head”), from hog, hogge (“swine, especially a castrated male swine”) + hed (“animal or human head”), equivalent to hog + 's + head. The connection between the cask and the head of a hog is uncertain, but may refer to the shape of the cask. The word has often been borrowed into other languages as “ox-head”.

[...] their vessels for use are made some of clay, of which sort some are so great as that they will containe more then one hogshead of water.

1632, attributed to J. Day, A Pvblication of Gviana’s Plantation: […], London: Printed by William Iones for Thomas Paine, […], →OCLC, page 15:

The best Veſſel for Conveyance, (if you carry above 20 Miles) is, a great Tun that holds five Hogſheads; but if no more than 10, 15, or 20 Miles, ordinary Hogſheads will do well enough. I know by Experience you may ſafely carry 300 Carps, ſix and ſeven Inches long, in one Hogſhead; but from ſeven to a Foot, not ſo many by a fourth Part.

1713, [Roger North], “Of Fishing for Carriage”, in A Discourse of Fish and Fish-ponds, […], London: Printed for E[dmund] Curll, […], →OCLC, page 62:

Again, by 28 Hen. VIII, cap. 14, it is re-enacted that the tun of wine should contain 252 gallons, a butt of Malmsey 126 gallons, a pipe 126 gallons, a tercian or puncheon 84 gallons, a hogshead 63 gallons, a tierce 41 gallons, a barrel 31½ gallons, a rundlet 18½ gallons.

1882, James E[dwin] Thorold Rogers, “Weights and Measures”, in A History of Agriculture and Prices in England […], volumes IV (1401–1582), Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 205:

Barrels came in firkins, nine gallons; kilderkins, eighteen gallons; halves, twenty-seven gallons; barrels, thirty-six gallons and hogsheads, fifty-four.

1987, Keith Dunstan, The Amber Nectar, Ringwood: Vicking O'Neil, page 81:

(British) A cask of a certain size; its volume used as a measure of capacity for liquids, containing 63 wine gallons, or about 52+¹⁄₂ imperial gallons (a half pipe).


firkin

From Middle Dutch *vierdekijn, diminutive of vierde (“fourth”), from vier (“four”); equivalent to fourth + -kin.

23 Hen. VIII, cap. 4... The barrel of beer is to hold 36 gallons, the kilderkin 18 gallons the firkin 9. But the barrel, kilderkin, and firkin of ale are to contain 32, 16, and 8 gallons.

1882, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England, volume 4, page 205:

But for his other guests he let bear in the massy cups of silver, and the great eared wine jars holding two firkins apiece, and he let pour forth to the Witches and the Foliots, and they drank the cup of memory unto King Gorice XI., slain that day by the hand of Goldry Bluszco.

1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 31:

(British) A varying measure of capacity, usually being a quarter of a barrel; specifically, a measure equal to nine imperial gallons.


windle

The modus operandi somewhat recalls the stratagem of Gideon, for the birds—chiefly thrushes, blackbirds, fieldfares, redwings (locally "windles"), and starlings (smaller birds being disregarded)—terrified by the noise, and dazed by the lantern glare, suffered themselves to be taken by the hand, or, if roosting aloft, as was the case on still nights, to be knocked down with the poles which the lads carried.

1908, W. F. Rose, edited by William White, Notes and queries, page 48:


hundredweight

en-noun

hundredweight (plural hundredweight or hundredweights)

hundredweight (plural)
hundredweights (plural)
cwt. (alternative abbreviation)

→ Middle Bengali: *হন্দর্দ (*hondord)

Bengali: হন্দর (hondor)

The hundredweight of 112 avoirdupois lbs. becomes general in the period before me, and is employed for the commoner kinds of materials.

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

A measure of weight containing a hundred pounds, variously understood as

(UK, chiefly historical) A unit of measurement containing 112 avoirdupois pounds (eight stone or about 50.8 kg).


hurdle

→ Japanese: ハードル (hādoru)

]
From Middle English hurdel, hirdel, herdel, hyrdel, from Old English hyrdel (“frame of intertwined twigs used as a temporary barrier”), diminutive of *hyrd, from Proto-Germanic *hurdiz, from Pre-Germanic *kr̥h₂tis, from Proto-Indo-European *kreh₂-. Cognate with Dutch horde, German Hürde.

inh

In treason, the corporal punishment is by drawing on hurdle from the place of the prison to the place of execution, and by hanging and being cut down alive, bowelling, and quartering: and in women by burning.

1550, Francis Bacon, “A Preparation Toward the Union of Laws”, in James Spedding, Robert Leslie Ellis, Douglas Denon Heath, editors, The Works of Francis Bacon, volume VII, London: Longman, Green & Co., page 735:

Such a crew! Ah! many a wretch has rid on hurdles who has done less mischief than these utterers of forged Tales, coiners of Scandal, and clippers of Reputation.

1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, II.i:

Hurdles, with four, five, six wretches convicted of counterfeiting or mutilating the money of the realm, were dragged month after month up Holborn Hill. On one morning seven men were hanged and a woman burned for clipping

1851, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XXI, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume IV, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:

Behind flock'd wrangling up a piteous crew, / Greeted of none, disfeatur'd and forlorn— / Cowards, who were in sloughs interr'd alive: / And round them still the wattled hurdles hung / Wherewith they stamp'd them down, and trod them deep, / To hide their shameful memory from men.

1855, Matthew Arnold, Balder Dead, Part II, in The Poems of Matthew Arnold, 1840-1867, Oxford University Press, 1909, pp. 250-51, https://archive.org/details/cu31924013206499

(UK, historical) A sled or crate on which criminals were drawn to the place of execution.


mong

(British, Ireland, slang, offensive, derogatory, dated) A person with Down's syndrome.

Can't you see you don't belong / You're a stupid little fucking mong

2016 May 5, “Thinking He's Hard (Little T Reply)”, performed by Soph Aspin:

(British, Ireland, slang, offensive, derogatory) A stupid person.


busk

en-verb

busk (third-person singular simple present busks, present participle busking, simple past and past participle busked)

busks (present singular third-person)
busking (participle present)
busked (participle past)
busked (past)

Apparently from French busquer or Spanish buscar.

(intransitive, especially UK) To solicit money by entertaining the public in the street or in public transport.

卖艺

to solicit money by entertaining the public


scab

scab (third-person singular simple present scabs, present participle scabbing, simple past and past participle scabbed)

scabs (present singular third-person)
scabbing (participle present)
scabbed (participle past)
scabbed (past)

From Middle English scabb, scabbe (also as shabbe, schabbe > English shab), from Old English sċeabb and Old Norse skabb, both from Proto-Germanic *skabbaz (“scab, scabies”), from Proto-Indo-European *skabʰ- (“to cut, split, carve, shape”). Doublet of shab. Cognate with German Schabe (“scabies”), Danish skab (“scab, scabies”), Swedish skabb (“scab, scabies”), Latin scabies (“scab, itch, mange”). Related also to Old English scafan (“to scrape, shave”), Latin scabere (“to scratch”), English shabby.

der

I scabbed some money off a friend.

2004, Niven Govinden, We are the New Romantics, Bloomsbury Publishing, UK, page 143,
Finding a spot in a covered seating area that was more bus shelter than tourist-friendly, I unravelled a mother of a joint I′d scabbed off the garçon.

2006, Linda Jaivin, The Infernal Optimist, 2010, HarperCollins Australia, unnumbered page,
I′d already used up me mobile credit. I was using a normal phone card, what I got from Hamid, what got it from a church lady what helped the refugees. I didn′t like scabbing from the asylums, but they did get a lotta phone cards.

I′ve told Fred we can see a movie this weekend, but that just seems like a money-wasting activity. And I can′t keep scabbing off my best friend.

2010, Fiona Wood, Six Impossible Things, page 113:

(transitive, UK, Australia, New Zealand, informal) To beg (for), to cadge or bum.


demob

en-verb

demob (third-person singular simple present demobs, present participle demobbing, simple past and past participle demobbed)

demobs (present singular third-person)
demobbing (participle present)
demobbed (participle past)
demobbed (past)

When Lil’s husband got demobbed, I said— / I didn't mince my words, I said to her myself, / Hurry up please its time / Now Albert’s coming back, make yourself a bit smart. […] think of poor Albert, / Hes been in the army four years, […]

1922 October, T[homas] S[tearns] Eliot, “Part II. A Game of Chess.”, in The Waste Land, 1st book edition, New York, N.Y.: Boni and Liveright, published December 1922, →OCLC, page 22:

(British) To demobilize; to release someone from military service.


demob

en-noun

demob (countable and uncountable, plural demobs)

[…] word was, some men were getting their demob quicker than others.

2004, Andrea Levy, chapter 37, in Small Island, London: Review, page 365:

(UK) Demobilization; release from military service.


gad

From Middle English gad, gadde, borrowed from Old Norse gaddr (“goad, spike”), from Proto-Germanic *gazdaz (“spike, rod, stake”). Doublet of goad and yard.

der

Ist yoakes and bowes and gad and yoaksticks there?

1684, Meriton, Praise Ale, l. 100, in 1851, James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps, The Yorkshire Anthology: A Collection of Ancient and Modern Ballads, Poems and Songs, Relating to the County of Yorkshire, page 71

Does your cow kick? Do not fly into a passion and pound her with a handspike, or trim her with a gad or a cow-hide.

Twain finds his voice after a short search for it and when he impels it forward it is a good, strong, steady voice in harness until the driver becomes absent-minded, when it stops to rest, and then the gad must be used to drive it on again.

Our thrifty dame, Mally, she rises soon at morn, She goes and tells the master I'm pulling up the corn; He clicks up the oxen gad and sair belabours me, For I'm Robin Spraggon's auld grey mare, ae how he's guided me!

1888, “Robin Spraggon's Auld Grey Mare”, in The Monthly Chronicle of North-country Lore and Legend, page 171:

On the morning of Palm-Sunday, the gamekeeper, some servant on the estate, brings with him a large gad or whip, with a long thong; the stock is made of the mountain ash, […]

1908, Folklore Society (Great Britain), Publications, page 288:

(especially UK, US, dialect) A goad, a sharp-pointed rod for driving cattle, horses, etc, or one with a whip or thong on the end for the same purpose.

And we'll prepare our limber gads,
Lang lines, and braw brass wheels;

1836, A Collection of Right Merrie Garlands for North Country Anglers, page 4:

Seek out thy tackle, thy creel and thy gad.

1876, Armstrong, Wanny Blossoms, page 33:

Woe to the lad / without a rowen-tree gad.

1879, William Henderson, Folklore Society (Great Britain), Notes on the Folk-lore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders:

We'll splice oor gads nigh Barra Mill, Beneath yon auld birk tree.

1896, Proudlock, Borderland Muse, page 268:

(UK, US, dialect) A rod or stick, such as a fishing rod or a measuring rod.


shite

en-noun

shite (usually uncountable, plural shites)

From the Middle English shite, schite, scīte (“excrement”), cognate with Middle Low German schīte, Middle High German schīze, Dutch schijt. Compare Middle English shitel, scitel, scytel (“dung, excrement”), from Old English sċitel. More at shit. Doublet of scheisse.

That’s a load of shite.

Look at all this shite.

(chiefly UK, Ireland, vulgar) Shit; trash; rubbish; nonsense

He's a useless shite.

(chiefly UK, Ireland, vulgar, derogatory, uncommon) A foolish or deceitful person.


shite

en-adj

shite (comparative more shite, superlative most shite)

more shite (comparative)
most shite (superlative)

The film was utter shite.

(chiefly UK, Ireland, vulgar) Bad; awful; shit.


shite

Shite! I left my wallet at home.

(chiefly UK, Ireland, vulgar) An expression of annoyance or dismay.


shite

en-verb

shite (third-person singular simple present shites, present participle shiting, simple past shited or shit or shat, past participle shited or shitten)

shites (present singular third-person)
shiting (participle present)
shited (past)
shit (past)
shat (past)
shited (participle past)
shitten (participle past)

From Middle English schiten, from Old English sċītan (“to defecate, shit”), from Proto-West Germanic *skītan, from Proto-Germanic *skītaną (“to defecate”), from Proto-Indo-European *sḱeyd-, *skeyt- (“to vomit, retch, shit”, literally “to shed”). Cognate with Dutch schijten (“to shit”), German scheißen (“to shit”), Swedish skita (“to shit”), Irish sceith, sgeith (“act of spewing, vomiting, shedding”), Albanian shqit (“to tear, separate”).

inh

[…] it still softened my heart to see a man hurt so badly he sobbed and shited on himself.

2004, Robert Morgan, Brave enemies, page 38:

He would probably have a head full of locks. Who has time to be pretty when people are hurting? Crying. Shiting on themselves trying to beat heroin.

2007, Talonie Starr, Growth Manifesto, page 173:

I have eaten a dishful of curds,
And I have shitten your mouth full of turds.

2011, Douglas Bruster, Eric Rasmussen, Everyman and Mankind:

(UK, chiefly Scotland, Ireland, vulgar) To defecate.


boiler

→ Dutch: boiler

→ Japanese: ボイラー (boirā)

(UK, Australia, slang, derogatory) An old woman.


chimney

en-noun

chimney (plural chimneys or (archaic) chimnies)

chimneys (plural)
chimnies (archaic plural)
chimley (alternative dialectal)
chimbley (alternative dialectal)

→ Bengali: চিমনি (cimoni)

→ Hindustani:

→ Hindi: चिमनी (cimnī)

→ Urdu: چِمْنی (cimnī)

→ Unami: chìmìni

From Middle English chymeney, chymney, chymne, from Old French cheminee, from Late Latin camīnāta, from Latin camīnus, from Ancient Greek κάμῑνος (kámīnos, “furnace”). Doublet of chimenea.

der

(British) The smokestack of a steam locomotive.


foyer

Borrowed from French foyer (“hearth, lobby”), in turn from Vulgar Latin *focārium, from Late Latin focārius, from Latin focus (“hearth”). Cognate with Spanish hogar (“home”).

(UK) A hostel offering accommodation and work opportunities to homeless young people.


strand

strands (plural)
strond (alternative obsolete)

* From Middle English strand, strond, from Old English strand (“strand, sea-shore, shore”), from Proto-West Germanic *strand, from Proto-Germanic *strandō (“edge, rim, shore”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)trAnt- (“strand, border, field”), from Proto-Indo-European *sterh₃- (“to broaden, spread out”). Cognate with West Frisian strân, Dutch strand, German Strand, Danish strand, Swedish strand, Norwegian Bokmål strand, Icelandic strönd.
* (street): Perhaps from the similarity of shape.

der

(British dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) A passage for water; gutter.


aerofoil

/ˈɛəɹ.əˌfɔɪl/

We may look upon this figure as representing in section a theoretical wing-form, or aerofoil

1907, Aerodynamics, constituting the first volume of a complete work on aerial flight, page 163:


cider

en-noun

cider (countable and uncountable, plural ciders)

→ Bulgarian: са́йдер (sájder)

→ Finnish: siideri

→ Jersey Dutch: sâiter

→ Japanese: サイダー (saidā)

→ Korean: 사이다 (saida)

[ˈsʌɪ̯ɾə(ɹ)]

From Middle English sider, cidre, sidre, from Old French cisdre, sidre (“beverage made from fermented apples”), from Medieval Latin sīcera, from Ancient Greek σίκερα (síkera, “fermented liquor, strong drink”), from Hebrew שֵׁכָר (šēḵār, “liquor”). Doublet of cyser. Displaced native English apple wine.

der

Apfelsaft (may be specified as trüber Apfelsaft)

са́йдер

non-alcoholic sparkling beverage (apple)

サイダー

non-alcoholic sparkling beverage (lemon-lime)

The procedures for cyser are identical to cider with a notable exception: honey is a much more complex sugar than cane or corn sugars, meaning honey takes a long time to clear and an even longer time (at least six months) to ferment out[…]

1995, Paul Correnty, The Art of Cidermaking, Brewers Publications:

(British, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada) An alcoholic, often sparkling (carbonated) beverage made from fermented apples; hard cider; apple cider.


limpet

limpets (plural)
limpin (alternative dialectal)

From Middle English lempet, from Old English lempedu (“lamprey”), borrowed from Medieval Latin lampreda, alteration of Late Latin lampetra (“lamprey”), whose further origin is unknown, though is traditionally thought to derive from lambō (“I lick, lap”) + petra (“stone, rock”). Doublet of lamprey, which came through Old French.

He stuck to me like a limpet all day!

(British) Someone clingy or dependent; someone disregarding or ignorant of another's personal space.


stretch

→ Esperanto: streĉi

→ Finnish: stretch-

→ French: stretch

From Middle English strecchen, from Old English streċċan (“to stretch, hold out, extend, spread out, prostrate”), from Proto-West Germanic *strakkjan (“to stretch, make taut or tight”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)treg-, *streg-, *treg- (“stiff, rigid”). Cognate with West Frisian strekke, Dutch strekken (“to stretch, straighten”), German strecken (“to stretch, straighten, elongate”), Danish strække (“to stretch”), Swedish sträcka (“to stretch”), Dutch strak (“taut, tight”), Albanian shtriqem (“to stretch”). More at stark.

cog

time stretch analog-to-digital converter

In the afternoon I went for a stretch into the country, & about 4 it cleared up pretty well, so I hurried back & we got a cart & drove to Bassano, a little town about 8 miles off, that we wanted to see.

a. 1941, Evelyn Underhill, quoted in 2010, Evelyn Underhill, Carol Poston, The Making of a Mystic: New and Selected Letters of Evelyn Underhill (page 81)


plumber

→ Irish: pluiméir

→ Welsh: plymer

From Middle English plumber, from Old French plummier (French plombier); from Latin plumbārius, from plumbum (“lead or lead shot”).

loodgieter

one who fits, etc, pipes for water, gas or drainage

(British, informal) In the Royal Navy, an apprentice, a boy aged 16 to 18, who is trained in technical skills at the Dockyard Schools to become an artificer.


eke

The noun is derived from Middle English eke (“addition, increase, enlargement”), from Old English ēaca, from Proto-Germanic *aukô, from *aukaną (“to increase, add, enlarge”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ewg- (“to enlarge, increase”). The English noun is cognate with Old Frisian āka (“addition, increase; bonus”), Old Norse auki (“growth, increase, proliferation”).
The verb is derived partly:
* from the noun; and
* from Middle English eken (“to increase, add, enlarge”) [and other forms], from three distinct verbs (1) Old English īeċan (“to increase, add, enlarge”) (transitive), (2) ēacan (“to be enlarged or increased”), and (3) ēacian, all from Proto-Germanic *aukaną (“to grow, increase”); see further above.
The English verb is cognate with Latin augeō (“to augment, increase; to enlarge, expand, spread; to lengthen; to exaggerate; to enrich; to honour; (figuratively) to exalt, praise”), Old English ēac (“also”), Old Norse auka (“to augment, increase; to add; to exceed, surpass”), Icelandic auka (“to augment, increase to add; to exceed, surpass”), (Danish øge (“to enhance; to increase”), Norwegian Bokmål øke (“to increase”), Norwegian Nynorsk auka (“to increase”), Swedish öka (“to increase”)).

nb...

æcon, ayke, eche, echen, eek, eeke, eik (Scottish), ek, eke, uchen, yche, ȝeke, ȝeken

cog

[T]hey [the Catholics and Puritans] encumbered their verſion [of the Bible] with a load of uſeleſs Italics; often without the leaſt neceſſity, and almoſt always to the detriment of the text. In fact, either the words in Italics are virtually implied in the Hebrew, or they are not. In the former caſe they are a real part of the text, and ſhould be printed in the ſame character: in the latter, they are generally ill aſſorted and clumſy ekes, that may well be ſpared; and which often disfigure the narration under pretence of connecting it.

1786, Alexander Geddes, Prospectus of a New Translation of the Holy Bible from Corrected Texts of the Originals, Compared with the Ancient Versions. […], Glasgow: Printed for the author, and sold by R[obert] Faulder, […]; C. Eliot, […]; and —— Cross, […], →OCLC, page 95:

(obsolete except British, dialectal) An addition.


thack

en-verb

thack (third-person singular simple present thacks, present participle thacking, simple past and past participle thacked)

thacks (present singular third-person)
thacking (participle present)
thacked (participle past)
thacked (past)

From Middle English thakken (“to stroke”), from Old English þaccian (“to touch gently, stroke, tap”), from Proto-West Germanic *þakwōn, from Proto-Germanic *þakwōną (“to touch lightly”), from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- (“to touch”).
Cognate with Old Dutch þakolōn (“to stroke”), Old Norse þykkr (“a thwack, thump, blow”), Icelandic þjökka, þjaka (“to thwack, thump, beat”), Norwegian tjåka (“to strike, beat”), Latin tangō (“touch”). More at thwack, tangent.

cog

(transitive, obsolete except British, dialectal) To strike or thump (someone or something); to thwack.