cater

Cater and Cater-cornered, diagonal; diagonally. To ‘cut cater’ in the case of velvet, cloth, etc., is... ‘cut on the cross’. Cater-snozzle, to make an angle; to ‘mitre’.

1881, Sebastian Evans, Leicestershire Words, Phrases, and Proverbs, s.v. "Cater and Cater-cornered":


char

(British) Alternative form of cha (“tea”).


chirp

en-verb

chirp (third-person singular simple present chirps, present participle chirping, simple past and past participle chirped)

chirps (present singular third-person)
chirping (participle present)
chirped (participle past)
chirped (past)

From Middle English *chirpen (attested only in the derivative Middle English chirpinge, cyrpynge, chyrypynge (“chirping”). Compare Middle English chirken and chirmen. More at chirk, chirm. Compare also Middle English chirten (“to smack, chirrup”).

noncog

(UK, slang, obsolete) To inform on someone; snitch.


commemoration

en-noun

commemoration (countable and uncountable, plural commemorations)

/kəˌmɛməˈɹeɪʃən/

First attested in 1384, in Middle English; inherited from Middle English commemoracioun, from Old French commemoration (French commémoration), from Latin commemorātiō. By surface analysis, commemorate + -ion

inh+

(UK) The great festival of the Oxford academic year, usually taking place on the third Wednesday after Trinity Sunday.


crease

en-verb

crease (third-person singular simple present creases, present participle creasing, simple past and past participle creased)

creases (present singular third-person)
creasing (participle present)
creased (participle past)
creased (past)

From earlier English creast, from Middle English crest (“ridge, crest”). More at crest.

I can't breathe, I'm creasing so hard.

He creases at his own joke.

(UK, colloquial, intransitive or reflexive) To laugh.


creek

creeks (plural)
crick (alternative North-American dialectal)
crik (alternative pronunciation-spelling)

Broome Pearling Lugger Pidgin: kriki

Sranan Tongo: kriki

From Middle English creke, kreke, creake, of unclear origin.
Additional etymological information
It existed alongside a second variant in Middle English cryke, krike, cricke, from Old Norse kriki. The first form possibly continues Old English *creca (attested in the diminutive crecca (“creek, bay, wharf”) also found in Anglo-Latin as creca, crecca), from Proto-West Germanic *krekō, from Proto-Germanic *krekô, *krekuz (“corner, hook, angle, bend, bight”), from Proto-Indo-European *ger- (“to turn, to wind”).
See also Old Dutch creka, crika (“inlet, cove, creek”), Old Norse kriki, krikr (“angle, corner, nook, bight”), Old Norse kraki (“pole with a hook, anchor”), and possibly Old Norse krókr (“hook, bend, bight”). Modern cognates include West Frisian kreek (“creek”), Dutch kreek (“creek, cove, inlet, bight”), and French crique (“cove”) (borrowed from Germanic).
Early British colonists of Australia and the Americas used the term in the usual British way, to name inlets; as settlements followed the inlets upstream and inland, the names were retained and creek came to be used to refer to any small waterway. A similar semantic development occurred in Dutch and French, where the word originally meant "bay" but came to mean "stream" especially in the French and Dutch colonies (French Guiana, Dutch Guiana and Indonesia).

unk

unclear origin

cog

Seven miles to the north of Venice, the banks of sand, which near the city rise little above low-water mark, attain by degrees a higher level, and knit themselves at last into fields of salt morass, raised here and there into shapeless mounds, and intercepted by narrow creeks of sea.

1853, John Ruskin, “Torcello”, in The Stones of Venice, volume II (The Sea-Stories), London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, § I, page 11:

There is a tide in the affairs of men, / Which, taken any way you please, is bad, / And strands them in forsaken guts and creeks / No decent soul would think of visiting.

1887 March 21, Rudyard Kipling, “Kidnapped”, in Plain Tales from the Hills, Calcutta: Thacker, Spink and Co.; London: W. Thacker & Co., published 1888, →OCLC, page 111:

(British) A small inlet, often saltwater, leading to the sea or to the main channel of a river, especially a river estuary.

(British) The inner part of a port that is used as a dock for small boats.


crisp

The adjective is derived partly from the following:
* Sense 1: Middle English crisp (“curly; having curly hair or wool; of fabric: crinkly, wrinkled; of water: rippled”), from Old English crisp (“curly”), from Latin crispus (“of hair: crimped, curly”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kris-, from *(s)ker- (“to bend; to turn”).
* Sense 2: from the above, and probably also onomatopoeic, representing a crinkling or crunching sound.
Doublet of crape and crepe.
Adjective sense 2.2.3 (“of air, weather, etc.: cool and dry”) is transferred from a description of frost or snow as “crisp”, that is, crunchy.
The noun is derived partly from the following:
* Middle English crisp (“light, crinkled fabric; kind of pastry; crinkliness or roughness of skin”), from crisp (adjective) (see above).
* Modern English crisp (adjective) (“having a consistency which is hard yet brittle”).

inh

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

Edward, give me another of those delicious olives. / What's that? Potato crisps? No, I can't endure them.

1949 August 22 (first performance), T[homas] S[tearns] Eliot, The Cocktail Party: A Comedy, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.; Hollywood, Los Angeles, Calif.: Samuel French […], published 1950, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 11:

I was buying some crisps and pop when there was a noisy clatter on the bare floorboards and something hit my right heel. It was a white cue ball.

2009, Sid Waddell, “Satan’s Citadel”, in The Road Back Home: The Bittersweet Memoirs of a Geordie Coal Miner’s Son, London: Ebury Press, →ISBN, page 210:

Turn you inside out and lick you like a crisp packet

2014 August 14, Joe Newman, Thom Green, Gus Unger-Hamilton, “Every Other Freckle”, in This Is All Yours (LIB166CD), performed by alt-J, London: Infectious Music, →OCLC:

As I sit in front of the TV angrily eating crisps, it comes to me. I will challenge her to a race.

2016, Neil Gibbons, Rob Gibbons, Steve Coogan, “Shirt Back On Now”, in Alan Partridge: Nomad, London: Trapeze, The Orion Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 47:

(Ireland, UK, chiefly in the plural) In full potato crisp: a thin slice of potato which has been deep-fried until it is brittle and crispy, and eaten when cool; they are typically packaged and sold as a snack.

kale crisps    prawn crisp

When she’s not writing, Katie spends her time with her husband and two kids, and their dogs: Wotsit, the King Charles spaniel, and Skips, the three-legged rescue dog. (And yes, they are both named after crisps!)

2019, Katie Ginger, “About the Author”, in Snowflakes at Mistletoe Cottage, London: HQ, HarperCollinsPublishers, →ISBN:

(Ireland, UK, by extension) Chiefly with a descriptive word: a thin slice made of some other ingredient(s) (such as cornmeal or a vegetable) which is baked or deep-fried and eaten as a snack like a potato crisp.

lastu

thin slice made of some other ingredient(s) which is baked or deep-fried and eaten as a snack like a potato crisp

Alon[zo]. Anon they’l cut off ſlivers from us, as they did from the vvhole Ox, in St. James’s Fair. / Gonz[alo]. Oh, ’tis intollerable: methinks I hear a great ſhe Devil, call for [a] Groats vvorth of the Criſpe of my Countenance.—They are all for Griſtle.

1674 November 29 (probable first performance; Gregorian calendar), T. Duffett [i.e., Thomas Duffet], The Mock-tempest: Or The Enchanted Castle. […], London: […] William Cademan […], published 1675, →OCLC, Act II, scene ii, page 19:

(obsolete except UK, dialectal) The crispy rind of roast pork; crackling.


crisp

en-verb

crisp (third-person singular simple present crisps, present participle crisping, simple past and past participle crisped)

crisps (present singular third-person)
crisping (participle present)
crisped (participle past)
crisped (past)

Partly from the following:
* Sense 1: crisp (adjective; see etymology 1).
* Sense 2: Late Middle English crispen (“to curl; of hair: to be curly”), from Old English cirpsian (“to curl, crisp”), from Latin crīspō (“to crimp; to curl”), from crispus (“of hair: crimped, curly”, adjective) (see etymology 1) + -ō (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs).

правя ронлив

(transitive) to make (something) firm yet brittle; to give (food) a crispy surface; (intransitive) to become firm yet brittle; of food: to form a crispy surface

(transitive, UK, dialectal) To fold (newly woven cloth).

Senses relating to curliness.
To fold (newly woven cloth).


culmination

en-noun

culmination (countable and uncountable, plural culminations)

Borrowed from French culmination, from culminer, or from Medieval Latin culminatus + -tion.
Morphologically culminate + -ion.

(UK) An endpoint arrived at after some series of actions or events, or some period, usually after the series or period has ended. The sum of something.


deck

From Middle English dekke, borrowed from Middle Dutch dec (“roof, covering”), from Middle Dutch decken, from Old Dutch thecken, from Proto-West Germanic *þakkjan, from Proto-Germanic *þakjaną. Formed the same: German Decke (“covering, blanket”). Doublet of thatch and thack.

rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic

shuffle the chairs on the deck of the Titanic

Wily carp are quickly put on their guard by tight lines cutting through the water, so another common measure is to use a back lead to keep the line on the deck.

2012, Peter Kaminsky, Greg Schwipps, “Part IV: Now You're Fishing”, in Fishing for Dummies, UK edition, Adapted by Dominic Garnett, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., page 298:

(British, fishing) The bottom of a water body.


dilapidation

dilapidation (countable and uncountable, plural dilapidations)

dilapidations (plural)
delapidation (alternative dated)

(British, law) Ecclesiastical waste: impairing of church property by an incumbent, through neglect or intentionally.


dolly

Welsh: doli

From doll + -y, from the given name Dorothy, originally applied either to a woman or female pet or to a children's toy, and expanded to refer to various types of contrivances or devices. The Online Etymology Dictionary, while considering the reason for applying it to such devices unobvious, compares how the names jack, jenny and jimmy are also applied to devices.

rattaat

term not specific to bridge construction

Spotlight on the other hand is remarkable for prices and skirt lengths to suit the teenyboppers[…] Appeal: to a lunchtime horde of date-going dollies who cannot really afford another dress.

1969 April 8, Prudence Glynn, “246 yards of fashion”, in The Times, page 6:

(slang, UK, dated) A fashionable young woman, one who follows the latest music or clothing fashions.


douceur

douceur (countable and uncountable, plural douceurs)

Borrowed from French douceur (“sweetness”), from Old French dolçor, dulcur, etc., from Latin dulcōr + -em, from dulcis (“sweet”). Naturalized in Middle English as douceoure, dousour but treated as a French loanword from the 17th century onward. Doublet of dulcour.

(UK) A tax break provided as an inducement to sell valuable items (especially art) to public collections rather than on the open market.


elevation

elevation (countable and uncountable, plural elevations)

/ˌɛlɪˈveɪʃən/

From Old French elevation, from Latin elevatio, equal to elevate + -ion.

[…] many of the fen people used what they called "elevation." Farmer Porter was his informant concerning this habit. "What's elevation?" "Oh! ho! ho! — yow goo into druggist's shop o' market day into Cambridge, and you'll see the little boxes, doozens and doozens, a' ready on the counter; and never a ven-man's wife goo by, but what calls in for her pennord o' elevation, to last her out the week. […]

1921, Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, volume 10, page 49:

(UK, obsolete, uncountable) An opium mixture used in the Fens to improve the mood and prevent malaria.


eyot

eyots (plural)
ait (alternative)
eight (alternative)
eyet (alternative)

From Middle English eyt, eit, from Old English īġeoþ, īgoþ, iggaþ, iggoþ (“ait, eyot, islet, small island”), diminutive of īġ, ēġ, īeġ (“island”) (whence English ey (“island”)) which also constitutes the first element of island. See also ait and Norwegian Bokmål øy.

(chiefly British) A little island, especially in a river or lake.


fain

en-adj

fain (comparative more fain, superlative most fain)

more fain (comparative)
most fain (superlative)
faine (alternative)

From Middle English fain (“enjoyable, pleasing; fond of; glad, pleased; good, suitable; happy, joyful”), from Old English fægen (“happy, joyful, fain”), from Proto-West Germanic *fagan (“glad”), from Proto-Germanic *faganaz (“glad”), from Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- (“joyful; pretty”).
Cognates
* Old Norse fagna (“to rejoice”), feginn (“glad, joyful”)
* Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌲𐌹𐌽𐍉𐌽 (faginōn, “to rejoice”)
* Old High German fehan, gifehan (“to rejoice”)
* Old Saxon fagan, fagin

inh

[T]hey vvere faine to patche uppe the Matter vvith a little piece of Paper clappid over the foreſaid VVordes, […]

1559, John Strype, quoting John Feckenham, “[An Appendix; being a Repository of Faithful Extracts out of Various Records and Registers, […].] Numb[er] IX. The Oration of the Reverend Father in God Mr. Dr. Fecknam, Abbott of Westminster, in the Parliament House, 1559, against the Bill for the Liturgy.”, in Annals of the Reformation and Establishment of Religion, and Other Various Occurrences in the Church of England; […], volume I, London: […] John Wyat, […], published 1709, →OCLC, page 26:

By this heaunly ground I tread on, I muſt be faine to pavvne both my plate, & the tapeſtry of my dining chambers.

c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Second Part of Henrie the Fourth, […], quarto edition, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], signature C3, recto:

[T]he Learned Caſtalio [i.e., Sebastian Castellio] vvas fain to make Trenchers at Baſle to keep himſelf from ſtarving, vvhen his [Michel de Montaigne's] Father vvould have given any Money for ſuch a Tutor for his Son, and Caſtalio have vvillingly embraced ſuch an Imployment upon very reaſonable Terms, but this vvas for vvant of Intelligence.

1693, [John Locke], “§89”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], →OCLC, page 105:

Having pledged herself to remain with her aunt to the end, Christbel was fain to make the best of her life at Mount Royal, and in order to do this she must needs keep on good terms with her cousin.

1882, [Mary Elizabeth Braddon], “‘That Lip and Voice are Mute for Ever’”, in Mount Royal […], volume II, London: John and Robert Maxwell […], →OCLC, page 115:

(chiefly UK, dialectal, or poetic) Often followed by of: glad, well-pleased.

Glad, contented, or satisfied to do something in the absence of a better alternative.

доволен

glad, contented, or satisfied to do something in the absence of a better alternative

Penker in his ſermõ [sermon] ſo loſt his voice that he was faine to leaue of [off] & come downe in the middes.

c. 1513 (date written), Thomas More, “The History of King Richard the Thirde (Vnfinished) […]”, in Wyllyam Rastell [i.e., William Rastell], editor, The Workes of Sir Thomas More Knyght, […], London: […] Iohn Cawod, Iohn Waly, and Richarde Tottell, published 30 April 1557, →OCLC, page 58, column 1:

[I]n this condition, he [Jesus] is fain to bear his burdenſom Croſs tovvards the place of his Execution, John 19. 17. till he vvas able to carry it no longer, but even fainted under it; […]

1676, [Matthew Hale], “Of the Knowledge of Christ Crucified”, in Contemplations Moral and Divine. […], London: […] William Godbid, for William Shrowsbury […], and John Leigh […], →OCLC, page 207:

Many Plants are mention'd in Scripture vvhich are not diſtinctly knovvn in our Countries, or under ſuch Names in the Original, as they are fain to be rendred by analogy, or by the name of Vegetables of good affinity unto them, and ſo maintain the textual ſenſe, though in ſome variation from identity.

c. 1683 (date written), Thomas Brown [i.e., Thomas Browne], “Tract I. Observations upon Several Plants Mention’d in Scripture.”, in [Thomas Tenison], editor, Certain Miscellany Tracts, London: […] Charles Mearn, […], published 1683, →OCLC, page 7:

And the uſe of Fire-Guns in that taking of Conſtantinople is notorious, as you may ſee in Laonicus Chalcocondylas De Rebus Turcicis, one of the Byzantine Hiſtorians, lib. 7. vvho there makes mention of a Cannon of of ſo vaſt a bigneſs, that it vvas fain to be dravvn by ſeventy yoke of Oxen and tvvo thouſand Men.

1685, Henry More, “Three Objections from a Considerate Hand. […]”, in Paralipomena Prophetica Containing Several Supplements and Defences of Dr Henry More His Expositions of the Prophet Daniel and the Apocalypse, […], London: […] Walter Kettilby […], →OCLC, page 315:

VVhat is the truſt or ſtrength of fooliſh man? / They that of late vvere daring vvith their ſcoffes, / Are glad and faine by flight to ſaue themſelues.

1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene v], page 108, column 1:

The cantie, auld folks, crackin crouſe, / The young ones ranting thro' the houſe— / My heart has been ſae fain to ſee them, / That I for joy hae barkit vvi' them.

1786, Robert Burns, “The Twa Dogs, a Tale”, in Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. […], 2nd edition, volume I, Edinburgh: […] T[homas] Cadell, […], and William Creech, […], published 1793, →OCLC, page 10:

[F]ine words to make foolish maidens fain. But do not excuse it; it is your country-fashion, and we know how to treat it as such.

1829 May 2, [Walter Scott], chapter IV, in Anne of Geierstein; or, The Maiden of the Mist. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [Ballantyne and Company] for Cadell and Co., […]; London: Simpkin and Marshall, […], →OCLC, page 113:

Then mean I, that I should be wonderous fain / That shamefully they one and all were slain, / Whoever against Love mean aught amiss.

1837, William Wordsworth, “[Memorials of a Tour in Italy.] The Cuckoo and the Nightingale. (From Chaucer.)”, in Poems, Chiefly of Early and Late Years; […] (The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth; VII), London: Edward Moxon, […], published 1842, →OCLC, stanza XXVI, page 155:

[M]y master is quite fain of his company.

1863, [Elizabeth] Gaskell, “A Refractory Pupil”, in Sylvia’s Lovers. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, page 195:

O love, of my death my life is fain, / (The willows wave on the water-way,) / Your cheek and mine are cold in the rain, / But warm they'll be when we meet again. / (With a wind blown night and day.)

1871–1873 (date written), Dante Gabriel Rossetti, “A Death-parting”, in Ballads and Sonnets, London: Ellis and White, […], published 1881, →OCLC, stanza 3, page 287, lines 11–15:

And fain and full was my heart, and I took him to my breast, / And I cherished him soft and warm, for I deemed I had gotten the best.

1877, William Morris, “Of the Dream of Gudrun the Daughter of Giuki”, in The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs, London: Ellis and White, […], →OCLC, book III (Brynhild), page 176:

O lamentable brother! if those pity thee, / Am I not fain of all thy lone eyes promise me; / Half a fool's kingdom, far from men who sow and reap, / All their days vanity?

1892 August, Ernest Dowson, “To One in Bedlam”, in W[illiam] H[enry] Wilkins, Hubert Crackanthorpe, editors, The Albemarle: A Monthly Review, volume II, number 2, London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co., →OCLC, stanza 3, page 67, lines 9–10:

Man and Birds are fayne of climbing high.

1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 125, column 2:

(UK, dialectal) Chiefly followed by to, or (obsolete) for or of: eager or willing, or inclined.


fascia

en-noun

fascia (plural fascias or fasciae or fasciæ)

fascias (plural)
fasciae (plural)
fasciæ (plural)

Borrowed from Latin fascia (“a band, bandage, swathe”). Related to fascēs (“bundle of rods containing an axe with the blade projecting”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰask- (“bundle, band”). Cognate with fajita, fess, and fascism.


fellow

From Middle English felowe, Early Middle English felage (“companion, good friend”) from Old English fēolaga, from Old Norse félagi, derived from félag (“joint venture; partnership”, literally “a laying together of property”), from fé (“livestock, property; money”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- (“livestock; wealth”)) + lag (“something laid down; right position; arrangement; companionship, fellowship; partnership”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie down”)).
Cognates
* Old Norse filaga, felaka (“partner”, accusative singular), from which the other terms are derived:
* Danish fælle (“companion”)
* Faroese felagi (“member; partner”)
* Icelandic félagi (“companion, comrade, fellow; member; partner”)
* Norwegian felle (“companion”)
* Old Swedish fälaghi (modern Swedish felaga, felaha (“partner”, accusative singular))
* Scots falow, fallow, follow (“associate, companion, comrade”)

toveri

person or thing comparable in characteristics with another person or thing

compagnon

About the ſame time he vvent to London, became Fellovv of the Middle Temple, and aftervvards tranſlated from Lat. to Engliſh The five Books of Hieronimus Oſorius, containing a diſcourſe of Civil and Chriſtian Nobility, Lond. 1576. qu[arto].

1691, [Anthony Wood], “WILLIAM BLANDIE”, in Athenæ Oxonienses. An Exact History of All the Writers and Bishops who have had Their Education in the Most Ancient and Famous University of Oxford from the Fifteenth Year of King Henry the Seventh, Dom. 1500, to the End of the Year 1690. […], volume I (Extending to the 16th Year of King Charles I. Dom. 1640), London: […] Tho[mas] Bennet […], →OCLC, columns 147–148:

Often in the form Fellow: academic senses.

A (senior) member of a learned or professional society.

(specifically, British, historical) A senior member of an Inn of Court.

(chiefly British) A scholar appointed to a fellowship, that is, a paid academic position held for a certain period which usually requires the scholar to conduct research.

Adrian thought it worth while to try out his new slang. ‘I say, you fellows, here's a rum go. Old Biffo was jolly odd this morning. He gave me a lot of pi-jaw about slacking and then invited me to tea. No rotting! He did really.’

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

(UK, slang) Synonym of schoolmate (“a student at the same school”).


fend

From Middle English fēnd, feond, from Old English fēond (“adversary, foe, enemy, fiend, devil, Satan”), from Proto-Germanic *fijandz, present participle of *fijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₁- (“to hate”). More at fiend.

inh

(UK dialectal) An enemy; fiend; the Devil.


flake

A name given to dogfish to improve its marketability as a food, perhaps from etymology 1.


flake

Compare Icelandic flaki, Icelandic fleki, Danish flage, Dutch vlaak.


freak

freaks (plural)
freake (alternative)
freik (alternative)
freke (alternative)
frick (alternative)

From Middle English freke, freike (“a bold man, warrior, man, creature”), from Old English freca (“a bold man, warrior, hero”), from Proto-Germanic *frekô (“an active or eager man, warrior, wolf”), from *frekaz (“active, bold, desirous, greedy”), from Proto-Indo-European *pereg-, *spereg- (“to shrug, be quick, twitch, splash, blast”).
Cognate with Old Norse freki (“greedy or avaricious one, a wolf”), Old High German freh (“eager”), German frech, Old English frēcne (“dangerous, daring, courageous, bold”).

cog

(UK dialectal, Scotland) A fellow; a petulant young man.


galley

en-noun

galley (plural galleys or (obsolete) gallies)

galleys (plural)
gallies (obsolete plural)

From Middle English galeie, from Old French galee, from Latin galea, from Byzantine Greek γάλεα (gálea) of unknown origin, probably from Ancient Greek γαλέη (galéē), a kind of a small fish, from γαλεός (galeós, “dog-fish or small shark”). Doublet of galea.

(British) A light, open boat used on the Thames by customhouse officers, press gangs, and also for pleasure.


gazette

en-verb

gazette (third-person singular simple present gazettes, present participle gazetting, simple past and past participle gazetted)

gazettes (present singular third-person)
gazetting (participle present)
gazetted (participle past)
gazetted (past)

Borrowed from French gazette, from Italian gazzetta, from Venetan gazeta, from gazeta dele novità (literally “a gazeta (halfpenny) of news”), named for the cost (one gazeta) of the newspaper. Compare penny dreadful, dime novel. See gazzetta for more.

Benjamin had already been gazetted captain and Kopp was in process of being gazetted major.

1938 April, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter XII, in Homage to Catalonia, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC:

(UK) To announce the status of (someone) in an official gazette; this pertained to both appointments and bankruptcies.


gentry

en-noun

gentry (countable and uncountable, plural gentries)

From Old French genterie (“noble people collectively; nobility of character or manners”), from gent (“well-born”) + -erie.

der

(British) In a restricted sense, those people between the nobility and the yeomanry.


cottage

→ French: cottage

Late Middle English, from Anglo-Norman cotage and Medieval Latin cotagium, from Old Northern French cot, cote (“hut, cottage”) + -age (“surrounding property”), from Proto-Germanic *kutan, *kuta- (“shed”), probably of non-Indo-European origin, possibly borrowed from Uralic; compare Finnish kota (“hut, house”) and Hungarian ház (“house”), both from Proto-Finno-Ugric/Proto-Uralic *kota. However, also compare Dutch and English hut.
Old Northern French cote is probably from Old Norse kot (“hut”), cognate of Old English cot of same Proto-Germanic origin.
Slang sense “public toilet” from 19th century, due to resemblance.


hake

en-verb

hake (third-person singular simple present hakes, present participle haking, simple past and past participle haked)

hakes (present singular third-person)
haking (participle present)
haked (participle past)
haked (past)

Ultimately related to the root of hook. Compare Dutch haken (“to hanker”).

She'd as well been at school as haking about.

1886, English Dialect Society, Publications: Volume 52:


heave

heave (third-person singular simple present heaves, present participle heaving, simple past heaved or (nautical or occasional) hove, past participle heaved or (obsolete, dialectal or nautical) hove or hoven or heft)

heaves (present singular third-person)
heaving (participle present)
heaved (past)
hove (past)
heaved (participle past)
hove (dialectal obsolete participle past)
hoven (participle past)
heft (participle past)

→ Danish: hive

→ Faroese: hiva

desc

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: hiva, hive (e and split infinitives)

→ Norwegian Bokmål: hive

→ Scanian: hyva

Hallandian: hiva

→ Swedish: hiva

Sudermannian: hyva

From Middle English heven, hebben, from Old English hebban, from Proto-West Germanic *habbjan, from Proto-Germanic *habjaną (“to take up, lift”), from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂pyéti, from the root *keh₂p-. See also have.
Cognates
Cognate with West Frisian heffe, Dutch heffen ("to raise", "to lift"), German heben ("to raise", "to lift"), Danish hæve ("to raise", "to lift"), Albanian kap (“I grasp, seize”), Old Irish cáin (“law, tribute”), cacht (“prisoner”), Latin capiō (“to take”), Latvian kàmpt (“to seize”), Ancient Greek κάπτω (káptō, “to gulp down”), κώπη (kṓpē, “handle”)).

cog

Ben mort (good vvench) ſhal you and I heaue a booth, mill a ken, or nip a bung? ſhall you and I rob a houſe, or cut a purſe?

c. 1607–1610 (date written), Thomas Middleton; Thomas Dekker, The Roaring Girle. Or Moll Cut-purse. […], London: […] [Nicholas Okes] for Thomas Archer, […], published 1611, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

(obsolete, British, thieves' cant) To rob; to steal from; to plunder.


hedge

From Middle English hegge, from Old English heċġ, from Proto-West Germanic *haggju, from Proto-Germanic *hagjō, from Proto-Indo-European *kagʰyóm (“enclosure”). Cognate with Dutch heg, German Hecke. Doublet of hey (a choreographic figure) and quay. More at haw.

doublet

look as if one has been dragged through a hedge backwards

(UK, West Country, chiefly Devon and Cornwall) A mound of earth, stone- or turf-faced, often topped with bushes, used as a fence between any two portions of land.

valli

mound of earth, used as a fence between any two portions of land

Attalus[…]made him so dead-drunke that insensibly and without feeling he might prostitute his beauty as the body of a common hedge-harlot, to Mulettiers, Groomes and many of the abject servants of his house.

1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 2, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

He then traced them from place to place, till at last he found two of them drinking together, with a third person, at a hedge-tavern near Aldersgate.

This particular wheelwright is only a hedge carpenter, without even a shop of his own,[…].

1899, Henry Rider Haggard, A Farmer's Year: Being His Commonplace Book for 1898, page 222:

(UK, Ireland, noun adjunct) Used attributively, with figurative indication of a person's upbringing, or professional activities, taking place by the side of the road; third-rate.


intake

en-noun

intake (countable and uncountable, plural intakes)

From English dialectal (Northern England/Scotland), deverbal of take in, equivalent to in- + take. More at in-, take.

avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder

(UK, dialect) Any kind of cheat or imposition; the act of taking someone in.


playtime

playtime (countable and uncountable, plural playtimes)

The school bell rings to mark the end of playtime.

(UK, Australia, countable, uncountable) A time when children can play outside during the school day.


ketch

From Middle English kechel (“small cake”), from Old English *cēċel (“small cake”), from Proto-West Germanic *kōkil (“small cake”).


knack

en-verb

knack (third-person singular simple present knacks, present participle knacking, simple past and past participle knacked)

knacks (present singular third-person)
knacking (participle present)
knacked (participle past)
knacked (past)

Use as "special skill" from 1580. Possibly from 14th century Middle English krak (“a sharp blow”), knakke, knakken, from Middle Low German, by onomatopoeia. Latter cognate to German knacken (“to crack”). See also crack.

If they hear the Beads knack upon each other, that's enough.

1674, Joseph Hall, Bishop Hall's sayings concerning travellers to prevent popish and debauch'd principles, William Miller:

(obsolete, UK, dialect) To crack; to make a sharp, abrupt noise; to chink.

тряскам

to crack; to make a sharp, abrupt noise to chink


knacker

From Old Norse hnak (“saddle”) (whence Icelandic hnakkur (“saddle”)).

antoušek

one who separates animals for reuse — see also flayer

Travelling Community
Travelling Community

(Ireland, British, offensive) A member of the Travelling Community; a Rom (Gypsy).

He looked like someone had put a 9mm full metal jacket round through his left scrotum. He even had his mouth open in some parody of a soundless scream, much as I imagined I would do if someone shot my left knacker off.

2013, Perry Gamsby, Never Be Unsaid, page 136:

(UK, slang, vulgar, chiefly in the plural) A testicle.

(UK, dialect, obsolete) A collier's horse.


knacker

knacker (third-person singular simple present knackers, present participle knackering, simple past and past participle knackered)

knackers (present singular third-person)
knackering (participle present)
knackered (participle past)
knackered (past)

Carrying that giant statue up those stairs completely knackered me.

That table that I was going to put the statue on may not suffice, as it's completely knackered.

(UK, slang, transitive) To tire out, exhaust; to beat up and use up (something), leaving it worn out and damaged.


ladder

Bislama: lada

Pijin: lada

From Middle English ladder, laddre, from Old English hlǣder, from Proto-West Germanic *hlaidriju, from Proto-Germanic *hlaidrijō, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlóydʰrom, from *ḱley- (“to lean”).
Compare Scots ledder, North Frisian ladder, Saterland Frisian Laadere, West Frisian ljedder, Dutch ladder, leer, German Leiter); also Old Irish clithar (“hedge”), Umbrian 𐌊𐌋𐌄𐌈𐌓𐌀𐌌 (kleθram, “stretcher”)). See lean, which is related to lid.
Further cognates include Ashkun istrī, Kamkata-viri c̣ik, Prasuni čik, čix, Waigali c̣iř, Sanskrit श्रिति (śrití).

Proposed Standard of Needlework to be required from Pupil-teachers at the Yearly Visits of Her Majesty's Inspectors. […] Darning Stockings.—To show a hole darned, and a thin place "run" (or strengthened), and a ladder properly taken up in a coarse worsted stocking.

1875, Report of the Committee of Council on Education (England and Wales); with Appendix. 1874–75. Report, and Parts I. to IV. of Appendix. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty. (Reports from Commissioners, Inspectors, and Others: Twenty-seven Volumes; XXIV), volume X (Education), London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode, printers to the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, for Her Majesty's Stationery Office, →OCLC, page 54:

You've got a huge ladder in your stockings. I've got a spare pair in my bag, come to the Ladies and you can change.

2008, Åsa Larsson, translated by Marlaine Delargy, The Black Path, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Dell, →ISBN:

(chiefly British) A length of unravelled fabric in a knitted garment, especially in nylon stockings; a run.


ladder

ladder (third-person singular simple present ladders, present participle laddering, simple past and past participle laddered)

ladders (present singular third-person)
laddering (participle present)
laddered (participle past)
laddered (past)
ledder (alternative)

For eighteen minutes Revenge pounded the dockyard area at an average range of 15,700 yards, spreading for line and laddering for range to a prearranged plan to cover the whole target area.

2007, Peter Smith, Naval Warfare in the English Channel: 1939-1945, page 134:

Laddering made it possible to get a few hits on a fast-moving, often manoeuvring, target.

2014, Norman Friedman, Naval Anti-Aircraft Guns & Gunnery:

(UK, naval slang) To close in on a target with successive salvos, increasing or decreasing the shot range as necessary.

offences to be taken into consideration
offence to be taken into consideration

(UK, law enforcement, of a police officer) To corruptly coerce a convicted offender to admit to offences to be taken into consideration which they do not actually believe they committed, as a way to artificially increase the rate of solved crimes.


lease

lease (third-person singular simple present leases, present participle leasing, simple past and past participle leased)

leases (present singular third-person)
leasing (participle present)
leased (participle past)
leased (past)

From Middle English lesen, from Old English lēasian (“to lie, tell lies”), from lēas (“falsehood, lying, untruth, mistake”).

inh

(ambitransitive, UK dialectal) To tell lies; tell lies about; slander; calumniate.


lease

leases (present singular third-person)
leasing (participle present)
leased (participle past)
leased (past)
leese (alternative Scotland)

From Middle English lesen, from Old English līesan (“to loosen, release, redeem, deliver, liberate”), from Proto-Germanic *lausijaną (“to release, loosen”).

(transitive, UK dialectal) To release; let go; unloose.


liberate

Borrowed from Latin līberātus, originally used as the past participle of liberate, see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.

(obsolete, UK, historical, law) allowed, delivered, freed (see Etymology 3).


marge

en-noun

marge (usually uncountable, plural marges)

Or probably all meals coalesced with him in an orgy of thick bread-and-marge and an array of sauce-bottles.

1958, Anthony Burgess, The Enemy in the Blanket (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 246:

(informal, UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Canada) Margarine.


mellow

en-verb

mellow (third-person singular simple present mellows, present participle mellowing, simple past and past participle mellowed)

mellows (present singular third-person)
mellowing (participle present)
mellowed (participle past)
mellowed (past)

The adjective is derived from Late Middle English melowe, melwe (“ripe, mellow; juicy; sweet”) [and other forms]; further etymology uncertain, possibly:
* from an attributive use of melow, melowe, melewe, mele (“meal from ground grain or legumes; flour; kernel of barley or lentils”) [and other forms], from Old English melo, melu (“meal (edible part of a grain or pulse); flour”), from Proto-Germanic *melwą (“ground corn; meal; flour”), from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to crush; to grind”); or
* a variant of Middle English merow, merowe, meruw (“soft, tender; of a person: frail; of love: unstable, variable”) [and other forms], from Old English meru, mearu (“soft, tender; delicate, frail; callow”) [and other forms], from Proto-Germanic *marwaz (“soft, mellow; brittle, delicate”), from Proto-Indo-European *mer(w)- (“to rub; to pack”).
The noun and verb are both derived from the adjective. The etymology of noun sense 3 (“close friend; lover”) is unknown, but may also be derived from the adjective.
Cognates
* Dutch murw (“tender”)
* German mürbe (“soft, tender”)
* German Low German möör (“tender”)
* Old Norse mör (“tender; aching”) (Icelandic meyr (“tender”))
* Saterland Frisian muur (“tender”)
* West Frisian murf (“tender”)

nb...

mearewe, mearuw, mereuh, meru, meruwe, meruȝ, meruʒ, merwe, (Early Middle English) mearwe

inh

This City is built of white Sun-burnt brickes, is watered with a ſmall ſtreame, which runs in two parts through the Towne, and meloes moſt of the Gardens and Groues within her, whereby ſhee yeelds a thankfull tribute of ſundry fruits.

1634, T[homas] H[erbert], “Tyroan”, in A Relation of Some Yeares Trauaile, Begunne Anno 1626. into Afrique and the Greater Asia, […], London: […] William Stansby, and Jacob Bloome, →OCLC, page 115:

Having therefore made choice of ſome fit place of Ground, […] let it be Broken up the Winter before you ſow, to mellow it, eſpecially if it be a Clay, and then the furrow would be made deeper; […]

1664, J[ohn] E[velyn], “. Chapter II. Of the Seminary.”, in Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-trees and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesties Dominions. […], London: […] Jo[hn] Martyn, and Ja[mes] Allestry, printers to the Royal Society, […], →OCLC, page 6:

(archaic except British, regional) To soften (land or soil) and make it suitable for planting in.

(archaic except British, regional, of soil) To be rendered soft and suitable for planting in.


mend

en-verb

mend (third-person singular simple present mends, present participle mending, simple past and past participle mended)

mends (present singular third-person)
mending (participle present)
mended (participle past)
mended (past)
mend (infinitive)
mend (first-person present singular)
mended (first-person past singular)
mend (present second-person singular)
mendest (archaic present second-person singular)
mended (past second-person singular)
mendedst (archaic past second-person singular)
mends (present singular third-person)
mendeth (archaic present singular third-person)
mended (past singular third-person)
mend (plural present)
mended (past plural)
mend (present subjunctive)
mended (past subjunctive)
mend (imperative present)
mending (participle present)
mended (participle past)

PIE word
 *h₁eǵʰs
From Middle English menden (“to cure; to do good to, benefit; to do or make better, improve; to get better, recover; to keep in a good state; to put right, amend; to reform, repent”), the aphetic form of amenden (“to alter, change (especially for the better); to atone; to chastise, punish; to correct, remedy, amend; to cure; to excel, surpass; to forgive; to get or make better, improve; to make ready; to mend, repair, restore; to get well, recover; to relieve”), or from its etymon Anglo-Norman amender and Old French amender (“to cure; to fix, repair; to set right, correct”) (modern French amender), from Latin ēmendāre, the present active infinitive of ēmendō (“to atone; to chastise, punish; to correct, remedy, amend; to cure”), from ē- (variant of ex- (prefix meaning ‘away; out’)) + mendum (“defect; error, fault”) (from Proto-Indo-European *mend- (“defect; fault”)) + -ō (suffix forming first-conjugation verbs).

der

Yearly thy Herds in vigour vvill impair; / Recruit and mend 'em vvith thy Yearly care: […]

1697, Virgil, “The Third Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 99, lines 112–113:

We have had terrible rains these two or three days. I intended to dine at lord treasurer's, but went to see lady Abercorn, who is come to town, and my lord; and I dined with them, and visited lord treasurer this evening. His porter is mending.

1711 September 2 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Jonathan Swift, “[Dr. Swift’s Journal to Stella.] Letter XXVII.”, in Thomas Sheridan, John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, […], new edition, volume XV, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1801, →OCLC, page 112:

O, it was a rich scene,—but Sir A—— C——, the best of story-tellers and surgeons, who mends a lame narrative almost as well as he sets a fracture, alone could do justice to it— […]

1833, Elia [pseudonym; Charles Lamb], “Ellistoniana”, in The Last Essays of Elia. […], London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 40:

[H]ot July was drawing to an end, / And August came the fainting year to mend / With fruit and grain; […]

1868, William Morris, “July: The Son of Crœsus”, in The Earthly Paradise: A Poem, parts [I and II], London: F[rederick] S[tartridge] Ellis, […], →OCLC, page 551:

If we were making no progress with Haraldsen's business we were at any rate mending his health.

1936 July, John Buchan, “Sundry Doings at Fosse”, in The Island of Sheep, London: Hodder and Stoughton, published July 1938, →OCLC, part I (Fosse), page 112:

(archaic except UK, regional) To restore (someone or something) to a healthy state; to cure, to heal.


misery

en-noun

misery (countable and uncountable, plural miseries)

From Middle English miserie, from Old French miserie (modern: misère), from Latin miseria, from miser, equivalent to miser + -y. Doublet of misère.

[...] and I had a misery in my left breast and shoulder. I was hurt, but knew not how or how much.

1868, John Vestal Hadley, Seven Months a Prisoner, page 15:

(US and UK, dialects) A bodily ache or pain.


overreach

en-verb

overreach (third-person singular simple present overreaches, present participle overreaching, simple past and past participle overreached or (obsolete) overraught)

overreaches (present singular third-person)
overreaching (participle present)
overreached (participle past)
overreached (past)
overraught (obsolete participle past)
overraught (obsolete past)

/ˌəʊvəˈɹiːt͡ʃ/

/ˌoʊvə(ɹ)ˈɹit͡ʃ/

The verb is from Middle English overrechen (“to rise above; to extend beyond or over; to encroach; to catch, overtake; to reach; to obtain wrongfully (?); to take up (a book) to revise it”) [and other forms], equivalent to over- + reach; the noun is derived from the verb or from the phrase to reach over.

nb...

overreche, overreiche, (Northern England) overreke

أَنَافَ

to reach above or beyond, especially to an excessive degree

[A]n equitable mortgage, by deposit of deeds to a person, bona fide, and without notice, will give him a preferable equity; and will overreach the vendor's equitable lien on the estate for any part of the purchase-money.

1813, Edward Burtenshaw Sugden, “Of the Vendor’s Lien on the Estate Sold for the Purchase-money, if Not Paid”, in A Practical Treatise of the Law of Vendors & Purchasers of Estates, 4th edition, London: Printed for J[oseph] Butterworth, […], →OCLC, page 452:

Wood therefore cannot, in equity, be permitted to proceed in his ejectment suit, to recover possession of the land under the title he has acquired from the state, by the attorney general's sale, and which at law overreaches the complainant's title.

1834 October 21, Reuben H[yde] Walworth, Chancellor, New York Court of Chancery, “Kellogg vs. Wood”, in Alonzo C[hristopher] Paige, editor, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Court of Chancery of the State of New-York, volume IV, New York, N.Y.: Published by Gould, Banks & Co. […]; Albany, N.Y.: W[illia]m & A. Gould & Co. […], →OCLC, page 616:

[page 215] City of London B[uilding] S[ociety] v. Flegg decided that the occupiers are not protected since a sale by two trustees overreaches. [...] [page 216] The Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the occupation of the Fleggs but, after universal academic execration, that decision was unanimously reversed by the [House of] Lords. Their occupation rights had indeed been overreached. [...] Two trustees effected what appeared to the lenders to be a proper mortgage, so that the rights of the beneficiaries were swept off the title and transferred to the mortgage money. The Fleggs could not enforce their rights against the lenders.

2003, Peter Sparkes, “Trusts of Land”, in A New Land Law, 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire, Portland, Or.: Hart Publishing, →ISBN, pages 215 and 216:

(ambitransitive) To reach above or beyond, especially to an excessive degree.

(transitive, property law) To defeat or override a person's interest in property; (British, specifically) of a holder of the legal title of real property: by mortgaging or selling the legal title to a third party, to cause another person's equitable right in the property to be dissolved and to be replaced by an equitable right in the money received from the third party.


oyster

oysters (plural)
erster (alternative)
oister (alternative obsolete)
oystre (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English oystre, from Old English ostre, reinforced or superseded by Anglo-Norman oistre, which is from Old French oistre, uistre (compare modern French huître); both lines (Old English and Old French) from Latin ostrea, from Ancient Greek ὄστρεον (óstreon). Doublet of ostro (“a purple dye”).

als

mollusk — see also clam, mollusc, mussel


pave

en-verb

pave (third-person singular simple present paves, present participle paving, simple past and past participle paved)

paves (present singular third-person)
paving (participle present)
paved (participle past)
paved (past)

From Old French paver (“to pave, to cover”), from Vulgar Latin *pavāre (“to beat down, to smash”), from Latin pavīre (“to beat, strike, ram, tread down”).

der

(British) To cover something with paving slabs.


peak

→ German: Peak

→ Russian: пик (pik) (in час пик (čas pik))

From earlier peake, peek, peke, from Middle English pek (in place names), itself an alteration of pike, pyke, pyk (“a sharp point, pike”), from Old English pīc, piic (“a pike, needle, pin, peak, pinnacle”), from Proto-West Germanic *pīk, from Proto-Germanic *pīkaz (“peak”).
Cognate with Dutch piek (“pike, point, summit, peak”), Danish pik (“pike, peak”), Swedish pik (“pike, lance, point, peak”), Norwegian pik (“peak, summit”). More at pike.

cog

(clothing, UK) visor (horizontal part of a cap sticking out in front and shading the wearer's eyes)


peck

Gemmen, have you ordered the peck and booze for the evening?


pelt

en-verb

pelt (third-person singular simple present pelts, present participle pelting, simple past and past participle pelted)

pelts (present singular third-person)
pelting (participle present)
pelted (participle past)
pelted (past)
pelt (infinitive)
pelt (first-person present singular)
pelted (first-person past singular)
pelt (present second-person singular)
peltest (archaic present second-person singular)
pelted (past second-person singular)
peltedst (archaic past second-person singular)
pelts (present singular third-person)
pelteth (archaic present singular third-person)
pelted (past singular third-person)
pelt (plural present)
pelted (past plural)
pelt (present subjunctive)
pelted (past subjunctive)
pelt (imperative present)
pelting (participle present)
pelted (participle past)

The verb is derived from Late Middle English pelt, pelte; further origin uncertain, probably a variant of Late Middle English pilten (“to push, thrust; to strike; to cast down, humble; to incite, induce; to place, put; to extend, reach forward with”) [and other forms], possibly from Old English *pyltan, from Late Latin *pultiare, from Latin pultāre (“to beat, knock, strike”), the frequentative of pellere, the present active infinitive of pellō (“to drive, impel, propel, push; to hurl; to banish, eject, expel, thrust out; to beat, strike; to set in motion”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to beat; to drive, push”).
The noun is derived from the verb.

nb...

pilt, pilte, pilton, (chiefly Southwest England, Southwest Midlands) pult, pulte

heitellä päin

to bombard someone or something with missiles continuously

(archaic except British, dialectal) To repeatedly beat or hit (someone or something).

барабаня

to repeatedly beat or hit (someone or something)


plash

From Middle English plasch, plasche, from Old English plæsċ (“pool, puddle”), from Proto-West Germanic *plask, probably ultimately imitative.
Cognate with Dutch plas (“pool, watering hole”). Related also to West Frisian plaskje (“to splash, splatter”), Dutch plassen (“to splash, splatter”), German platschen (“to splash”).

onomatopoeic

imitative

cog

Out of the wound the red bloud flowed fresh, / That vnderneath his feet soone made a purple plesh.

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

Hereof Aesop framed the Fable of the two Frogs that consulted together in time of drowth (when many plashes that they had repayred to were dry) what was to be done.

1597, Francis Bacon, Of the Coulers of Good and Evill, section 4:

Who were the strugglers, what war did they wage, / Whose savage trample thus could pad the dank / Soil to a plash? [...]

1855, Robert Browning, Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came, section XXII:

These shallow plashes.

a. 1678 (date written), Isaac Barrow, “(please specify the chapter name or sermon number). The Consideration of our Latter End”, in The Works of Dr. Isaac Barrow. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: A[braham] J[ohn] Valpy, […], published 1830–1831, →OCLC:

(UK, dialectal) A small pool of standing water; a puddle.


rag

en-verb

rag (third-person singular simple present rags, present participle ragging, simple past and past participle ragged)

rags (present singular third-person)
ragging (participle present)
ragged (participle past)
ragged (past)

Uncertain. Ideas about the scolding and tormenting senses being related to on the rag are only speculative.

(British slang) To drive a car or another vehicle in a hard, fast or unsympathetic manner.


rag

(UK, Ireland) A society run by university students for the purpose of charitable fundraising.


rase

rase (third-person singular simple present rases, present participle rasing, simple past and past participle rased)

rases (present singular third-person)
rasing (participle present)
rased (participle past)
rased (past)
rase (infinitive)
rase (first-person present singular)
rased (first-person past singular)
rase (present second-person singular)
rasest (archaic present second-person singular)
rased (past second-person singular)
rasedst (archaic past second-person singular)
rases (present singular third-person)
raseth (archaic present singular third-person)
rased (past singular third-person)
rase (plural present)
rased (past plural)
rase (present subjunctive)
rased (past subjunctive)
rase (imperative present)
rasing (participle present)
rased (participle past)

A variant of raze, from Middle English rasen: see further at raze.

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

For vvas he not in the neareſt Neighbourhood to Death? And might not the Bullet, that perhaps raſed his Cheek, have as eaſily gone into his Head?

1685 March 4 (date delivered; Gregorian calendar); first published 1692, Robert South, “A Sermon Preached at Westminster-Abbey, February 22. 168⁴⁄₅.”, in Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions. […], volume I, London: […] J[ohn] H[eptinstall] for Thomas Bennet, […], →OCLC, page 403:

(transitive, archaic except UK, regional) To wound (someone or part of their body) superficially; to graze.


raze

raze (third-person singular simple present razes, present participle razing, simple past and past participle razed)

razes (present singular third-person)
razing (participle present)
razed (participle past)
razed (past)
raze (infinitive)
raze (first-person present singular)
razed (first-person past singular)
raze (present second-person singular)
razest (archaic present second-person singular)
razed (past second-person singular)
razedst (archaic past second-person singular)
razes (present singular third-person)
razeth (archaic present singular third-person)
razed (past singular third-person)
raze (plural present)
razed (past plural)
raze (present subjunctive)
razed (past subjunctive)
raze (imperative present)
razing (participle present)
razed (participle past)
race (alternative)
rase (alternative)

The verb is derived from Middle English rasen, racen, rase (“to scrape; to shave; to erase; to pull; to strip off; to pluck or tear out; to root out (a tree, etc.); to pull away, snatch; to pull down; to knock down; to rend, tear apart; to pick clean, strip; to cleave, slice; to sever; to lacerate; to pierce; to carve, engrave; to dig; (figurative) to expunge, obliterate; to alter”), from Anglo-Norman raser, rasere, rasser, Middle French raser, and Old French raser (“to shave; to touch lightly, graze; to level off (grain, etc.) in a measure; to demolish, tear down; to erase; to polish; to wear down”), from Vulgar Latin *raso (“to shave; to scrape; to scratch; to touch lightly, graze”), from Latin rāsus (“scraped; shaved”), the perfect passive participle of rādō (“to scrape, scratch; to shave; to rub, smooth; to brush along, graze”). Doublet of rash (etymology 2 and etymology 7).
The noun is derived from the verb.

der

[T]he ſvvorde more mercifull then hee to himſelfe, vvith the ſlipping of the pommel, the point ſvvarued, and razed him but vpon the ſide: […]

a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “[The Thirde Booke] Chapter 24”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC, folio 342, verso:

I cou'd not bear / To raze thy Skin [with a dagger], to ſave the VVorld from Ruin.

1719 March 18 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Edward Young, Busiris, King of Egypt. A Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1719, →OCLC, Act V, page 68:

Yet did a splinter of his lance / Through Alexander's visor glance, / And razed the skin—a puny wound.

1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “Canto Third. The Hostel, or Inn.”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: William Miller, and John Murray, →OCLC, stanza XXVI, page 159:

(archaic except UK, regional) To wound (someone or part of their body) superficially; to graze.


ree

en-verb

ree (third-person singular simple present rees, present participle reeing, simple past and past participle reed)

rees (present singular third-person)
reeing (participle present)
reed (participle past)
reed (past)

After it is well rubbed and winnowed, you must then Ree it over in a fine Sieve , and if any of the Malt be uncleansed , then rub it again into the Sieve , 'till it be pure , and the rubbings will ariſe on the Top of the Sieve

1707, J[ohn] Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], →OCLC:

(obsolete, UK, dialect) To riddle; to sift; to separate or throw off.


referee

/ˌɹɛf.əˈɹiː/

From Middle English [Term?], from past participle of Old French referer (“to relate, to refer”), from Latin referre (“to carry back, to report, to notify”); as if refer + -ee, that is, the person to whom something is referred for consideration.

der

Your application, along with letters from three referees, should be received by January 31.

(UK) A person who writes a letter of reference or provides a reference by phone call for someone. US English: reference.


result

Recorded since 1432 as Middle English resulten, from Medieval Latin resultare, in Classical Latin "to spring forward, rebound", the frequentative of the past participle of resilio (“to rebound”), from re- (“back”) + salio (“to jump, leap”).

'Yes! Result! Game on!' He leans forward to a mike fixed over the desk and presses one of the […]

1997, Jane Owen, Camden girls, page 117:

'Yes! Result, Nick!' He heard a distant cheer. 'Right, well I'll give you a ring on Saturday, make the arrangements.

2002, Lissa Evans, Spencer's List, →ISBN, page 28:

I was lucky enough to win by a knock-out in the second round - My opponent was Tpr McAdoo - HQ squadron won by nine fights to three (21pts to 15pts) - YES! RESULT.

2006, Trooper 7H, Hong Kong Revisited, →ISBN, page 34:

(picking a lock) I wonder what I did...
(the lock opens) Hey hey, result!

2010 April 10, Amy Pond, in The Beast Below (series 5, episode 2), written by Steven Moffat

(UK) An exclamation of joy following a favorable outcome.


revise

en-verb

revise (third-person singular simple present revises, present participle revising, simple past and past participle revised)

revises (present singular third-person)
revising (participle present)
revised (participle past)
revised (past)

Borrowed from Middle French réviser, from Latin revīsō, from re- + vīsō (“examine”), frequentative of videō (“see”).

I've only just begun to revise for my exams.

In revising your notes, you can also reorganize them so that they are more legible, better arranged, and in a more useful condition for subsequent reviews.

1957, Clifford Thomas Morgan, James Deese, How to Study, McGraw-Hill, page 16:

4 Is it necessary to revise vocabulary (= study it again for a second or third time)?
5 Is it better to revise vocabulary occasionally for long periods of time, or is it better to revise regularly for short periods of time?

2003, Stuart Redman, English Vocabulary in Use: Pre-Intermediate & Intermediate, 2nd edition, Cambridge University Press, page 5:

2008, Tom Burns, Sandra Sinfield, Chapter 19: How to build your memory and revise effectively, Essential Study Skills: The Complete Guide to Success at University, SAGE Publications, UK, page 273.

(UK, Australia, New Zealand) To look over again (something previously written or learned), especially in preparation for an examination.


scoff

scoff (third-person singular simple present scoffs, present participle scoffing, simple past and past participle scoffed)

scoffs (present singular third-person)
scoffing (participle present)
scoffed (participle past)
scoffed (past)

A variant, attested since the mid 19th century, of scaff, of uncertain origin. Compare scarf (“eat quickly”).

The numbers thin out the further we get from London, so I don't feel guilty when I remove my mask momentarily to scoff some of the snacks I'd bought at Marylebone.

2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 68:

(British, Newfoundland, slang) To eat food quickly.


scout

From Middle English scout, scoult, from Old French escoute (“action of listening”), verbal noun from escouter (“to listen, heed”), from Latin auscultō (“to listen”). The verb comes from the noun.

der

(UK, cricket) A fielder in a game for practice.

(historical, UK, up until 1920s) A fighter aircraft.


scowl

(UK, dialect, obsolete) Old workings of iron ore.


serviette

From Middle English serviotis pl, from Middle French serviette.

1887, “A Member of the Aristocracy”, Manners and Rules of Good Society; Or Solecisms to Be Avoided, 1999 facsimile edition, Angus&Robertson, page 116,
She should unfold her serviette and place it on her lap. It is immaterial whether she places the bread on the right or left-hand side of the cover when taking it from the serviette.
A gentleman should do the same with his serviette and bread, placing the one across his knees, and the other at his right or left hand.

1914, Arnold Bennett, The Price of Love, 2005, Echo Library, page 40,
And then, when the meal finally did begin Mrs. Maldon′s serviette and silver serviette-ring had vanished.

Nature of goods.—Toilet paper, paper handkerchiefs, paper towels, paper serviettes and paper covers for lavatory seats, none being medicated.

1955 October 25, The Official Gazette of the Colony and Protectorate of Kenya, page 1145:

• To provide the guest with a means of wiping his/her hands and mouth, and
• To make the restaurant look attractive.

2004, Tracey Dalton, The Food and Beverage Handbook, Orchard Publishing, South Africa, page 36, There is a wide variety of serviette folds, but serviettes themselves have two basic functions

2006, K.E. Silva, A Simple Distance, Akashic Books, US, page 90,
I told them to put the paper serviettes out on the table, and look, they′ve put out the cloth napkins! Here, take these back to the kitchen and bring me the stack of paper serviettes.

Avoid the temptation to lick your fingers – a finger bowl filled with warm water is usually placed on the table to wash your fingers at the end of the meal and serviettes should be on hand to dry them.

2007, Sarina Singh, South India, Lonely Planet, page 83:

(UK, Ireland, Canada) A table napkin, now especially a paper one.


settee

Unclear, possibly from settle (“seat, long bench”) + -ee (diminutive suffix).

suf

The lounge was furnished in old English oak and big Knole settees. There were rugs from Tabriz and Kerman on the highly polished floor. […] A table lamp was fashioned from a silver Egyptian hookah.

1954, Alexander Alderson, chapter 18, in The Subtle Minotaur:

“You might have to calm this down, my darling. I'm not sure this settee can take it.” “This settee has taken centuries of our love.”

2022 July 12, Stefani Robinson & Paul Simms, “Reunited” (9:01 from the start), in What We Do in the Shadows, season 4, episode 1:

(UK, Texas) A long seat with a back, made to accommodate several persons at once; a sofa.


shabby

en-adj

shabby (comparative shabbier, superlative shabbiest)

shabbier (comparative)
shabbiest (superlative)

The adjective is derived from shab (“(obsolete except UK, dialectal) scaly skin disease; skin disease of sheep; crust forming over wound, scab”) + -y (suffix meaning ‘having the quality of’ forming adjectives).
The verb is derived from the adjective.
Cognates
* Dutch schabbig (“poor, needy, shabby”)
* Middle High German schebic (modern German schäbig (“shabby”))
* Middle Low German schabbich (“miserable”) (modern Low German schabbig, schäbbig)
* Scots shabby (“in poor health, ill”)
* Swedish sjabbig (“shabby, mangy, scruffy”), skabbig (“scabby”)

hääppöinen

poor in quality; showing little effort or talent

(often in the negative) Poor in quality; also, showing little effort or talent.

(UK, dialectal or informal) Of weather: wet and dreary.

(UK, dialectal, veterinary medicine) Chiefly of sheep: affected by shab or scab (“a skin disease”); scabby.


shack

en-noun

shack (countable and uncountable, plural shacks)

Obsolete variant of shake. Compare Scots shag (“refuse of barley or oats”).

Some peple hev a fakilty two get along into the world, whilst others air poor shacks & good for nothing.

All the poor old shacks about the town found a friend in Deacon Marble.

1868, Henry Ward Beecher, Norwood, or Village Life in New England:

(UK, US, dialect, obsolete) A shiftless fellow; a low, itinerant beggar; a vagabond; a tramp.


shack

en-verb

shack (third-person singular simple present shacks, present participle shacking, simple past and past participle shacked)

shacks (present singular third-person)
shacking (participle present)
shacked (participle past)
shacked (past)

(UK, dialect) To wander as a vagabond or tramp.


shell

From Middle English schelle, from Old English sċiell, from Proto-West Germanic *skallju, from Proto-Germanic *skaljō, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- (“to split, cleave”).
Compare West Frisian skyl (“peel, rind”), Dutch schil (“peel, skin, rink”), Low German Schell (“shell, scale”), Irish scelec (“pebble”), Old Church Slavonic сколика (skolika, “shell”). More at shale.
Doublet of sheal.
* (computing): From being viewed as an outer layer of interface between the user and the operating-system internals.

cog

Can I have a quick word in your shell?

Chinese (Mandarin) is taught at Westminster from the Lower Shell as an optional subject.

2013, “Chinese (Mandarin)”, in Westminster School, retrieved 2023-12-04:

(British, education) One or more school grades within secondary education, at certain public schools.


shout

From Middle English shouten. Further origin uncertain. Possibly related to Middle English shooten (“to shoot (out)”) or from or akin to Old Norse skúta (“to chide, scold”), Old Norse skúti, skúta (“a taunt”). See also the second, rare sense of the verb scout (“to reject with contempt”).

“I′ll get my wine though,” taking out her wallet.
“No. This is my shout,” holding up his hand as though to ward her money off.

1984, Keri Hulme, The Bone People, page 290:

Cut to the pub on a lads night out,
Man at the bar cos it was his shout

2008, George Papaellinas, The Trip: An Odyssey, re.press, Australia, page 6,
It was always my shout down the pub with Theo.

(UK, Australia, New Zealand, slang) A round of drinks in a pub; the turn to pay the shot or scot; an act of paying for a round of drinks.

Yet another ambulance on a shout enters Parliament Square.

2017, Dave Boulter, London's Emergency Service Vehicles:

(UK, Australia, slang) A call-out for an emergency services team.


shout

From Middle English shout(e), perhaps from Middle Low German schûte (“boat or light ship”). Doublet of schuit, see there for more.

der

Although the density of the flour in particular would be less than that of the wheat, an equivalent 200 quarters of wheat per shout would not seem out of the question here. Again using Table 4, this suggests quite large boats carrying nearly 35 tons. If the 'Blackfriars 3' shout did indeed carry only 7.5 tons, then the shouts coming from Henley in 1345 were considerably bigger vessels, […]

2007 October 25, John Blair, Waterways and Canal-Building in Medieval England, OUP Oxford, →ISBN, page 124:

(UK, dialect) A flat-bottomed boat, a barge (for carrying cargo, etc), now especially a light boat used in duck-shooting.


shroud

en-verb

shroud (third-person singular simple present shrouds, present participle shrouding, simple past and past participle shrouded)

shrouds (present singular third-person)
shrouding (participle present)
shrouded (participle past)
shrouded (past)

(transitive, UK, dialect) To lop the branches from (a tree).


shy

en-adj

shy (comparative shier or shyer or more shy, superlative shiest or shyest or most shy)

shier (comparative)
shyer (comparative)
more shy (comparative)
shiest (superlative)
shyest (superlative)
most shy (superlative)

From Middle English shy (“shy”), from Old English sċēoh (“shy”), from Proto-West Germanic *skeuh (“shy, fearful”), from Proto-Germanic *skeuhaz (“shy, fearful”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian skjou (“shy”), Dutch schuw (“shy”), German scheu (“shy”), Danish sky (“shy”).
Etymology tree
Middle English shy
English shy

etymon

Pollsters need to remember the shy Tory factor.

(UK, US, politics, of a voter) Less likely to reveal whom they will vote for than average, chiefly in the context of the collective effect this has on polling accuracy.


skimp

en-adj

skimp (comparative more skimp, superlative most skimp)

more skimp (comparative)
most skimp (superlative)

(dated, UK, dialect or US, colloquial) Scanty.


skive

en-verb

skive (third-person singular simple present skives, present participle skiving, simple past and past participle skived)

skives (present singular third-person)
skiving (participle present)
skived (participle past)
skived (past)

Probably from French esquiver (“slink away”), from Middle French esquiver (“to escape”), from Spanish esquivar (“to avoid, reject, elude”), from esquivo (“contemptuous, loathsome”), itself from Old French eschiver, of East Germanic origin, from Gothic *𐍃𐌺𐌹𐌿𐌷𐍃 (*skiuhs, “afraid, barefaced”), from Proto-Germanic *skeuhaz (“afraid, frightened”). Cognate with English shy, eschew.

der

Truancies, rather bewilderingly, have risen among children on the programme; the government hopes this is because children skive more as they get older.

2006, The Economist, Young offenders: Arrested development:

Work experience as an arsey teenager is pretty straightforward: disappear into the storeroom, smoke a few cigarettes, text your mates and watch the minute hand tick slowly by. If there's nowhere suitable to hide, all you need is a vacant computer and you can chat to your skiving associate in the building next door.

2007 April 30, Jon Bentham, “How to...... do work experience”, in The Guardian:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, informal) To avoid one's lessons or work (chiefly at school or university); shirk.


skive

Mr Smith's history classes are a total skive.

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, informal) Something very easy, where one can slack off without penalty.

I got the bus to school, and the driver gave me the eye, thinking I was on the skive, and I started to explain that there was something up with my head, but then I couldn't be bothered.

2007, Anthony McGowan, Henry Tumour, →ISBN, page 8:

Another school skive! I only realised this when my dentist's receptionist told me to expect a fair wait till I could be seen.

2011, Catherine Forde, Sugarcoated, →ISBN:

But at least they preserved the idea that books were important and that reading and writing were more than just a skive for people too weedy to hack at one another with swords.

2011, Ian Stewart, Jack Cohen, Terry Pratchett, The Science Of Discworld II: The Globe, →ISBN, page 202:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, informal) An act of avoiding lessons or work.


slag

en-noun

slag (countable and uncountable, plural slags)

Borrowed from Middle Low German slagge, slaggen (“slag, dross”), from Old Saxon *slaggo, from Proto-West Germanic *slaggō, from Proto-Germanic *slaggô, from Proto-Germanic *slagōną (“to strike”) + *-gô (diminutive suffix). Compare Middle Low German slāgen (“to strike”), since originally the splinters struck off from the metal by hammering, from *slagōn, from Proto-West Germanic *slagōn. Compare also Old Saxon slegi, from Proto-West Germanic *slagi.
See also Dutch slak, German Schlacke, Swedish slagg; also compare English slay.

1984, Tristan Jones, Heart of Oak, 1997, paperback edition, page 260,
We never talked about that, of course; we talked about how we could find a woman in the Dilly, and if the Yanks had taken them all, how we could always resort to the peroxided older slags who hung out around the side doors to Waterloo station and did knee tremblers for the Yanks.

Which grotesque auld hing-oot will the shrivelled post-menopausal slag want tae shaft? Stay tuned.

1994 [1993], Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting, London: Minerva, →ISBN, page 252:

2002, Josephine Cox, The Woman Who Left, 2012, ebook, unnumbered page,
‘Slag! Wait till I tell Jacob what we′ve been doing – and I will, you mark my words! He′ll want nowt to do with you then, will he, eh? He′ll see you for what you really are. A cheap and nasty little bitch!’

‘[…]He was a lovely man but, when I told him I wanted to continue swinging, he freaked out and called me a slag.’

2008, Ashley Lister, Swingers - Female Confidential, page 31:

‘[…]To the lady that came in to my coffee shop today and ripped on me and my fellow employees for being too slow: eat shit, you miserable slag!’

Soph, yeah, you can't murk me / You're a slag, riddled with STDs

2016 December 3, Millie B, “Soph Aspin Send”, performed by Millie B:

NB: All terms are usually pejorative unless stated otherwise.

(UK, Ireland, Australia, slang, derogatory) A prostitute or promiscuous woman; a slut.

(UK, Ireland, derogatory, dated) A coward.

The writers took it for granted that England, with its working class composed of slags, purple-nosed losers, and animals fed on pinball, pornography and junk-food, was disintegrating into terminal class-struggle.

1990, Hanif Kureishi, The Buddha of Suburbia, London, Boston: Faber and Faber, →ISBN, page 207:

1996, Sarah Kane, Phaedra′s Love, Scene 8, 2001, Sarah Kane: Complete Plays, page 100,
Kill him. Kill the royal slag.

2012, Danny Dyer, tweet, quoted by Alexis Petridis, "Danny Dyer: why them 9/11 slags are freaking his nut", The Guardian
Can't believe it's been nearly 11 years since them slags smashed into the twin towers

(UK, Ireland, chiefly Cockney, derogatory) A contemptible person, a scumbag.


slag

en-verb

slag (third-person singular simple present slags, present participle slagging, simple past and past participle slagged)

slags (present singular third-person)
slagging (participle present)
slagged (participle past)
slagged (past)

If you slag off the other person, then—to the extent that your child identifies with that person as their parent—you are slagging off a part of them.

2010, Courtenay Young, Help Yourself Towards Mental Health, page 344:

Rather than wait for her to start slagging my mother, I would disappear for a couple of days and inevitably, because I was getting no love at home, I began to stray once again.

2011, John Davies, Slings and Arrows, page 109:

(transitive, UK, slang) To talk badly about; to malign or denigrate (someone).

mustamaalata

to talk badly about someone; to denigrate someone


slam

en-noun

slam (countable and uncountable, plural slams)

From Middle English *slammen (not recorded), apparently from a Scandinavian source ultimately from Old Norse slæma, slœma (“to slam, swing a weapon, strike an object out of reach”), related to Old Norse slamra, slambra (“to slam”). Cognate with Norwegian Bokmål slamre (“to slam”), Swedish slamra (“to pound, beat, make a clatter, rattle”), Norwegian Nynorsk slamra (“to sway, dangle”).

cog

(uncountable, UK, dialect) The yellow iron silicate produced in alum works as a waste product.


slap

en-adj

slap (comparative more slap, superlative most slap)

more slap (comparative)
most slap (superlative)

From Middle English slappen, of uncertain origin, possibly imitative. Compare Low German Slappe (“slap”), whence also German Schlappe (“defeat”). Compare also Italian sleppa (“slap”).

onomatopoeic

imitative

These cookies are slap.

(slang, UK) Very good, excellent, amazing.


slapper

From slap + -er. For senses 2 and 3, the OED tentatively quotes the Bloomsbury Dictionary of Contemporary Slang: "This working class term from East London and Essex is probably a corruption of shlepper or schlepper, a word of Yiddish origin, one of whose meanings is a slovenly or immoral woman."

A fella looking dapper / And he's sittin' with a slapper / Then I see it's a pimp / And his crack whore

2006, Lily Allen, Iyiola Babalola, Darren Lewis, Tommy McCook, “LDN”, in Alright, Still, performed by Lily Allen:

You've got a photo of the dead grandad, no pic of the blonde slapper?

2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 167:

(countable, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang) A prostitute.

(countable, UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang) A woman of loose morals.


slice

From Middle English sclise, sklise, from Old French esclice, esclis (“a piece split off”), deverbal of esclicer, esclicier (“to splinter, split up”), from Frankish *slitjan (“to split up”), from Proto-Germanic *slitjaną, from Proto-Germanic *slītaną (“to split, tear apart”), from Proto-Indo-European *sleyd- (“to rend, injure, crumble”). Akin to Old High German sliz, gisliz (“a tear, rip”), Old High German slīzan (“to tear”), Old English slītan (“to split up”), modern French éclisse. More at slite, slit.

der

I bought a ham and cheese slice at the service station.

(British) A snack consisting of pastry with savoury filling.

(Australia, New Zealand, UK) Any of a class of heavy cakes or desserts made in a tray and cut out into squarish slices.


snag

en-verb

snag (third-person singular simple present snags, present participle snagging, simple past and past participle snagged)

snags (present singular third-person)
snagging (participle present)
snagged (participle past)
snagged (past)

From earlier snag (“stump or branch of a tree”), from Middle English *snagge, *snage, from Old Norse snagi (“clothes peg”) (compare Old Norse snag-hyrndr (“snag-horned, having jagged corners”)), perhaps ultimately from a derivative of Proto-Germanic *snakk-, *snēgg, variations of *snakaną (“to crawl, creep, wind about”).
Compare Norwegian snag, snage (“protrusion; projecting point”), Icelandic snagi (“peg”). Also see Dutch snoek (“pike”).

cog

When felled and snagged, one end of the tree is placed upon a small sledge, and dragged out of the bush by oxen

1846, Sir Richard Levinge, “Echoes from the Backwoods”, in The New Monthly, volume 76:

(UK, dialect) To cut the snags or branches from, as the stem of a tree; to hew roughly.


snag

The Australian National Dictionary Centre suggests that snag as slang for "sausage" most likely derives from the earlier British slang for "light meal", although it makes no comment on how it came to be specifically applied to sausages.Meanings and origins of Australian words and idioms The word's use in football slang originates as a shortening of "sausage roll", rhyming slang for "goal", to sausage, and hence, by synonymy, snag.


snap

en-noun

snap (countable and uncountable, plural snaps)

From Dutch snappen (“to bite; seize”) or Low German snappen (“to bite; seize”), ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *snappōn, from Proto-Germanic *snappōną (“to snap; snatch; chatter”), intensive form of *snapāną (”to snap; grab”, whence Old Norse snapa (“to get; scrounge”)), from Proto-Indo-European *snop-; compare Lithuanian snãpas (“beak, bill”). (One alternative hypothesis links the Germanic words to *snu-, an expressive root deriving words meaning “nose”, “snout”, “sniff” etc., but this is phonetically unsound.) In any case influenced by onomatopoeia; note expressions such as snip-snap, containing the formally unrelated snip.
Cognate with West Frisian snappe (“to get; catch; snap”), German schnappen (“to grab”), Swedish snappa (“to snatch”).
The verb is derived from the noun.

gloss

”to snap; grab”, whence Old Norse <i class="Latn mention" lang="non">snapa</i> (“to get; scrounge”)

sound-symbolic

expressive

onom

onomatopoeia

cog

When I went to put my coat on at snap time, what should go runnin' up my arm but a mouse.

1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “Chapter 4”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:

(UK, regional) A small meal, a snack; lunch.


snap

sound-symbolic

expressive

onom

onomatopoeia

Snap! We've both got pink buckets and spades.

(British, Australia, by extension) "I've got one the same!", "Me too!"

(British, by extension) Used to express agreement.

—Wasn't that John? —Wasn't that John? —Snap!

(British, Australia, New Zealand) Used after something is said by two people at exactly the same time.


snout

From Middle English snowte, snoute, from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German snute (alternatively spelled snuut, snuyt), from Proto-West Germanic *snūt, from Proto-Germanic *snūtaz.
Compare Saterland Frisian Snuute, Dutch snuit or snoet (“snout; cute face”), German Schnauze, Schnute. Doublet of snoot.

морон

anterior prolongation of head of weevil and other insects

(Bob, p. 55:) Charlie was the most vicious screw on the block ... He caught me with the two ounces of snout right in my hand, caught me by the hair, and swung me round in the exercise yard ...
(Spider, p. 175:) She brings me snout and sweets, and sometimes a cake from Mum.

LIZ. I only got one left. / FRED (calls). Get us some snout. / MIKE. Five or ten?

Also he was "doing his nut" for some "snout." I said I would provide cigarettes.

2000, Joe Randolph Ackerley, P N Furbank, We Think the World of You:

Raymond rolled a neat cigarette. "What about some snout, then?" "No, thanks." He laughed. Smoke drifted from his open mouth.

2004, Allan Sillitoe, New and Collected Stories:


spare

en-adj

spare (comparative sparer, superlative sparest)

sparer (comparative)
sparest (superlative)

→ Welsh: sbâr

From Middle English spare, spar, from Old English spær (“sparing, scant”), from Proto-Germanic *sparaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sph₁rós, from the root *speh₁-.
Compare Dutch spaar(zaam), German spar(sam) and spär(lich), Swedish spar(sam), Icelandic sparr (“sparing”); also Latin (pro)sperus (“lucky”), Old Church Slavonic споръ (sporŭ, “plentiful”), Albanian shperr (“earn money”), Persian سپار (sepâr, “entrust; deposit”), Ancient Greek σπαρνός (sparnós, “rare”), Sanskrit स्फिर (sphirá, “thick”).

cog

When he found out that someone had broken the window, he went spare.

The poor girl is going spare, stuck in the house all day with the kids like that.

“That'll drive him spare.”

My grandfather (unaware that he was using antique terms) would often say ruefully that I would drive him spare. The idea was that my behaviour would so dement him as to drive him berserk.

(UK, informal) Very angry; frustrated or distraught.


squire

From Middle English esquire, from Old French escuier, from Latin scūtārius (“shield-bearer”), from scūtum (“shield”).

Sorry squire, I've had a look 'round the back of the shop, and uh, we're right out of parrots.

1969, Dead Parrot sketch, Monty Python's Flying Circus:

(UK, colloquial) Term of address to a male equal.


squirt

en-noun

squirt (countable and uncountable, plural squirts)

From Middle English squirten, squyrten, of uncertain origin; probably onomatopoeic. Akin to swirl. Compare Low German swirtjen (“to squirt”) and Swedish water onomatopoeias skvala, skvalp, skvimpa, and skvätta; Icelandic skvetta; and Norwegian skvette.

Hey squirt! Where you been?

1986, Alethea Helbig, Agnes Perkins, Cutlass Island, entry in Dictionary of American Children′s Fiction, 1960-1984: Recent Books of Recognized Merit, page 137,
Hurd returns with Mal, Mr. Eph, and Gumbo, the “town squirt” of twelve, and the boys′ activities come out.

2010, Karen Witemeyer, A Tailor-Made Bride, Bethany House Publishers, US, page 66,
How the child managed to converse and fold at the same time was a marvel, yet the shirt lay in a tidy rectangle by the time she came up for air.
“Thanks, squirt.” He winked at her and she giggled.

(UK, Ireland, US, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, slang) A small child.


stack

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

From Middle English stack, stacke, stakke, stak, from Old Norse stakkr (“a barn; haystack; heap; pile”), from Proto-Germanic *stakkaz (“a barn; rick; haystack”).
The data structure sense is a calque of Dutch stapel, introduced by Edsger W. Dijkstra. Cognate with Icelandic stakkur (“stack”), Swedish stack (“stack”), Danish stak (“stack”), Norwegian stakk (“stack”). Related to stake and sauna.

der

There was againſt euery Pillar, a Stacke of Billets, aboue a Mans Height;

1631, Francis [Bacon], “III. Century. [Experiments in Consort Touching the Reflexion, of Sounds.]”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC, paragraph 249, page 67:

(UK) A pile of poles or wood, indefinite in quantity.


stag

en-noun

stag (countable and uncountable, plural stags)

stags (plural)
steg (alternative)
staig (alternative)
stagg (alternative)
stagge (alternative)

From Middle English stagge, steg, from Old English stagga, stacga (“a stag”) and Old Norse steggi, steggr (“a male animal”), both from Proto-Germanic *staggijô, *staggijaz (“male, male deer, porcupine”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *stegʰ-, *stengʰ- (“to sting; rod, blade; sharp, stiff”). Cognate with Icelandic steggi, steggur (“tomcat, male fox”). Related to staggard, staggon.

Between shifts on stag or manning the radio, we grabbed a few hours sleep.

2000, Richard Tomlinson, The big breach: from top secret to maximum security, page 31:

Three days were spent on standby or patrols and a fourth day on guard, with at least eight hours on stag.

2012, Max Benitz, Six Months Without Sundays: The Scots Guards in Afghanistan:

(uncountable, UK, military, slang) Guard duty.


stag

en-verb

stag (third-person singular simple present stags, present participle stagging, simple past and past participle stagged)

stags (present singular third-person)
stagging (participle present)
stagged (participle past)
stagged (past)
steg (alternative)
staig (alternative)
stagg (alternative)
stagge (alternative)

(intransitive, British) To act as a "stag", an irregular dealer in stocks.


stagger

Tallinn no longer takes pride in the title of 'favourite destination of British staggers'.

2013, Phil Hubbard, Cities and Sexualities, page 144:


stray

From Middle English stray, strey, from Anglo-Norman estray, stray, Old French estrai, from the verb (see below).

waifs and strays

(British, law, archaic) An article of movable property, of which the owner is not known (see waif).


sty

From Middle English stien, stiȝen, stighen, from Old English stīgan (“to go; ascend, mount”), from Proto-West Germanic *stīgan, from Proto-Germanic *stīganą, from Proto-Indo-European *steygʰ-.
Cognate with Dutch stijgen, German steigen, Danish stige, Norwegian Bokmål stige, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish stiga, Old Norse stíga.


sunflower

From sun + flower. Compare English sunbloom.

(UK, rail transport) An Automatic Warning System (AWS) indicator in the driver's cab that is displayed after a driver has acknowledged an audible warning, which consists of a yellow circle enclosing a white circle, with black spokes overlaid.


superstructure

en-noun

superstructure (countable and uncountable, plural superstructures)

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

(British, railroad) The sleepers and fastenings, in distinction from the roadbed.


swathe

From Middle English swathe, from Old English swaþu (“track, trace”), from Proto-Germanic *swaþō. More at swath.

United's stature is such that one result must not bring the immediate announcement of a shift in the balance of power in Manchester - but the swathes of empty seats around Old Trafford and the wave of attacks pouring towards David de Gea's goal in the second half emphasised that City quite simply have greater firepower and talent in their squad at present.

2011 October 23, Phil McNulty, “Man Utd 1 - 6 Man City”, in BBC Sport:

2012, The Economist, Sep 29th 2012 issue, Venezuela’s presidential election: The autocrat and the ballot box
As well as the advantages of abused office, Mr Chávez can boast enduring popularity among a broad swathe of poorer Venezuelans. They like him for his charisma, humble background and demotic speech.

The female leads who cut a swathe through the centuries

Colleges say 'swathe of cuts' threatens adult education

Thomas Brassey (1805-70) should be equally famous, yet he is unknown to swathes of the greater populace. His plaque is at Chester.

2021 December 29, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and facts behind railway plaques: Chester (1848)”, in RAIL, number 947, page 57:

(chiefly British) Alternative spelling of swath.


shady

en-adj

shady (comparative shadier, superlative shadiest)

shadier (comparative)
shadiest (superlative)

From shade + -y. Compare Saterland Frisian skaadich, skaddich (“shady”), German schattig (“shady”).

They were being proper shady to him. Even if you don't like someone, locking them out, stealing their clothes and ganging up on them to take the piss is just childish.

2006 May 24, Saucy Jack, “BB7: Did Shabazz just deserve that?”, in uk.media.tv.misc (Usenet):

I didn't even ask her to be in the 'Increase the Peace' campaign, which was well shady, 'cos if anyone knows anything about rudes and violence and getting dragged into stuff it's Uma.

2007, Grace Dent, Diary of a Chav 2: Slinging the Bling:

"Don't be shady," she said, "You know I always pay up."

2007, Chastity Danielle Infinity, Jamo Lorswal, A Rose So That It May Rain, page 155:


shriek

shrieks (plural)
shreek (alternative obsolete)

From obsolete shrick (1567), shreke, variants of earlier screak, skricke (before 1500), from Middle English scrycke, from a North Germanic/Scandinavian language (compare Swedish skrika, Danish skrige, Icelandic skríkja), from Proto-Germanic *skrīkijaną, *skrik- (compare English screech). More at screech.


tally

(US)

From Middle English talie, from Anglo-Norman tallie and Old French taille (“notch in a piece of wood signifying a debt”), from Medieval Latin tallia, from Latin talea (“a cutting, rod, stick”). Doublet of taille and talea.

der

Then turnips isn't such good sale yet, but they may be soon, for winter's best for them. […] I buy turnips by the 'tally.' A tally's five dozen bunches.

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

A bunch of Turnips, 12 and upwards. A bunch of Leeks, 6 and upwards. Bunches of Greens and of herbs vary much, according to kind, size, and season. Roll of Celery = 6, 8, to 12 heads. A tally = five dozen.

1890, Gardeners' Chronicle, volume 7, page 15:

(UK, obsolete) Five dozen bunches of turnips.


tanner

George II of Great Britain
John Sigismund Tanner
Royal Mint

Named after John Sigismund Tanner (1705–1775), who designed a sixpence for the Royal Mint during the reign of King George II.

[A]s you are so flash of your money, though you say you are poor, you may give me a tanner to buy a little baccy with; […]

1851, George Borrow, chapter III, in Lavengro; the Scholar—the Gypsy—the Priest. […], volume II, London: John Murray […], →OCLC, page 32:

They'd say hello, maybe slip you a tanner.

2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 469:

(British, colloquial) A former British coin worth six old pence.


tart

From a rebracketing of sweetheart, or from jam tart (“attractive woman”) by shortening.

We know the majority of the places that these tarts will hang out at.

1950, Roy E. Blick (police inspector), testimony before the United States Congress:

In the garden I was playing the tart / I kissed your lips and broke your heart

1991, “Until the End of the World”, in Bono (lyrics), Achtung Baby, performed by U2:

She told the Sun: "I'm talked about as an 'easy girl', the 'blonde slut' who distracted the captain and caused the crash. It's so wrong. I'm not some little tart."

2013 November 13, “Costa Concordia captain's mistress reveals late night sex sessions in cabin before doomed cruise liner sank”, in Daily Mirror:

(British, slang, derogatory, by extension) Any woman with loose sexual morals.


tasty

en-adj

tasty (comparative tastier, superlative tastiest)

tastier (comparative)
tastiest (superlative)

From taste + -y.
The Philippine sense is due to a genericized trademark from Taystee Bread Company, a defunct American company.

(UK, informal) Skillful; highly competent.

I watched it all unfold live on Sky News. Ed Miliband was there, but so were the usual bunch of troublemakers and I, for one, was expecting it to kick off.¶ Sure enough, it all got a bit tasty in the afternoon at about the time I should have been polishing off my tinned tuna. Only there was no one about to dish out my grub.¶ They were all glued to the telly watching a gang of blokes wearing balaclavas smash the windows of a Porsche showroom in Park Lane.

2011, James Robinson, The Larry Diaries: Downing Street - The First 100 Days, →ISBN:

No, I wouldn't take a bullet for him, or any of them,I wasn't paid enough to go that far, but I would break up a scrap if it all got a bit tasty and, yeah, it was a great at the bar that night getting the drinks in.

2012, Craig Summers, Bodyguard: My Life on the Front Line, →ISBN:

These empires of rusting metal have long been portrayed in film, fiction and TV as a haunt of the wide boy, the tasty geezer, and many other variants of ne'er-do-well

2014 September 5, “Honest scrappers”, in BBC News:


tent

en-verb

tent (third-person singular simple present tents, present participle tenting, simple past and past participle tented)

tents (present singular third-person)
tenting (participle present)
tented (participle past)
tented (past)

From Middle English tent (“attention”), aphetic variation of attent (“attention”), from Old French atente (“attention, intention”), from Latin attenta, feminine of attentus, past participle of attendere (“to attend”). Compare tend, from an aphetic variation of attend

der

14th century, anonymous, The Romance of Syr Tryamoure
He let hur have wemen at wylle,
To tent hur, and that was skylle,
And brought hur to bede

(archaic, UK, Scotland, dialect) To attend to; to heed

(archaic, UK, Scotland, dialect) to guard; to hinder.


tent

Lo ! lo ! my frend , take tent to this womman

a. 1451, John Lydgate, The Prohemy of a Marriage betwixt and Olde Man and a Yonge Wife, and the Counsail &c.:

(archaic, UK, Scotland, dialect) Attention; regard, care.


towel

en-verb

towel (third-person singular simple present towels, present participle toweling or towelling, simple past and past participle toweled or towelled)

towels (present singular third-person)
toweling (participle present)
towelling (participle present)
toweled (participle past)
toweled (past)
towelled (participle past)
towelled (past)

From Middle English towayle, towel, towail, towaille, from Old French toaille (“towel”) (modern French touaille), Medieval Latin toallia, from Frankish *þwahilu (“cloth”), from Proto-Germanic *þwahaną (“to wash”). Cognate with Old High German dwahila (“towel”) (modern dialectal German Zwehle), Dutch dwaal (“towel”), dweil (“mop”), Low German Dweel (“towel”), Old English þwǣle (“band; ribbon; fillet”), Old English þwēan (“to wash”).

cog

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

(UK, dialect, obsolete, transitive) To beat with a stick, or "oaken towel".


treacle

en-noun

treacle (countable and uncountable, plural treacles)

From Middle English triacle, partly from Old French triacle, and partly from Old English tyriaca, both from Late Latin *triaca, *tiriaca, late form of theriaca, ultimately from Ancient Greek θηριακή (thēriakḗ, “antidote”), feminine form of θηριακός (thēriakós, “concerning venomous beasts”), from θήρ (thḗr, “beast”). Doublet of theriacle, equivalent to theriac + -le.

der

Didn’t you see how the cub was ashamed of the thick bread-and-butter? I dare say they’re going to have treacle if they are good.

1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 26, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

(chiefly UK, Ireland) A syrupy byproduct of sugar refining; molasses or golden syrup.


trend

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


troll

→ Korean: 트롤 (teurol)

→ Spanish: trol

→ Ukrainian: троль (trolʹ)

→ Welsh: trol (“cart”)

The verb is derived from Middle English trollen (“to go about, wander; to move (something) to and fro, rock; to roll; to turn”) [and other forms], of uncertain origin; perhaps in part from Old French troller (“to run here and there; to walk aimlessly, ramble, stroll; (hunting) to wander about looking for game”) (modern French troller); further etymology uncertain, yet probably from or related to Middle High German trollen (“to stroll, walk with short strides”) (modern German trollen (“to move slowly, trundle; to push off, toddle off”)), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *truzlōną (“to lumber”), which is probably related to *trudaną (“to step on, tread”) (see further at etymology 1). Doublet of trull.
Verb sense 4.2.2 (“to fish using a line and bait or lures trailed behind a boat”) is possibly influenced by trail and/or trawl.
The noun is probably derived from the verb. Noun sense 4 (“person who makes or posts inflammatory or insincere statements in an attempt to lure others into combative argument”) is possibly influenced by troll (etymology 1).
Cognates
* Middle Low German drullen (“to stroll”) (Low German trullen (“to troll”))

unc

uncertain

cog

(obsolete)
(except British, dialectal) A trolley.