spavin

en-verb

spavin (third-person singular simple present spavins, present participle spavining, simple past and past participle spavined)

spavins (present singular third-person)
spavining (participle present)
spavined (participle past)
spavined (past)

Mr. Lythe had seen many horses which Mr. Field had passed as sound although they were spavined; and he does not recollect a single instance of lameness among them.

The witches that dance on the Brocken on Valpurgis Eve would be spoken of in a different spirit from the village hag who spavins the horse and curdles the milk.

1867, John Hill Burton, “Heathendom”, in The History of Scotland from Agricola’s Invasion to the Revolution of 1688, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, page 224:

And oh! Onesiphorus, the old brown mare / Is spavining for love, as also we; […]

1884 February 23, “Astray from San Rafael” [pseudonym], “Dudetic Leap Year”, in The Wasp, volume XII, number 8, San Francisco, Calif.: E[dward] C[reamor] Macfarlane & Co., →OCLC, stanza 4, page 11, column 1:

The plaintiff introduced evidence tending to prove that the horse was spavined, and that Kuntzman had warranted the soundness of the horse. The fourth exception on the part of the defendant and the plaintiff in error was to the rejection of the evidence that the horse was not spavined while in Weaver's stable, some two months after the sale.

1886, A[braham] C[lark] Freeman, “Kuntzman v. Weaver”, in The American Decisions […], volume LIX, San Francisco, Calif.: Bancroft-Whitney Co. […], →OCLC, page 740:

In order to obviate the straining, spavining, and weakness of back, to which horses are subject, caused by the effort of starting heavy cars, Mr. Henry P. Holt designed a tramcar starting gear, patented in May, 1879, […]

1894, D[aniel] Kinnear Clark, “Resistance to Traction on Tramways”, in Tramways: Their Construction and Working […], 2nd edition, London: Crosby Lockwood and Son […], →OCLC, page 402:

(farriery, veterinary medicine) To cause (a horse or its leg) to have spavin (noun sense 1.2).

aiheuttaa kinnerpatti

to cause (a horse or its leg) to have spavin


spitz

From German Spitz, from spitz (“pointed”); so called from the tapering shape of its muzzle.

Any of several Nordic breeds of dog such as the Pomeranian or Samoyed.


tapir

Borrowed from French tapir, from Old Tupi tapi'ira.

Once a dark, clumsy tapir stared at us from a gap in the bushes, and then lumbered away through the forest; once, too, the yellow, sinuous form of a great puma whisked amid the brushwood, and its green, baleful eyes glared hatred at us over its tawny shoulder.

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

Any one of the species of large odd-toed ungulates of the taxonomic family Tapiridae with a long prehensile upper lip, of which all four surviving species are in genus Tapirus.

tapir

large odd-toed ungulate with a long prehensile upper lip of the family Tapiridae

macho de monte (Panamá, Colombian Pacific Coast)


tusker

The massive tusker leading the herd stopped in his tracks. His ears went out, his long sinuous trunk up.

1928 June, Fred Graves, “Houdini of the Desert: Face to Face with Savage Elephants”, in Popular Science, page 19:

Negotiations to acquire a fine tusker from one young partner in another village fell through; so on the eve of the actual feast, Songi humiliated him by asking him to come to the feast as if he were the rival chief, the guest of honor. The man was deeply shamed by the invitation since he could not possibly reciprocate, and he had to send the tusker itself as payment for the invitation gifts.

1998, Alexander Moore, Cultural Anthropology: The Field Study of Human Beings, page 267:

An animal, such as a bull elephant or a boar, with large tusks.


waler

From (New South) Wale(s) + -er, the horse having been bred in the then colony of New South Wales in the 19th century.

Without reason, against prudence, and at a moment's notice, he fell in love with a frivolous, golden-haired girl who used to tear about Simla Mall on a high, rough waler, with a blue velvet jockey-cap crammed over her eyes.

1888, Rudyard Kipling, “Wressley of the Foreign Office”, in Plain Tales from the Hills, Folio Society, published 2004, page 204:

There were Arabs of high degree, thoroughbred English horses, and very good-looking Walers among them, besides some tiny ponies, four of which, when harnessed together, drew a real Cinderella coach of solid silver.

1889, Annie Brassey, The Last Voyage, to India and Australia, in the ‘Sunbeam’, published 2010, page 46:

2007, "Waler", entry in Bonnie L. Hendricks, International Encyclopedia of Horse Breeds, page 434,
Some maintain that the Waler is extinct, its blood living on only in the modern Australian Stock Horse and some of the feral brumbies that roam the outback.

By the 1850s, there was a thriving trade in selling the horses to the Indian Army as 'remounts'. Between 1834 and 1937, more than 300,000 Walers were sent to India.

2013, Peter Macinnis, The Big Book of Australian History, page 134:

(Australia, India) A breed of light saddle horse from Australia, once favoured as a warhorse.


wapiti

From Shawnee waapiti (“elk; white rump”).

Of deer there are in North America perhaps eight species : the black-tailed deer of the Pacific coast ; the mule-deer, and the white-tailed deer, of the Upper Missouri region and westward; the common deer of the United States east of the Missouri ; the wapiti of the northern and northwestern portions of the United States; one or two species of reindeer ; and the moose of the northern portion of the continent. […] Next to the moose, the wapiti or American elk (Cervus Canadensis) is the largest deer in North America.

1877 April, Sanborn Tenney, “The Plant-Eaters of North America”, in Popular Science Monthly, volume 10:

In connection with the work of the forest reserves I desire again to urge upon the Congress the importance of authorizing the President to set aside certain portions of these reserves or other public lands as game refuges for the preservation of the bison, the wapiti, and other large beasts once so abundant in our woods and mountains and on our great plains, and now tending toward extinction.

1904 December 6, Theodore Roosevelt, Fourth State of the Union Address:

You see, if we could keep giraffes or reindeer or some other species of browsing animal there we could explain the general absence of vegetation by a reference to the fauna of the garden: ‘You can’t have wapiti and Darwin tulips, you know, so we didn’t put down any bulbs last year.’ As it is, we haven’t got the wapiti, and the Darwin tulips haven’t survived the fact that most of the cats of the neighbourhood hold a parliament in the centre of the tulip bed; […].

1919, Saki, “The Occasional Garden”, in The Toys of Peace, and Other Papers:

Cervus canadensis
Cervus canadensis#Translingual

(US, Canada) The American elk (Cervus canadensis). It was formerly considered to be in the same species as the European red deer, which it somewhat exceeds in size.


washy

en-adj

washy (comparative washier, superlative washiest)

washier (comparative)
washiest (superlative)

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

a washy horse

(US, dialect, archaic or horse racing) Not firm or hardy; liable to sweat profusely with labour.


winker

From wink (“blinking of only one eye”) + -er (suffix forming agent nouns).

silmäniskijä

[T]his Censurer slaundereth manie men, another might say of him, he is the cōmon packhorse of the Papistes, to carrie any fardell of lyes deuised against any Christian man or booke that commeth in his way, and the rather because he weareth a paire of winkers ouer his eyes like a milhorse, being ashamed to shewe either his face or his name.

1583, William Fulke, “A Briefe Confutation of Sundry Cavils and Quarels, Uttered by Diuerse Papistes in Their Seuerall Bookes & Pamphlets against the Writings of William Fulke”, in A Defense of the Sincere and True Translations of the Holie Scriptures into the English Tong against the Manifolde Cauils, Friuolous Quarels, and Impudent Slaunders of Gregorie Martin, […], London: […] Henrie Bynneman, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2020-06-24, page 32:

Take the winkers off that donkey's face, and let him get a bit to eat; there's grass enough, God knows, and it's good grass.

1914, James Stephens, chapter I, in The Demi-Gods, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC, book I (Patsy Mac Cann), page 4:

The collar of his cambric shirt, English fashion, is highly starched and looks like winkers, its points projecting upward in front with a wide gap between.

1964, Aleksandr Pushkin, translated by Vladimir Nabokov, Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse […], volumes 2 (Commentary on Preliminaries and Chapters One to Five), New York, N.Y.: Bollingen Foundation, →OCLC, page 168:

A thing which is used to wink with, or which winks.

(equestrianism, also attributive and figurative) Chiefly in the plural: synonym of blinker (“a shield attached to the bridle of a horse or other domesticated animal to prevent it from seeing things behind it and to its side”)


arrest

en-noun

arrest (countable and uncountable, plural arrests)

From Middle English arest (noun) and aresten (verb), from Old French areste (noun) and arester (“to stay, stop”, verb), from Vulgar Latin *arrestō, from Latin ad- (“to”) + restō (“to stop, remain behind, stay back”), from re- (“back”) + stō (“to stand”), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand”), equivalent to ad- + rest. Compare French arrêter (“to stop”).

der

(farriery) A scurfiness of the back part of the hind leg of a horse


pooch

Of uncertain origin. One (unsubstantiated) conjecture is that the word comes from Putzi, a common German name given to lapdogs. The name Putzi is possibly formed from German Putz + -i, influenced by German putzig (“funny, cute, small”, adjective).

noncog

My thoughts are disturbed by a man and pooch trying to get off the front of the train. Despite hitting the door button, they refused to open.

2022 November 2, Paul Bigland, “New trains, old trains, and splendid scenery”, in RAIL, number 969, page 58:


pooch

en-noun

pooch (countable and uncountable, plural pooches)

There's a pooch in the plastic where it got too hot.

Her left sleeve has more pooch at the shoulder than the right.


pooch

en-verb

pooch (third-person singular simple present pooches, present participle pooching, simple past and past participle pooched)

pooches (present singular third-person)
pooching (participle present)
pooched (participle past)
pooched (past)

Inflate that tire too much and the tube may pooch out of the cut in the sidewall.

There were rustling sounds from the tent and the sides pooched out as if they were trying to stand up.

1969, Maya Angelou, chapter 21, in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, New York: Bantam, published 1971, page 124:

(intransitive) To distend, to swell or extend beyond normal limits; usually used with out.


troop

Attested in English since 1545, from French troupe (back-formation of troupeau, diminutive of Medieval Latin troppus "flock") and Middle French trouppe (from Old French trope (“band, company, troop”)), both of Germanic origin from Frankish *þorp (“assembly, gathering”), from Proto-Germanic *þurpą (“village, land, estate”), from Proto-Indo-European *treb- (“dwelling, settlement”).
Doublet of troupe, and possibly also of thorp, dorp, and trip. Cognate with German Dorf (“village”).

der

A detachment of soldiers or police, especially horse artillery, armour, or state troopers.

Lord Baden-Powell of Gilwell (1920) Aids To Scoutmastership, page 6: “It is the Patrol System that makes the Troop, and all Scouting for that matter, a real co-operative effort.”

(scouting) A chapter of a national girl or boy scouts organization, consisting of one or more patrols of 6 to 8 youngsters each.

A group of meerkat families living together.

(mycology) A group of mushrooms that are close but not close enough to be called a cluster.


troop

en-verb

troop (third-person singular simple present troops, present participle trooping, simple past and past participle trooped)

troops (present singular third-person)
trooping (participle present)
trooped (participle past)
trooped (past)

Then everybody once more knelt, and soon the blessing was pronounced. The choir and the clergy trooped out slowly, […], down the nave to the western door. […] At a seemingly immense distance the surpliced group stopped to say the last prayer.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

To move in numbers; to come or gather in crowds or troops.


chute

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

(horse racing) An extension to a straightway on either the home stretch or the backstretch, to avoid having a turn at the start of the race.


equitation

en-noun

equitation (usually uncountable, plural equitations)

The art, practice or act of horseriding.

езда

the art, practice or act of riding a horse


hircine

en-adj

hircine (comparative more hircine, superlative most hircine)

more hircine (comparative)
most hircine (superlative)

First attested in its present form in 1650–1660: From Middle English hircyne, from Latin hircīnus (“of a goat”, “goat-scented”); equivalent to hircus (“a male goat”) + -īnus (“-ine”). Cognate with French hircin. Compare caprine, haedine.

der

They are monſtrouſly fat, and have a moſt hircine ſmell.

1781, Thomas Pennant, History of Quadrupeds, volume 2, page 528:

1838, Hypericaceæ, entry in The Penny Cyclopaedia, Volume 12, page 411,
Many are objects of ornament, but they are little cultivated because they have frequently a disagreeable hircine odour.

People always smiled a little when they looked at Skøieren, and it was surely true that this dog had a most whimsical appearance, practically lost as he was in the depths of his hircine coat of fur.

1992, Helge Ingstad, Land of Feast and Famine, page 291:

Linnæus formed seven classes of odours of medicines; namely, the aromatic, fragrant, ambrosiac, alliaceous, hircine, fetid, and nauseous.

1820, J. J. Virsey, The Natural History of Medicines, Aliments and Poisons, taken from the Kingdoms of Nature: The London Medical and Physical Journal, volume 44, page 247:

(book word, not comparable) Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of goats.

مَعَزِيّ

of, pertaining to, or characteristic of goats

Possessed of an odour reminiscent of goats.


hircine

(mineralogy) A fossil amorphous resin which, when burnt, gives off a pungent, hircinous aroma.


horseback

en-noun

horseback (countable and uncountable, plural horsebacks)

From Middle English horsebacke, horsebak, horsbak, equivalent to horse + back.

set a beggar on horseback and he'll ride to the Devil

They came on horseback across the plains.

(usually with on, upon, etc.) The back of a horse.

(countable) A ridge of sand, gravel, and boulders.


horseback

He rode horseback into town.


knacker

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

Travelling Community
Travelling Community

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

antoušek

one who separates animals for reuse — see also flayer


nag

From Middle English nagg, nage, nagge (“horse, small riding horse, pony”), cognate with Dutch negge, neg (“horse”), German Nickel (“small horse”). Perhaps related to English neigh.

We used to lure the nags into the back of our truck with oats and sugar, then we'd drive back to town to this warehouse and inject the nags with small quantities of morphine I'd stolen.

2011, James Ellroy, Clandestine, →ISBN, page 245:


nag

en-verb

nag (third-person singular simple present nags, present participle nagging, simple past and past participle nagged)

nags (present singular third-person)
nagging (participle present)
nagged (participle past)
nagged (past)

Probably from a North Germanic source; compare Swedish nagga (“to gnaw, grumble”), Danish nage (“to nag, bother”), Icelandic nagga (“to complain”).

I guess it happens all the time in crime stories where the detective suddenly remembers a bit of conversation that nags him in some way, then for some inexplicable reason, it's just right there in front of you, like a sign pointing 'here!

2010, John David Wells, Diamonds of Affection and Other Stories, →ISBN, page 100:

Sometimes I write because there is a question that nags at me, sometimes because there is a question that nags at other people.

2010, John Goldingay, Key Questions about Christian Faith: Old Testament Answers, →ISBN:

You are sleeping on your side in the bed in your flat, heavily embroiled in a dream which sucks and nags at you and makes no sense; an old primary school teacher is there and a cat you have to take to a supermarket; you are in a canoe.

2013, Ra Page, L.E. Yates, Ann Winter, Parenthesis: A New Generation in Short Fiction:

The notion that he forgot something nagged him the rest of the day.

To bother with persistent thoughts or memories.

But at night, around the uncertain edge of dreams, and when the wind nags, there are few whom an odd sound will not thrill

1999, Tim Parks, Adultery and Other Diversions, →ISBN:

When a breeze comes up and nags the surface, it sparkles like a gemstone.

We are well accustomed as we look out upon Nature at close range to see great creatures harrassed^([sic]) by little creatures. The lot of each big one seems to be in the keeping of some little one, which never quits it, nags it, stings it, wears it out, drives it desperate, makes life somewhat a burden to it and death somewhat a relief.

2014, James Lane Allen, The Last Christmas Tree: An Idyl of Immortality, →ISBN, page 8:

a nagging pain in his left knee

a nagging north wind

To bother or disturb persistently in any way.


nag

'That fellow is a nag.' 'Aye, the worst kind,' agreed Hamish, and then smiled, and at that smile, Miss Gunnery thawed even more.

2011, M.C. Beaton -, Death of a Nag, →ISBN:

When we see Wolfe struggling with many depictions of woman characters throughout the novel (the earlier ones being nags and white trash), we greatly admire the development of this living tribute to Aline Bernstein, a woman whom he ends up despising in his later life.

2014, Louise Hathaway, Nags, Sluts, and A Deep-Breasted Soulmate from the Shining City, →ISBN:

But, pchA has to produce more than awareness, always-on alerts/nags, or edu-tainment.

2015 -, Dwight McNeill, Using Person-Centered Health Analytics to Live Longer, →ISBN:

All that while there was a little nag going on at the back of his mind, which he strove to disregard. But it insisted on attention, and to get rid of it he put down his palette abruptly and got out his mustard-tin cash-box and counted his money.

1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 152:

During my lengthy aerobic strolls (which more or less served as a tool of meditation), that thought about “college” became a persistent nag.

2009, James Swift, How I Survived Three Years at a Two-Year Community College, →ISBN:

There are two ways to get rid of our nags. We can either use Ninja decision-making to turn them quickly into actions, stored in our second brain to be revisited when we have some time. Or we can simply just capture and collect the nag, knowing that our systems will ensure we return to it later.

2014, Graham Allcott, How to be a Productivity Ninja, →ISBN:

That feeling turned into a very persistent nag.

2016, Sarah Lowndes, The DIY Movement in Art, Music and Publishing, →ISBN:

A persistent, bothersome thought or worry.


nanny

Constantijn Huygens Jr.
Nanny (disambiguation)

(1795) It has often been assumed that the English term was originally a widespread child's word for "female adult other than mother" (compare Greek νάννα (nánna, “aunt”), nanna). See also Welsh nain (“grandmother”).
On the other hand, according to recent research of the Dutch historical linguists Hans Beelen and Nicoline van der Sijs (published in Onze Taal, September 2018), on which see also etymologiebank.nl, in Dutch), the term nanny (and the British colloquial nan for "grandmother") may actually be eponymous, viz. being originally an affective form (i.e. a hypocoristic) of the popular female name Anne. The Dutch statesman and scientist Constantijn Huygens Jr. made the following observation during one of his many sojourns in England (noted in his Journaal, dated 13 December 1692): "Yesterday I received 10lb of chocolate again, from niece Becker, and she had Nanny, her maid, bringing me the money that she had owed me" (Gisteren kreegh 10 ℔ choccolate wederom van nicht Becker, en had Nanny, haer meidt, geweest om mij 't geldt, dat van haer hebben most, te brengen). Beelen and van der Sijs therefore assumed that "since many female domestic servants were named "Nan" or "Nanny", the name became a sobriquet for the profession of "maid, childminder" in the 18ᵗʰ century". ("Omdat veel vrouwelijke huisbedienden in het Engels de voornaam Nan of Nanny hadden, verschoof de betekenis in de achttiende eeuw naar die van een beroepsaanduiding: ‘meid, kindermeisje’")

onomatopoeic

child's word

Breeding is a consuming goal, and the ascendance of the sex drive is nearly as apparent in the behavior of a mountain goat billy. So given over is he to following and defending a succession of nannies as he searches for one in heat (estrus), he loses interest in food altogether; […]

1983, Douglas H. Chadwick, A Beast the Color of Winter: The Mountain Goat Observed, Bison Books, published 2002, →ISBN, page 159:

Nannies and billies look very similar, both having dangerously sharp, curved black horns.

2005, Richard Cannings, The Rockies: A Natural History, Greystone Books, published 2005, →ISBN, page 103:

A farmer friend keeps a video camera in the barn so she can turn on her goat cam and observe her animals at any time of the day or night. A baby monitor picks up the sounds of a nanny when she goes into labor—if the nanny is one who changes the usual pitch of her voice or nervously bleats during kidding.

2013, Janet Hurst, The Whole Goat Handbook: Recipes, Cheese, Soap, Crafts & More, Voyageur Press, published 2013, →ISBN, page 28:


neat

en-adj

neat (comparative neater, superlative neatest)

neater (comparative)
neatest (superlative)

on the rocks

antonym(s) of “undiluted liquor or cocktail”

From Middle English nete, net, nette, from Anglo-Norman neit (“good, desirable, clean”), a variant of Old French net, nette (“clean, clear, pure”), from Latin nitidus (“gleaming”), derived from nitēre (“to shine”). Doublet of net and nitid. Cognate with German nett (“nice, kind”).

der

My room is neat because I tidied it this morning.  She has very neat hair.

Then his sallow face brightened, for the hall had been carefully furnished, and was very clean. ¶ There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.

1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter II, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], →OCLC, page 0091:

A very neat old woman, still in her good outdoor coat and best beehive hat, was sitting at a polished mahogany table on whose surface there were several scored scratches so deep that a triangular piece of the veneer had come cleanly away,[…].

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

Clean, tidy; free from dirt or impurities.


neat

artificial intelligence
artificial intelligence

(informal) An artificial intelligence researcher who believes that solutions should be elegant, clear and provably correct. Compare scruffy.


neat

From Middle English nete, neat, from Old English nēat (“animal, beast, ox, cow, cattle”), from Proto-West Germanic *naut, from Proto-Germanic *nautą (“foredeal, profit, property, livestock”), from Proto-Indo-European *newd- (“to acquire, make use of”). Cognate with Dutch noot (“cow, cattle”, in compounds), dialectal German Noß (“livestock”), Alemannic German Nooss (“young sheep or goat”), Swedish nöt (“cattle”), Icelandic naut (“cattle, bull”) and Faroese neyt (“cattle”). More at note.

cog

From thence into the open fields he fled, / Whereas the Heardes were keeping of their neat / And shepheards singing to their flockes, that fed,

1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 467:

And yet the steer, the heifer, and the calf / Are all call’d neat.

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

There on a Hillock thou mayſt ſing / Unto a handſome Shepardling; / Or to a Girle (that keeps the Neat) / VVith breath more ſvveet then Violet.

1648, Robert Herrick, “To his Muse”, in Hesperides: Or, The Works both Humane & Divine […], London: […] John Williams, and Francis Eglesfield, and are to be sold by Tho[mas] Hunt, […], →OCLC, page 2:


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

Attinto, [...] Alſo when a horſe is tainted or hurt, or ouerreacheth one foote with another, and withal doth hurt a ſinew.

1598, John Florio, “Attinto”, in A Worlde of Words, or Most Copious, and Exact Dictionarie in Italian and English, […], London: […] Arnold Hatfield for Edw[ard] Blount, →OCLC, page 32, column 3:

Defective or bad form will predispose a horse to overreach. Bad shoeing will also be liable to cause the hind-foot to catch the forward one.

1864, John Nicholson Navin, “Vices of the Horse”, in Navin’s Veterinary Practice: Or Explanatory Horse Doctor. […], Indianapolis, Ind.: Published for the author; stereotyped at the Franklin Type Foundry, […], →OCLC, division I, page 287:

(transitive, intransitive, reflexive, equestrianism) Of a horse: to strike the heel of a forefoot with the toe of a hindfoot.


overreach

en-noun

overreach (countable and uncountable, plural overreaches)

/ˈəʊvə(ˌ)ɹiːt͡ʃ/

/ˈoʊvə(ɹ)ˌɹit͡ʃ/

The hunter's [i.e., hunting horse's] legs should be washed with warm water, carefully examined for thorns, overreaches, &c., and the legs should be rubbed dry, and well hand rubbed, by which means a free circulation of the blood will be promoted.

1833 April, “Teaching the Horse to Leap”, in T. B. Johnson, editor, The Sportsman’s Cabinet, and Town and Country Magazine, volume I, number 6, London: Published by Sherwood, Gilbert, & Piper, […], →OCLC, page 424:

Overreach.—This unpleasant noise, known also by the terms ‘clicking’, ‘overreach’, &c., arises from the toe of the hind foot knocking against the shoe of the fore foot.

1833 October, “Art. LXVI.—The Vices, and Disagreeable or Dangerous Habits of the Horse. [From the Library of Useful Knowledge.]”, in John D. Legare, editor, The Southern Agriculturist, and Register of Rural Affairs; […], volume VI, number 10, Charleston, S.C.: Printed and published for the editor, by A. E. Miller, […], →OCLC, part II (Selections), page 547:

(equestrianism) Of a horse: an act of striking the heel of a forefoot with the toe of a hindfoot; an injury caused by this action.


philander

From the given name Philander, used as a name for flirtatious characters in several 18th century stories, from Ancient Greek Φίλανδρος (Phílandros), name of the mythological son of the nymph Acacallis and the god Apollo. Semantically disconnected from the adjective φίλανδρος (phílandros, “loving one’s husband; excessively attracted to males, slutty, boy crazy”).

A South American opossum, bare-tailed woolly opossum, of species Caluromys philander (syn. Didelphis philander).


route

→ Japanese: ルート

From Middle English route, from Old French route, from Latin [rupta] via (literally “a path made by force”). Compare Modern French route.

der

(horse racing) A race longer than one mile.


sett

A variant of set to distinguish various technical senses.

But it is quite sad to reflect that some 4,500 badger setts were already wiped out using poisoned gas between 1975 and 1982. When you consider that an average sett can contain up to 15 animals, parents and cubs, it is easy to imagine the scale of suffering involved.

2006, David Kavanagh, A Country Pillow Book, page 69:

The system of tunnels that is the home of a badger.

(weaving) The number of warp ends per inch in the cloth.

(weaving, England) The number of reeds or splits per inch – one half the number of ends per inch.

Very durable grey granite has been quarried near Aberdeen for more than 300 years, and blocked and dressed paving "setts," kerb and building stones, and monumental and other ornamental work of granite have long been exported from the district to all parts of the world.

1911, “Aberdeen”, in Hugh Chisholm, editor, The Encyclopædia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and General Information, 11th edition, volume I, Cambridge, Mass., New York, N.Y.: At the University Press, →OCLC, page 49:

Three horses trotted abreast, with the clatter of hoofs on the granite setts, and the yellow, uproarious machine jolted violently behind them, […]

1912, Joseph Conrad, chapter 7, in A Personal Record, New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Bros. Publishers, →OCLC:

The old market-square was not very large, a mere bare patch of granite setts, usually with a few fruit-stalls under a wall.

1920, D[avid] H[erbert Richards] Lawrence, chapter 26, in Women in Love, New York, N.Y.: Privately printed for subscribers only, →OCLC:

This path, which consists of some 60,000 setts laid directly into the earth, is perhaps the single most noteworthy 'feature' of the design, lending the whole conception a feeling of unity and coherence, enhancing the sense that one has been absorbed into both the place and the journey through it.

2013 November 16, Tim Richardson, “The JFK memorial at Runnymede is fit to stand forever: Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe's wonderful tribute to JFK at Runnymede hinges on the power of landscape [print edition: A memorial to JFK fit to stand forever]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Gardening), archived from the original on 2015-07-03, page G8:

A small, square-cut piece of quarried stone used for paving and edging.


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:


sprite

→ Japanese: スプライト (supuraito)

→ Russian: спрайт (sprajt)

From Middle English sprite, spryt, spreyte, from Old French esprit (“spirit”), from Latin spiritus. Doublet of spirit, spiritus, spirytus, spright, and esprit.
(computer graphics): First used by Danny Hillis at Texas Instruments in the late 1970s.
(meteorology): An acronym for Stratospheric Perturbations Resulting from Intense Thunderstorm Electrification.

doublet

(obsolete) Alternative form of spright (“frame of mind, disposition”)


stag

en-noun

stag (countable and uncountable, plural stags)

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.

a stag dance; a stag party; a stag bar

(countable, usually attributive) An unmarried man; a bachelor; a man not accompanying a woman at a social event.

The stag will be held in the hotel's ballroom.

(countable) A social event for men held in honor of a groom on the eve of his wedding, attended by male friends of the groom; sometimes a fundraiser.


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)

(transitive) To watch; to dog, or keep track of.


marl

(Australia) A species of bandicoot, Perameles myosurus, of southern Western Australia.


tabby

en-adj

tabby (comparative tabbier, superlative tabbiest)

tabbier (comparative)
tabbiest (superlative)

Mid 17th century French tabis, from Arabic عَتَّابِيّ (ʕattābiyy), ultimately from Arabic الْعَتَّابِيَّة (al-ʕattābiyya), a quarter of Baghdad (named for a Prince عَتَّاب (ʕattāb)) which is associated with the manufacture of a certain type of waved silk. See also taffeta, another type of silk whose name derives from the Persian تافته (tâfta, “woven cloth”) and shares a similar etymological origin.

uder

الْعَتَّابِيَّة

a tabby cat


unsound

en-adj

unsound (comparative more unsound or unsounder, superlative most unsound or unsoundest)

more unsound (comparative)
unsounder (comparative)
most unsound (superlative)
unsoundest (superlative)

... A horse labouring under a temporary injury, capable of being speedily cured, is not unsound within the meaning of a warranty of soundness ...

1822, Sir John Comyns, Anthony Hammond, A Digest of the Laws of England:

(especially of equestrianism) Infirm, diseased.


veal

en-noun

veal (countable and uncountable, plural veals)

From Middle English veel, from Anglo-Norman veel, from Latin vitellus, diminutive of vitulus (“calf”). Doublet of vitellus.

The flesh of a calf (i.e. a young bovine) used for food.


ringer

Some senses may derive from ring the changes (“run through variations; enliven; pass counterfeit money; trick a shopkeeper into giving too much change”).

(horse racing) A horse fraudulently entered in a race using the name of another horse.


macaco

From French mococo, probably ultimately from Malagasy maka, maki (“lemur”).
Wikispecies

(obsolete) Any of several species of lemur, including the white-headed lemur, ruffed lemur, and ring-tailed lemur.


cottontail

A rabbit of any of various species in genus Sylvilagus.


bunny

Surfers from Durban grew up on bunnies. You get the curry in the bread with the removed square chunk, used to dunk back in the curry.

2008, Steve Pike, Surfing South Africa, page 258:

(South Africa) Bunny chow; a snack of bread filled with curry.


bunny rabbit

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

(childish or endearing) A bunny; a rabbit.


pussy

pussy (countable and uncountable, plural pussies)

Maori: poti, puihi


ichneumon

From Latin ichneumōn, from Ancient Greek ἰχνεύμων (ikhneúmōn, “tracker”), from ἴχνος (íkhnos, “track, footstep”).

der

when the Ichneumon is to grapple with the Crocodile, he walloweth his body in the mire, then lets the same drie and harden upon him[…].

1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

Herpestes ichneumon
Herpestes ichneumon#Translingual

An Egyptian mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon), found in Africa and southern Europe.

Ada's unique Lorelei Underwing had died, paralyzed by some ichneumon that had not been deceived by those clever prominences and fungoid smudges.

1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin, published 2011, page 43:

(mythology) a legendary animal, which kills crocodiles and dragons


mastodon

First attested 1813, from translingual Mastodon (1806), coined by French naturalist Georges Cuvier, from masto- (“breast”) + -odon (“tooth”), due to the mammilloid (“nipple-shaped”) projections on the crowns of the extinct mammal's molars.

coin

When, exactly, Europeans first stumbled upon the bones of an American mastodon is unclear. An isolated molar unearthed in a field in upstate New York was sent off to London in 1705; it was labeled the “tooth of a Giant”.

2014, Elizabeth Kolbert, chapter 2, in The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, Henry Holt and Company:

Extinct elephant-like mammal of the genus †Mammut that flourished worldwide from Miocene through Pleistocene times; differs from elephants and mammoths in the form of the molar teeth.

mastodont

extinct elephant-like mammal of the genus Mammut


zebu

From French zébu, from Tibetan (perhaps མཛོ་པོ (mdzo po, “male bull–yak hybrid”), whence also zobo).

A domesticated ox native to Asia and Africa, having a large fleshy hump on its back and a dewlap (Bos primigenius indicus).


caribou

Borrowed from Canadian French caribou, from Mi'kmaq qalipu (“caribou”) (compare qalipi (“to shovel snow”)), from Proto-Algonquian *maka·lipowa (“caribou; it shovels snow”).

der

Rangifer tarandus
Rangifer tarandus#Translingual

Any of several North American subspecies of the reindeer, Rangifer tarandus.


black sheep

He always was the black sheep in the family, as an artist among doctors and lawyers.

(idiomatic) A nonconformist; an unusual or unconventional person, who may be rejected or disdained by others for this reason.

бе́лая воро́на f (bélaja voróna, literally “white crow”)


porky

en-adj

porky (comparative porkier, superlative porkiest)

porkier (comparative)
porkiest (superlative)

In front of Lister a small red-haired man, with a porky roll of flesh above his towel-top, was examining a line of girls.

1989, Grant Naylor, Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers:


babbler

From Middle English babeler, babler, equivalent to babble + -er.

Any of several passerine birds, of the families Timaliidae and Paradoxornithidae (both found in Asia, Africa) and Pomatostomidae (found in Australia).


babiroussa

From French babiroussa, from Malay babi rusa (“babiroussa, deer hog”).

der

Any large hoglike quadruped, of the genus Babyrousa, found in the East Indies, sometimes domesticated, with its upper canine teeth or tusks large and recurved.


mammoth

desc

→ Arabic: مَامُوث (māmūṯ)

→ Arabic: مَامُوث (māmūṯ)

→ Hebrew: מָמוּתָה (mamúta)

→ Hindi: मैमथ (maimath)

→ Japanese: マンモス (manmosu)

→ Khmer: ម៉ាមម៉ូត (maammout)

→ Korean: 매머드 (maemeodeu)

→ Thai: แมมมอธ (mɛm-mɔ́ɔt)

Cheshire Mammoth Cheese
Thomas Jefferson

From obsolete Russian ма́мант (mámant), modern ма́монт (mámont), probably from a Uralic language, such as Proto-Mansi *mē̮ŋ-ońt (“earth-horn”). Possibly influenced by behemoth.
The current Mansi word could mean "earth stag" ма̄хар (māhar), from Northern Mansi ма̄ (mā, “earth”) and ха̄р (hār, “stag”). Adjectival use was popularized in the early 1800s by references to the Cheshire Mammoth Cheese presented to American paleontologist and president Thomas Jefferson.

Maimanto, as they say a sea elephant which is never seene, but accordinge to the Samuites he workes himselfe under grownde and so they finde his teeth or homes or bones in Pechore and Nova Zemla of which they […]

1618, Richard James, “The Implications of James's Maimanto”, in Robert Auty, I. P. Foote, editors, Oxford Slavonic Papers. New Series., volume 9, Clarendon Press, published 1976, Dictionariolum Russico-Anglicum, page 103:

The Mammotovoy, which is dug out of the Earth in Siberia.

1698, Heinrich Wilhelm Ludolf, edited by Sir James Augustus Henry Murray, Sir William Alexander Craigie, and Charles Talbut Onions, A New English dictionary on historical principles: founded mainly on the materials collected by the Philological Society., volume 6, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published 1908, A. Brand's Emb. Muscovy into China, page 98:

The old Siberian Russians affirm that the Mammuth is very like the Elephant.

1706, Evert Ysbrants Ides, “An Account of Elephants Teeth and Bones, found under Ground”, in The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, from Their Commencement in 1665 to the Year 1800., volume 7, London: C. and R. Baldwin, published 1809, Three Years Travels from Moscow Over-land to China: Thro' Great Ustiga, Siriania, Permia, Sibiria, Daour, Great Tartary, Etc. to Peking ; Containing an Exact and Particular Description of the Extent and Limits of Those Countries, and the Customs of the Barbarous Inhabitants; with Reference to Their Religion, Government, Marriages, Daily Imployments, Habits, Habitations, Diet Death, Funerals etc. to which is Annex'd an Accurat Description of China, Done Originally by a Chinese Author., page 243:

Any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus, of large, usually hairy, elephant-like mammals with long curved tusks and an inclined back, which became extinct with the last retreat of ice age glaciers during the late Pleistocene period, and are known from fossils, frozen carcasses, and Paleolithic cave paintings found in North America and Eurasia.


addax

From French addax, from Arabic أبو عدس (ʔabū ʕadas, literally “father of the lentil”).

der

In her hand, the haunch of an addax, still hissing from the spit.

1982, TC Boyle, Water Music, Penguin 2006, page 53:

A large African antelope (Addax nasomaculatus) with long, corkscrewing horns which lives in the desert.


seeing-eye dog

Genericization of a trademark. From the name of the charity The Seeing Eye, which trains guide dogs.

(US, informal) A guide dog for people who suffer from impaired vision.


watchdog

/ˈwɑːt͡ʃˌdɑːɡ/

/ˈwɒt͡ʃˌdɒɡ/

(electronics, computing) Ellipsis of watchdog timer.


matriarch

/ˈmeɪtɹɪˌɑːk/

Of Latin origin, via or reinforced by Old French matriarche, from Latin māter (“mother”) + -archa, -arches, from Ancient Greek -άρχης (-árkhēs), from ἀρχός (arkhós, “chief”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ergʰ- (“to begin, rule, command”). By surface analysis, matri- + -arch.

matriarca

a female leader of a family, a tribe or an ethnic or religious group

A female leader of a family, a tribe or an ethnic or religious group.

The dominant female in a family group of elephants


zobo

From Tibetan མཛོ་པོ (mdzo po, “male bull–yak hybrid”); see zebu for more.

A kind of Asian cattle, supposed to be a hybrid between the zebu and yak.


ruminant

en-adj

ruminant (comparative more ruminant, superlative most ruminant)

more ruminant (comparative)
most ruminant (superlative)

From Latin rūmināns, rūminantem, present participle of rūminārī (“to chew the cud, ruminate”), from rūmen (“throat, gullet, rumen (first stomach of a ruminant)”).

G. K. Chesterton
“I wonder what a paradox is,” remarked the priest in a ruminant manner.


ruminant

Flesh behind steel and glass is unprotected
From enemies that whisper to the blood;
The scratch forgotten is the scratch infected;
The ruminant, reason, chews a poisoned cud.

1941, Theodore Roethke, “Prognosis”, in Open House; republished in The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke, 1975, →ISBN, page 5:

An artiodactyl ungulate mammal which chews cud, such as a cow or deer.


platypus

head

platypus (plural platypuses or platypus or (common, hypercorrect) platypi or (rare) platypodes)

platypuses (plural)
platypus (plural)
platypi (common hypercorrect plural)
platypodes (plural rare)

From New Latin Platypus (originally a genus name already in use for a type of beetle), from Ancient Greek πλατύπους (platúpous, “flat-footed”), from πλατύς (platús, “flat”) + πούς (poús, “foot”). Piecewise doublet of flatfoot.

der

Victoria's Healesville Sanctuary is celebrating the births of two baby platypuses, in a major milestone.

2008 March 2, “Captive platypus twins make history”, in ABC News:

Ornithorhynchus anatinus
Ornithorhynchus anatinus#Translingual

A semi-aquatic, egg-laying monotreme mammal with a bill resembling that of a duck, that has a mole-like body, a tail resembling that of a beaver, a waterproof pelt, and flat webbed feet – males have poisonous spurs on the inside of the back legs; Ornithorhynchus anatinus.


cuscus

From New Latin Cuscus, former genus name, ultimately (probably via French and Dutch koeskoes) from a local word for the marsupials in a language of the Moluccas.

Any of various arboreal marsupials of New Guinea and northern Australia.


wild cat

From Middle English wyld cat, wylde cat (in the plural as wild cattes, wylde catis, wyle cattes), equivalent to wild + cat.

An undomesticated felid, as tigers or lions.

Felis silvestris
Felis silvestris#Translingual

(uncommon) Alternative form of wildcat, (UK) the Old World wildcats (Felis silvestris) or (US) the bobcat (Lynx rufus) and other New World lynxes.


feline

Substantive use of the adjective feline, from Latin fēlīnus.

(formal) Any member of Felinae, one of the two extant subdivisions of Felidae.


ailurophilia

/ˌaɪljʊəɹəˈfɪlɪ.ə/

/aɪˌlʊɹəˈfɪli.ə/

/eɪˌlʊɹəˈfɪli.ə/

From ailuro- (“cat”) + -philia (“love”), from Ancient Greek αἴλουρος (aílouros, “cat”) + φίλος (phílos, “dear, beloved”).

A fondness or love for cats or other felines.


dood

Back-formation from dudhwallah, doodwallah (“milk-man”, literally “milk-ward”), reinterpreting the wallah of milk as a wallah of camels by dint of misremembrance of the Bengali word for “camel” which is উট (uṭ).

The Chief was lying down beside my dooly, aking a nap while his tent was being prepared, with his head resting on his hand, for he refused to accept the loan of my pillow, when a camel-driver came by, leading a huge dood so carelessly as to bring him right across Sir Colin.

1860, William Howard Russell, My Diary in India, in the Year 1858–9, volume 2, London: Routledge, Warne and Routledge, page 25:

“I have never seen it,” he replied, “but I have seen them attack a dood.”
“What is a dood?”
“A camel; one of a troop fording the river.”

1892, George Manville Fenn, Gil the Gummer, Or, The Youngest Officer in the East, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, page 42:


dood

"Talk about yer doods," said a Texas stockman, on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy train last night, "but a leetle the doodest dood I ever seen wuz a feller that come down from Boston into our kentry a year ago las' September."

1884 August, “The Boston Dude”, in Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineer's Monthly Journal, volume 18, number 8:

An' now Oi suppose if Oi don't get thim rolls riddy fer der brikfus' av that small dood that comes ter see Alice, Oi'll niver hear der end av it. Wot do Oi kee-ur? If he gives me a quarter whin he goes, it's more'n he'll do, fer all he's a dood an' all.

1888 November 17, “The Cook's Soliloquy”, in Time, volume 8, number 223, page 7:

On the dood ranch the dweller from the city can renew his almost forgotten ambition to be one with the rider of the Western plains --the cowpuncher, the Indian fighter, the pony express rider, the buffalo hunter, the scout.


dood

en-verb

dood (third-person singular simple present doods, present participle dooding, simple past and past participle dooded)

doods (present singular third-person)
dooding (participle present)
dooded (participle past)
dooded (past)


gorilla

→ Japanese: ゴリラ (gorira)

→ Korean: 고릴라 (gorilla)

→ Thai: กอริลลา (gɔɔ-rin-lâa)

From Ancient Greek Γόριλλαι (Górillai, “Gorillai (a tribe of hairy women)”), described by Hanno the Navigator, a Carthaginian navigator and possible visitor to the area that later became Sierra Leone; the Greek word is likely from Punic, and ultimately from an African language.

der

In three of these twenty gorillæ 14 ribs are present, and the additional rib in each of them is below. […] The conclusion that the usual place of commencement of the dorsal type in the gorilla is between the 12th and 13th dorsal vertebræ is founded on notes taken of this character in 13 of these gorillæ.

1893, Journal of Anatomy and Physiology, volume 27, pages 133, 135:

The largest of the apes, belonging to the genus Gorilla, native to the forests of central Africa and known for their trait of knuckle-walking.


hood

From Middle English hood, hod, from Old English hōd, from Proto-Germanic *hōdaz (cognate with Saterland Frisian Houd, West Frisian/Dutch hoed, German Low German Hood, German Hut). Cognate with Proto-Iranian *xawdaH (“hat”) (compare Avestan 𐬑𐬂𐬛𐬀 (xåda), Old Persian 𐎧𐎢𐎭 (x-u-d /xaudā/)), from Proto-Indo-European *kadʰ- (“to cover”). More at hat.

kapuç

covering for the head attached to a larger garment such as a jacket or cloak

A covering for the head, usually attached to a larger garment such as a jacket or cloak.

(equestrianism) A head and neck covering placed on horses to protect against insects and sunlight, to slow coat growth and for warmth.


wallaby

→ Catalan: ualabi

→ Dutch: wallaby

→ Finnish: vallabi

→ French: wallaby

→ German: Wallaby

→ Irish: valbaí

→ Italian: wallaby

→ Japanese: ワラビー (warabī)

→ Maori: warapī

→ New Latin: Wallabia

→ Polish: walabia

→ Portuguese: wallaby

→ Russian: валлаби (vallabi)

→ Spanish: ualabí

Borrowed from Dharug wollabi (“rock-wallaby”).

bor+

Any of several species of marsupial; usually smaller and stockier than kangaroos.


when the cat's away the mice will play

when the cat’s away the mice will play (canonical)

In the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances.

as die kat weg is, is die muis baas

in the absence of a controlling entity, subordinates will take advantage of circumstances

når katten er ude, spiller musene på bordet

als de kat van huis is, dansen de muizen op tafel

kun kissa on poissa, hiiret hyppivät pöydällä

ist die Katze aus dem Haus, tanzen die Mäuse auf dem Tisch

όταν λείπει η γάτα χορεύουν τα ποντίκια

ótan leípei i gáta chorévoun ta pontíkia

ha nincs otthon a macska, cincognak az egerek

þegar kötturinn er frá fara mýsnar á stjá

nuair a bhíonn an cat amuigh, bíonn na lucha ag rince

鼬無き間の貂誇り

いたちなきまのてんほこり

고양이가 없으면 쥐가 살판이 난다

goyang'iga eopseumyeon jwiga salpani nanda

quō nōn versantur cattī mures dominantur

wann d’Kaz fort ass, sinn d’Mais Meeschter

when the cat’s away, the mice are dancing on the table

når katten er borte, danser musene på bordet

quando o gato sai, os ratos fazem a festa

când pisica nu-i acasă, joacă șoarecii pe masă

tha fios aig an luch nach eil an cat a-staigh

где мачке у кући нема ту мишеви коло воде

gde mačke u kući nema tu miševi kolo vode

gaž jo kócor z domu, ga maju myšy swóju wólu

cuando el gato no está, bailan los ratones

cuando el gato no está los ratones están de fiesta

cuando el gato no está, los ratones bailan

när katten är borta, dansar råttorna på bordet

kapag wala ang pusa, naglalaro ang mga daga

kapag wala ang pusa ay pista ng mga daga

rautu mettanaitē gurraṁ mūḍu kāḷḷa mīda parigettutundi

రౌతు మెత్తనైతే గుర్రం మూడు కాళ్ళ మీద పరిగెత్తుతుంది

kedi olmayan yerde meydan farelere kalır


polar bear

Coined by Thomas Pennant in A Synopsis of Quadrupeds (1771).

Ursus maritimus
Ursus maritimus#Translingual

A hypercarnivorous species of bear, Ursus maritimus, whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle.


killer whale

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

Calque or mistranslation of Spanish asesina-ballenas (“whale killer”), referring to their tendency to hunt whales.

bor

Of this whale, little is known to the Nantucketer, and nothing at all to the professed naturalist. From what I have seen of him at a distance, I should say that he was about the bigness of a grampus. He is very savage - a sort of Feegee fish. He sometimes takes the great Folio whales by the lip and hangs there like a leech until the mighty brute is worried to death. The killer is never hunted. I have never heard what sort of oil he has. Exception might be taken to the name of this whale, on the grounds of its indistinctness. For we are all killers on land and on sea; Bonaparts and sharks included.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

A sea mammal related to dolphins and porpoises (Orcinus orca).


pony

→ Belarusian: по́ні (póni)

→ Danish: pony

→ Dutch: pony
→ Indonesian: poni

→ Finnish: poni

→ French: poney
→ Romanian: ponei

→ Georgian: პონი (ṗoni)

→ German: Pony
→ Estonian: poni

→ Hungarian: póni

→ Irish: pónaí

→ Italian: pony

→ Japanese: ポニー (ponī)

→ Lithuanian: ponis

→ Maltese: poni

→ Norwegian: ponni

desc

→ Portuguese: pónei, pônei (Brazil), poney

→ Russian: пони (poni)

→ Spanish: poni

→ Swedish: ponny

→ Ukrainian: по́ні (póni)

1659 from Scots powny, apparently from Middle French poulenet (“little foal”), ultimately from Late Latin pullanus (“young of an animal”), from pullus (cognate to English foal). Sense “small serving of alcohol” from 19th century, both for small sizes generally and for a quarter pint specifically, from the small size.

uder

How many ponies are under the hood?

He suggested a Rose Ballet in which he would use the G. V. Follies chorus girls, chiefly the ponies and mediums.

1941, Thoda Cocroft, Great Names and how They are Made, page 140:

(slang, derogatory, video games) Ellipsis of Sony pony.


ounce

→ Tokelauan: aunehe

From Middle English ounce, unce, from Middle French once, from Latin uncia (“Roman ounce, various similar units”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *óynos (“one”). Doublet of a, one, inch, uncia, onça, onza, oka, ouguiya, and awqiyyah.

doublet

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

an ounce of prevention is better than an ounce of cure

an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure

an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

An avoirdupois ounce, weighing ¹⁄₁₆ of an avoirdupois pound, or 28.349523125 grams.

A troy ounce, weighing ¹⁄₁₂ of a troy pound, or 480 grains, or 31.1034768 grams.

A US fluid ounce, with a volume of ¹⁄₁₆ of a US pint, 1.804688 cubic inches or 29.5735295625 millilitres.

A British imperial fluid ounce, with a volume of ¹⁄₂₀ of an imperial pint, 1.733871 cubic inches or 28.4130625 millilitres.

He didn't feel even an ounce of regret for his actions.

(figurative) Any small amount, a little bit.


ounce

From Middle French once, from Old French lonce (“lynx”), by false division (the l was thought to be the article), from Italian lonza, ultimately from Ancient Greek λύγξ (lúnx, “lynx”). Doublet of onza and lynx.

Panthera uncia
Panthera uncia#Translingual

Synonym of snow leopard, Panthera uncia.


equestrian

en-adj

equestrian (comparative more equestrian, superlative most equestrian)

more equestrian (comparative)
most equestrian (superlative)

Ultimately from Latin equester (“of or pertaining to equestrians/cavalry”) + -ianus (“-ian, related to”, adjective marker), from equus (“horse”).

der

They were an equestrian people.

After his death an equestrian statue was erected.

The society of colonial Spanish-America was one of the most equestrian in all history, and, to a very great extent, its existence depended on the adaptability of the Old World horse to New World conditions.

1973, Alfred W. Crosby, The Columbian Exchange, Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, →ISBN, page 82:

Of horseback riding or horseback riders.

(historical) Of or relating to the ancient Roman class of equites.


equestrian

конник

an equestrian person; one who rides on horseback


cobbler

Fished for cobblers in the evening. The warbler sings its night-song.

1831 November 10, George Fletcher Moore, “The Journey”, in Martin Doyle, editor, Extracts from the Letters and Journals of George Fletcher Moore, Esq. […], London: Orr and Smith, […]; Dublin: W. Curry, Jun. & Co. […], published 1834, →OCLC, page 122:

The South Australian catfish (Cnidoglanis macrocephalus), a species of catfish native to Australia which has dorsal and pectoral fins bearing sharp, venomous spines.

The soldier or South Australian cobbler (Gymnapistes marmoratus), a brown fish native to southern Australian estuaries which is not closely related to Cnidoglanis macrocephalus, but also has venemous spines on its dorsal and pectoral fins.

Also river cobbler: basa (Pangasius bocourti), an edible species of shark catfish native to the Chao Phraya and Mekong river basins in Southeast Asia.

(US) Condica sutor, an owlet moth native to North America.


strapper

From strap + -er, principally strap + -er (agent noun suffix). The sense referring to a poorly producing milk cow (from strap + -er) came from a dialectal sense of the verb strap as a troponym of milk: not even the most skilful milking action could coax enough milk from the udder.

(electronics) A wire that joins two light switches so that a light can be turned off or on from either switch.


Pseudo-acronym of canine, by phonetic similarity of the letter and number names with the two syllables of canine.

Police working dogs (K9s) often have extremely close bonds with their handlers.

2003, Nicholas H. Dodman, If Only They Could Speak: Stories About Pets and Their People, page 248:

Originally a K9 dog for the police department, Captain was asked to resign for unknown reasons.

2003, Trevor J. Orsinger, The Firefighter's Best Friend: Lives and Legends of Chicago Firehouse Dogs, page 90:

Apollo, part of the New York Police Department K9 Search and Rescue team was on the scene of the disaster just 15 minutes after the disaster

2005, Priya Kapoor, Nandita Jaishankar, VIPs: Very Important Pets, page 71:

The Saitama Prefectural Police Department, for example, had no K9 units of its own, and relied on contract dogs exclusively.

2006, Asa Nonami, Juliet Winters Carpenter, The Hunter: A Detective Takako Otomichi Mystery, page 134:


trotter

From Middle English trottere, equivalent to trot + -er.

The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 58:

In harness racing, a horse with a gait in which the front and back legs on opposite sides take a step together alternating with the other set of opposite legs; as opposed to a pacer.


tusk

From Middle English tusk (also tux, tusch), from Old English tūx, tūsc (“canine tooth, tusk, molar”), from Proto-West Germanic *tų̄sk, *tunsk, from Proto-Germanic *tunþskaz (“canine tooth”), extended form of *tanþs (“tooth”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃dónts (“tooth”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Tusk (“tooth”), West Frisian tosk (“tooth”), Icelandic toskur (“a tusk, tooth”) (whence the Old Norse and Icelandic Ratatoskr and Ratatoskur respectively), Gothic 𐍄𐌿𐌽𐌸𐌿𐍃 (tunþus, “tooth”) and *𐍄𐌿𐌽𐌳𐌹 (*tundi, “thorn, tooth”). Doublet of tush. More at tooth.


walrus

en-noun

walrus (plural walruses or walrus or walrusses or (both nonstandard, proscribed, uncommon and often humorous) walri or walrii)

walruses (plural)
walrus (plural)
walrusses (plural)
walri (humorous nonstandard often plural proscribed uncommon)
walrii (humorous nonstandard often plural proscribed uncommon)

→ Punjabi:

Gurmukhi script: ਵਾਲਰਸ (vālras)

Shahmukhi script: والرس (vālras)

→ Welsh: walrws

Probably borrowed from Dutch walrus, a compound of wal (“whale”) and ros (“horse”). Displaced native Old English horshwæl (literally “horse-whale”). Compare similar constructions in Danish hvalros, Old Norse hrosshvalr, and German Walross.

cog

Of all the Phocine family none present so terrible and grotesque an appearance as the gigantic Walrus, also known as the morse and sea-horse.

1887, James W. Buel, Sea and Land, page 251:

Odobenus rosmarus
Odobenus rosmarus#Translingual

A large Arctic marine mammal related to seals and having long tusks, tough, wrinkled skin, and four flippers, Odobenus rosmarus.

You old walrus, don't you think it is time for you to lop your whiskers off?

2008, James E. Martin, The Chartreuse Mongoose, page 145:

One, a rumpled, whiskered walrus of a man, held a lantern near Mother's face.

(informal, sometimes derogatory) A man with a walrus moustache.


walrus

en-verb

walrus (third-person singular simple present walruses or walrusses, present participle walrusing or walrussing, simple past and past participle walrused or walrussed)

walruses (present singular third-person)
walrusses (present singular third-person)
walrusing (participle present)
walrussing (participle present)
walrused (participle past)
walrused (past)
walrussed (participle past)
walrussed (past)

It's strange to see parties of merrymakers gather where I nearly drowned, and later walrused with David Isaakovich, Father Basil and the rest of them.

2016, Andrey Kurkov, The President's Last Love, Kiev, 9 May 1985:

His untrimmed mustache walrused down and over his hidden mouth

2000, Michael L. McCoy, The Hunter, the Hound and a Rogue:

To be like a walrus
To hang like a walrus's moustache

Where a mammal had its canine teeth, great fangs walrused down from the grezzen's upper jaw, as long as scimitars and as thick as human thighs.

To be like a walrus
To be prominent, like tusks


narwhal

From Dutch narwal or Danish/Norwegian Bokmål narhval, from Old Norse náhvalr, from nár (“corpse”) + hvalr (“whale”). Compare Icelandic náhvalur.

Moreover, both narwhals and bowheads can occur in late summer in southern Prince Regent Inlet (coming from Lancaster Sound) and may reach Fury and Hecla Strait and northern Foxe Basin.

1986, D. E. Sergeant, “Chapter 16: Sea Mammals”, in I. P. Martini, editor, Canadian Inland Seas, page 337:

Often, in the morning, narwhals played around the boat and reminded me of the dolphins, so far away in the North Atlantic. But these narwhals were not like the Atlantic sea-dogs; they had little of their flashing vibrancy; these Turkish narwhals were much more relaxed, and rolled over lazily, with a sigh, as if they were going to retire to a sofa and smoke a hookah.

1988, Tristan Jones, Somewheres East of Suez:

At over 2.5 m in length, the tusk of the male narwhal (Monodon monoceros) is one the most impressive instruments of male-male competition among mammals.

2000, Richard C. Connor, Andrew J. Read, Richard Wrangham, edited by Janet Mann, Cetacean Societies: Field Studies of Dolphins and Whales, 10: Male Reproductive Strategies and Social Bonds, page 247:

Monodon monoceros
Monodon monoceros#Translingual

Monodon monoceros, an Arctic cetacean that grows to about 20 feet (6 meters) long, the male having a single horn-like tusk, a twisted, pointed canine tooth that projects forward.

חַדְשֵׁן m (khadshén, literally “one-tooth”)


cetacean

en-adj

cetacean (comparative more cetacean, superlative most cetacean)

more cetacean (comparative)
most cetacean (superlative)

From translingual Cetacea, from Latin cētus (“whale”), + -an.

The poached blubber was definitely cetacean in origin, but the particular species could not be identified.

She was not as demure as she was in Roanoke; she seemed at the beginning rather like she felt more comfortable in the oceanic atmosphere harpooning her opponent. Indeed, at times, it seemed she was Ahab and the witherwin Allen was her Moby Dick; but while she sails her Pequod just as intently toward a singular goal, her alastor is much less clear and she bears no visible scars of a cetacean attacker.

2012, Hampton Roads Republican US Senate Debate Summary:

Pertaining to the zoologic infraorder Cetacea, or associated with species falling under that taxonomic hierarchy.

The obese woman, ungainly on land, moved with a kind of cetacean grace in the water.

(by extension, sometimes figurative) Resembling or relating to large aquatic mammals.


cetacean

The tour promised spiritual experiences with humpback whales and other cetaceans, but all we saw were seagulls and a dead sea otter.

An animal belonging to the infraorder Cetacea, including dolphins, porpoises, and whales.

morvil

an animal belonging to the infraorder Cetacea


fence

en-verb

fence (third-person singular simple present fences, present participle fencing, simple past and past participle fenced)

fences (present singular third-person)
fencing (participle present)
fenced (participle past)
fenced (past)

From Middle English fence, fens, short for defence, defens (“the act of defending”), from Old French defens, defense (see defence).
The sense "enclosure" arises in the mid 15th century.
Also from the 15th century is use as a verb in the sense "to enclose with a fence". The generalized sense "to defend, screen, protect" arises ca. 1500. The sense "to fight with swords (rapiers)" is from the 1590s (Shakespeare).
Displaced native Old English heġe (compare Modern English hedge).

(intransitive, equestrianism) To jump over a fence.


great ape

This wrinkled layer of gray matter that's highly developed in humans and other great apes, as well as whales, dolphins, and elephants, helps coordinate complex cognitive processes.

2014, Laurel Braitman, Animal Madness: How Anxious Dogs, Compulsive Parrots, and Elephants in Recovery Help Us Understand Ourselves:

Any member of the taxonomic family Hominidae, including Homo, and also many similar extinct species.


Balinese

Balinese (cat)
Balinese language
Balinese people

A car is taking us to a traditional Balinese dance at a nearby temple. It is on a cliff top with scenic views of the Indian Ocean and sheathed in what the internet calls a “peaceful ambience.”

2022 November 26, Virginia Feito, “Sweating Through a Honeymoon in Paradise”, in The New York Times:

Of or relating to Bali, its inhabitants, or their language or culture.

balinès

of or relating to Bali, or its inhabitants, language or culture


Balinese

en-noun

Balinese (countable and uncountable, plural Balinese)


stable

From Middle English stable, borrowed from Anglo-Norman stable, singular derived from the plural Latin stab(u)la (“dwellings, stables”).

close the stable door after the horse has been stolen

close the stable door after the horse has bolted

lock the stable door after the horse has been stolen

lock the stable door after the horse has bolted

shut the stable door after the horse has bolted

There were stalls for fourteen horses in the squire's stables.

We made an odd party before the arrival of the Ten, particularly when the Celebrity dropped in for lunch or dinner. He could not be induced to remain permanently at Mohair because Miss Trevor was at Asquith, but he appropriated a Hempstead cart from the Mohair stables and made the trip sometimes twice in a day.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

A building, wing or dependency set apart and adapted for lodging and feeding (and training) ungulates, especially horses.

حَظِيرَة

building for managing ungulates, normally horses

A group of people who are looked after, mentored, or trained in one place or for a particular purpose or profession.


stable

en-verb

stable (third-person singular simple present stables, present participle stabling, simple past and past participle stabled)

stables (present singular third-person)
stabling (participle present)
stabled (participle past)
stabled (past)

S.R. Pacific No. 34010 Sidmouth leaves Wembley Central to stable the stock of its excursion from the S.R. at North Wembley; the train was run in connection with a Wembley football event on April 30, 1960.

1960 July, Trains Illustrated, page 385, photo caption:

Great Western Railway has placed its Class 143 Pacer fleet into warm storage, with the majority stabled at Exeter.

2020 April 22, “Fleet News: Passenger operators put parts of fleet into warm storage...”, in Rail, page 25:

(rail transport, transitive) To park (a rail vehicle).


stable

en-adj

stable (comparative stabler or more stable, superlative stablest or most stable)

stabler (comparative)
more stable (comparative)
stablest (superlative)
most stable (superlative)

From Middle English stable, from Anglo-Norman stable, stabel, from Latin stabilis (“firm, steadfast”) (itself from stare (“stand”) + -abilis (“able”)). Displaced native Old English staþolfæst.

You should download the 1.9 version of that video editing software: it is the latest stable version. The newer beta version has some bugs.

(computing) Of software: established to be relatively free of bugs, as opposed to a beta version.


curb

From Middle French courbe (“curve, curved object”), from Latin curvus (“bent, crooked, curved”). Doublet of curve.

der

He that before ran in the pastures wild / Felt the stiff curb controul his angry jaws.

1605, Michael Drayton, The Fourth Eclogue:

Captain went out in the cab all the morning. Harry came in after school to feed me and give me water. In the afternoon I was put into the cab. Jerry took as much pains to see if the collar and bridle fitted comfortably, as if he had been John Manly over again. When the crupper was let out a hole or two, it all fitted well. There was no bearing rein—no curb—nothing but a plain ring snaffle. What a blessing that was!

[1877], Anna Sewell, “A London Cab Horse”, in Black Beauty: […], London: Jarrold and Sons, […], →OCLC, part III, page 158:

A riding or driving bit for a horse that has rein action which amplifies the pressure in the mouth by leverage advantage placing pressure on the poll via the crown piece of the bridle and chin groove via a curb chain.


fault

From Middle English faute, faulte, from Anglo-Norman faute, Old French faute, from Vulgar Latin *fallita (“shortcoming”), feminine of *fallitus, in place of Latin falsus, perfect passive participle of fallō (“deceive”). Displaced native Middle English schuld, schuild (“fault”) (from Old English scyld (“fault”)), Middle English lac (“fault, lack”) (from Middle Dutch lak (“lack, fault”)), Middle English last (“fault, vice”) (from Old Norse lǫstr (“fault, vice, crime”)). Compare French faute (“fault, foul”), Portuguese falta (“lack, shortage”) and Spanish falta (“lack, absence”). More at fail, false.

cog

If the horse refuses an obstacle, the rider will receive four faults.

(equestrianism) A penalty point assessed in horseback events such as show jumping.


chuck

(Scotland, obsolete, slang, in the plural) Money.


bumper

Dutch: bumper

Japanese: バンパー (banpā)

Korean: 범퍼 (beompeo)

Russian: ба́мпер (bámper)

(horse racing) In National Hunt racing, a flat race for horses that have not yet competed either in flat racing or over obstacles.


the cat's pyjamas

Popular in the US as early as 1922 around which the bee's knees, cat's whiskers, and numerous other similar phrases gained prominence. Sometimes attributed to cartoonist Tad Dorgan. It is widely believed that the origin of this idiom predates considerably, tracing back to the early 1800s in England. During this period, a tailor named E.B. Katz crafted silk pajamas for members of royalty and the upper class.

That new car was really the cat's pyjamas.

(idiomatic) A highly sought-after and fancy example of something, usually referring to inanimate objects.


boomer

(US, mainly 1920–1930) A transient worker who would move from boom town to boom town in search of temporary work.

(UK) A Eurasian bittern (subfamily Botaurinae).

(Appalachia) A red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus).


bandicoot

Ultimately from Telugu పందికొక్కు (pandikokku), from పంది (pandi, “pig, boar”) + కొక్కు (kokku, “bandicoot”); first used of the Asian murids, thence applied to the Australian marsupials which bear some resemblance.

compound

Any of various small Australian marsupials with distinctive long snouts, of the family Peramelidae (with the exception of genus Macrotis, called bilbies).

Any of several rat-like rodents of the genera Bandicota and Nesokia of southeast Asia.

intianrotta

rat-like rodent of the genera Bandicota or Nesokia


bandicoot

en-verb

bandicoot (third-person singular simple present bandicoots, present participle bandicooting, simple past and past participle bandicooted)

bandicoots (present singular third-person)
bandicooting (participle present)
bandicooted (participle past)
bandicooted (past)

(Australia, informal) To steal growing root vegetables from a garden by digging the vegetable out but leaving the tops undisturbed.


capuchin monkey

en-noun

capuchin monkey (plural capuchin monkeys)

From the resemblance to the dress of a Capuchin monk.

A New World monkey of the genus Cebus, coloured black on the top of the head.


capuchin

Late 16th c., from French capuchin, from earlier capucin, from Italian cappuccino, ultimately from Late Latin cappa (“cape, hood”).


kitty

From kit (“kitten”) + -y (“diminutive suffix”). Compare Dutch katje (“kitty”).

af

Here Kitty Kitty! Nice Kitty Kitty!

(childish, sometimes capitalized) A pet name for a cat.


Berkshire

From Middle English Barrokschire, Berchesire, Barrokshyre, Berrucsire, from Old English Bearrocscire, Berrocscire, Bearrucscire, taken from the Bearroc woods, possibly from Proto-Brythonic *barrọg, perhaps meaning “hilly” (compare *barros (“hill, peak, top”)) + Old English sċīr (“shire, county”).

Berkshire
Berkshire (disambiguation)#Other places
Berkshire pig

Fairfield County
Fairfield County#English

A community of Sandy Hook, Newtown, Fairfield County, Connecticut.

A place in the United States:
A town in Tioga County, New York.

An unincorporated community and township in Delaware County, Ohio.

A place in the United States:
A town in Franklin County, Vermont.


Shropshire

/ˈʃɹɒp.ʃə(ɹ)/

From Old English Sċrobbesbyriġscīr, from Sċrobbesburh (“Shrewsbury”) + sċīr (“shire”).

Telford and Wrekin
Telford and Wrekin#English

Shropshire Council, a local government unitary authority which replaced the county council in 2009 in all of Shropshire except Telford and Wrekin.


lemming

From Danish and Norwegian lemming, from Old Norse lómundr, læmingi, læmingr (“lemming”), perhaps from Sami luomek. Sense 2 derives from a longstanding myth that they exhibit so much herd mentality that populations jump off cliffs to their deaths together.

Lemmings are strongly cohesive, but could be, in organisational terms, highly destructive for the business.

2004, Ilse Hobbs, Jan Havenga, A Practical Guide to Strategy, →ISBN, page 127:

Like a lemming, I followed the crowd, got to the right line and was concentrating hard when queried by the customs officer.

2014, M.P. Fedunkiw, A Degree of Futility, page 61:

follow a leader off a cliff
follow someone off a cliff

(figuratively) Any member of a group given to conformity or groupthink, especially a group poised to follow a leader off a cliff.


erinaceous

en-adj

erinaceous (comparative more erinaceous, superlative most erinaceous)

more erinaceous (comparative)
most erinaceous (superlative)

/ˌɛ.ɹɪˈneɪ.ʃəs/

/ˌɛ.ɹəˈneɪ.ʃəs/

Of, pertaining to, or resembling a hedgehog.


siren

From Middle English siren, from Old French sereine and Latin Sīrēn, Sīrēna, from Ancient Greek Σειρήν (Seirḗn). The mammalian sense was first attested in French in Dominique Bouhours, Les entretiens d'Ariste et d'Eugène, in 1671. The aquatic salamander sense was originally introduced by Linnaeus in 1766, for a genus of his reptiles. Doublet of serin.

A member of Sirenia, an order of mammals.


shank

From Middle English schanke, from Old English sċanca (“leg”), from Proto-West Germanic *skankō, from Proto-Germanic *skankô (compare West Frisian skonk, Low German Schanke, German Schenkel (“shank, leg”), Danish skank, Norwegian skank, Swedish skänkel), from *skankaz (compare Old Norse skakkr (“wry, crooked”)), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)keng- (compare Middle Irish scingim (“I spring”), Ancient Greek σκάζω (skázō, “to limp”).

The metal part on a curb bit that falls below the mouthpiece, which length controls the severity of the leverage action of the bit, and to which the reins of the bridle are attached.

The end or remainder, particularly of a period of time.

the shank of the morning

AMANDA: Going now? You're joking! Why, it's only the shank of the evening, Mr. O’Connor!

1945, Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie, page 92:

The main part or beginning of a period of time.


bunny boiler

From a scene in the 1987 film Fatal Attraction where a scorned woman (played by Glenn Close), seeking revenge on her ex-lover (played by Michael Douglas), places his family’s beloved pet rabbit in a pot of boiling water when he is away from the house.

Witness such media events as the Great Old Maid Scare of '86 (sparked by a study suggesting that a woman who hasn't married by age forty has less chance of doing so than of being shot by a terrorist); and the Fatal Attraction Syndrome (the notion that unmarried career women are so unfulfilled they turn into homicidal bunny-boilers).

[1988, Glamour, volume 86, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 159:

There's nothing like portraying a psychopathic bunny-boiler to boost one's self-esteem, Glenn Close tells Ladies' Home Journal.

[1990 December 6, The Dallas Morning News, Dallas, Tex.: The Dallas Morning News, →ISSN, →OCLC, page A2, column 3:

The bad news is that a small percentage of women are obsessive stalker types or "Bunny Boilers." Bunny Boilers will continue to call and may even wait for hours outside your home or office trying to see you, even though you have made it clear that it was just a one night stand. Bunny Boilers take the fun out of shagging.

2001, Sam Priest, “Beware of ‘Bunny Boilers’”, in Shagging for America: (Unwritten Rules for Unrepentant Males), New York, N.Y.: Hangover Media, →ISBN, page 51:

And I tried a couple of traditional dating agencies, but after parting with a small fortune and being introduced to one nymphomaniac and a couple of bunny boilers, I felt it was better to trust my own judgment and use the Internet.

2005, Jane Moore, Love @ First Site: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Broadway Books, →ISBN, page 149:

The 1980s bunny-boiler was perceived to be infinitely more dangerous than the bra-burner; whereas the latter confined herself to a rejection of feminine accoutrements, the bunny-boiler – bolstered by the successes of the women's movement – did not hesitate to assert her rights and use violent means to achieve her goals.

2009, Stéphanie Genz, “Boiling the Bunny: The Backlash and Macho Feminism”, in Postfemininities in Popular Culture, Basingstoke, Hampshire, New York, N.Y.: Palgrave Macmillan, →DOI, →ISBN, part I (From “Feminine Mystique” to “Girl Power”), page 66:

He wondered why he always landed bunny-boilers who started out cool and calm but speedily went into the pursuit mode of deadly missiles.

2009, Lynne Graham, The Ruthless Magnate’s Virgin Mistress (Harlequin Presents; 2787), Toronto, Ont., New York, N.Y.: Harlequin, →ISBN, page 10:

Neither should we think that Bunny Boilers are always female—this is not the case. However, I think females view the male version in a different light. [...] Women regard him as the cheeky chappie. They seem resigned to his bad behaviour.

2014 March 5, Rosie Andrews, “Foreword”, in Strange Creatures, Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, pages 4–5:

(slang, humorous, derogatory) A person who acts (or may supposedly act) obsessively or even dangerously towards another person with whom they were previously, or wish to be, in a relationship.

Fatal Attraction
Glenn Close
Michael Douglas


sloth

en-noun

sloth (countable and uncountable, plural sloths)

From Middle English slouthe, slewthe (“laziness”), from Old English slǣwþ (“sloth, indolence, laziness, inertness, torpor”), from Proto-West Germanic *slaiwiþu, from Proto-Germanic *slaiwiþō (“slowness, lateness”), equivalent to slow + -th. Cognate with Scots sleuth (“sloth, slowness”).

inh

(countable) A herbivorous, arboreal South American mammal of the families Choloepodidae and Bradypodidae, noted for its slowness and inactivity.


jug

en-noun

jug (countable and uncountable, plural jugs)

→ Welsh: jwg, jẁg, siwg

From Middle English jugge, of uncertain origin. Possibly a variant of Middle English jubbe, jobbe, iubbe, geobbe, itself of unknown origin; or perhaps continuing (in altered form) Old English ċēac (“pitcher; jug”). Compare also jug (“a low woman, maidservant”), from Jug, familiar form of Joanna.

the jug goes to the well until it breaks

(US, slang) The P-47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft.


jug

When the dog’s owners returned with their shopping, I asked what the little dog was. She was a Jug, a Jack Russell-Pug cross. We found out lots about this crossbreed, thought long and hard, and decided a Jug and a Spitz could work really well together.

2013, Lost & Found: True tales of love and rescue from Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, Penguin Group:

2014, Alan Kenworthy, Jugs: Buying, Caring For, Grooming, Health, Training and Understanding Your Jug Dog or Puppy, Feel Happy Limited

2015, George Hoppendale, Jugs: Jug Dog Complete Owners Manual - Jug book for care, costs, feeding, grooming, health and training, Internet Marketing Business

Stanley ¶ Jug (Jack Russell/Pug cross); 18 months old; keeps fit chasing his ball or frisbee, but would rather be laid on his back, snoring

2018, Cheryl Murphy, Dogs just wanna have FUN!, Veloce Publishing, page 110:

A small mixed breed of dog created by mating a Jack Russell terrier and a pug.


jug

en-verb

jug (third-person singular simple present jugs, present participle jugging, simple past and past participle jugged)

jugs (present singular third-person)
jugging (participle present)
jugged (participle past)
jugged (past)

Origin uncertain. Perhaps a shortening of juggernaut or an alteration of juke/jook. Compare juug.

unk

Origin uncertain

(slang) To hustle or make money, usually aggressively.


fielder

From Middle English feldere (“one who works in the field; rustic”), from Old English feldeware (“field-dweller”), equivalent to field + -er. The baseball sense is from 1832.

inh

A dog trained in pursuit of game in the field.


fielder

(cricket) A player of the fielding side, whose task is to gather the ball after the batsman has hit it, to catch the batsman out, or to prevent him from scoring.


fox terrier

One morning I had been driven to the precarious refuge afforded by the steps of the inn, after rejecting offers from the Celebrity to join him in a variety of amusements. But even here I was not free from interruption, for he was seated on a horse-block below me, playing with a fox terrier.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, pages 46–47:

After our fox-terrier had killed several of the Stationmaster's chickens and a peace offering had been made by my father in the form of cigars, I found that the way had been made clear for me to visit the junction box, and what a thrill it was.

1948 March and April, 'Aella', “First Steps in a Railway Career”, in Railway Magazine, page 91:

Either of two breeds of dog (the smooth fox terrier and the wire fox terrier) bred for fox hunting.


flyer

→ Finnish: flaijeri

→ French: flyer

→ German: Flyer

→ Korean: 플라이어 (peullaieo)

→ Portuguese: flyer

From fly + -er (agent noun suffix).
With regard to the sense "female kangaroo": because of the high speed at which they move.

طَيَّار

someone who pilots or rides in an airplane


have kittens

en-verb

have kittens (third-person singular simple present has kittens, present participle having kittens, simple past and past participle had kittens)

has kittens (present singular third-person)
having kittens (participle present)
had kittens (participle past)
had kittens (past)

(literal) Usually of a female cat, to give birth to kittens.


vault

Borrowed from Middle French volter (“to turn or spin around; to frolic”), borrowed from Italian voltare, itself from a Vulgar Latin frequentative form of Latin volvere; later assimilated to Etymology 1, above.

bor

(equestrianism) Synonym of volte: a circular movement by the horse.


porker

From pork + -er.
* (obese person; police officer): Carried over from the same senses of pig.
* (a lie): Extension of the rhyming slang pork pie.


stinker

Today's crossword is a stinker.

I number several authors among my acquaintance […] and they invariably become all of a doodah when they read a stinker in the press about their latest effort.

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

I sat there seething with fury. And after I had seethed for a bit I rose from my chair, took pen in hand and wrote Bobbie a stinker. […] I accused her in set terms of giving me the heave-ho in order that she could mercenarily marry a richer man. I called her a carrot-topped Jezebel whom I was thankful to have got out of my hair. I... Oh, I can't remember what else I said but, as I say, it was a stinker.

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

(slang) Something difficult (e.g. a given puzzle) or unpleasant (e.g. negative review, nasty letter).

Any of several species of large Antarctic petrels which feed on blubber and carrion and have an offensive odour, such as the giant fulmar.

western grey kangaroo
western grey kangaroo

(Australia, informal) A western grey kangaroo.


roo

(Australia, slang) Clipping of kangaroo.


African hunting dog

en-noun

African hunting dog (plural African hunting dogs)

Lycaon pictus
Lycaon pictus#Translingual

(zoology) A wild canid, Lycaon pictus, typically black, white and tan, found in Tanzania, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa.

Naakaii Łizhiní Bikéyahdę́ę́ʼ łééchąąʼí ałchiní


Cape hunting dog

Cape hunting dog (plural Cape hunting dogs)


satyr

From French satyre, from Latin satyrus, from Ancient Greek σάτυρος (sáturos).

Any of various butterflies of the nymphalid subfamily Satyrinae, having brown wings marked with eyelike spots; a meadow brown.


musk

musk (countable and uncountable, plural musks)

→ Irish: musc

→ Welsh: mwsg

From Middle English muske, borrowed from Old French musc, from Late Latin muscus, from Ancient Greek μόσχος (móskhos), from Middle Persian [script needed] (mwšk' /mušk/) whence Persian مشک (mošk). Ultimately from Sanskrit मुष्क (muṣka, “testicle”), the shape of the gland of animals secreting the substance being compared to human testicles, a diminutive of मूष् (mūṣ, “mouse”), the shape of human testicles being compared to mice, from Proto-Indo-European *muh₂s (“mouse”). Cognate with mouse.

der

A plant of the genus Erodium (Erodium moschatum); the musky heronsbill.

A plant of the genus Muscari; grape hyacinth.


pangolin

/pæŋˈɡoʊlɪn/

Borrowed from Malay pengguling, from peng- (“denominative prefix”) + guling (“to roll”).

prefix

Like many Sri Lankans, pangolins have big tongues, thick hides and small brains. They pick on ants, rats and anything smaller than them. They hide in terror when faced with bullies and get up to mischief when the lights are out. They are hundreds of thousands of years old and are plodding towards extinction.

2022, Shehan Karunatilaka, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, Sort Of Books, page 302:

The scaly anteater; any of several long-tailed, scale-covered mammals of the order Pholidota of tropical Africa and Asia, the sole extant genus of which is Manis.


orangutan

→ Catalan: orangutan

→ Czech: orangutan

→ Faroese: orangutang (perhaps via another European language)

desctree

→ French: orang-outan, ourang-outang
→ Romanian: urangutan

→ German: Orang-Utan

desc

ουρακοτάγκος

→ Greek: ουρακοτάγκος (ourakotágkos)

→ Hungarian: orangután

→ Italian: orangutan, orango

→ Japanese: オランウータン (oran'ūtan)

→ Korean: 오랑우탄 (orang'utan)

→ Polish: orangutan

desctree

→ Russian: орангутан (orangutan), орангутанг (orangutang)
→ Armenian: օրանգուտան (ōrangutan)
→ Ingrian: orang-utan

→ Serbo-Croatian:

Cyrillic script: орангу̀та̄н

Latin script: orangùtān

→ Sicilian: rangutanu

→ Spanish: orangután
→ Galician: orangután

→ Swedish: orangutang

→ Thai: อุรังอุตัง (ù-rang-ù-dtang)

→ Turkish: orangutan

/əˌɹæŋ.uːˈtæn/

/əˌɹæŋ.uːˈtæŋ/

/ɔəˌɹæŋuːˈtæn/

/ˌɔə.ɹæŋˈuː.tæn/

/əˈɹæŋ.əˌtæn/

/əˈɹæŋ.əˌtæŋ/

/ɔˈɹæŋ.ʊˌtæn/

/əˈɹæŋˌə.tɛːŋ/

/əˈɹæŋˌə.tæŋ/

From Malay orang (“person, man”) + hutan (“forest”); literally, "forest man". Other names for the animal are mawas and mayas.
The name orangutan has been used in Old Javanese texts, notably in Rāmāyaṇa and Smaradahana, in the form of uraŋutan and wuraŋutan. Its usage to refer to the apes in these texts opposes the belief that the name orangutan originates from a European source.

Pongo pygmaeus
Pongo pygmaeus#Translingual

Any of three species of arboreal anthropoid ape, characterised by their shaggy reddish-brown coat and long arms, which comprise the genus Pongo; Pongo pygmaeus of Borneo, Pongo abelii of Sumatra or Pongo tapanuliensis of South Tapanuli (in Sumatra).


puma

→ Malay: puma

→ Swedish: puma

Borrowed from Spanish puma, from Quechua puma.

Puma concolor
Puma concolor#Translingual

A mountain lion or cougar (Puma concolor).


orca

Learned borrowing from Latin orca (“tun, cask; whale”), see there for more. Although the origin is obscure, the sometimes-cited association with orcus (“underworld”) is folk-etymology. Doublet of orc.

lbor

In the summer, when the weather is calm and beautiful, large flocks of orcæ can be seen approaching the shallow places near the shore, or between the numerous islands of the White Sea. Several fishermen associate for hunting orcæ, each one furnishing a boat, and a large seine made of cords of the thickness of a finger, the meshes being 10½ inches square.

1876, Alexander Schultz, “Account of the Fisheries and Seal-Hunting in the White Sea, the Arctic Ocean, and the Caspian Sea”, in United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries. Part III. Report of the Commissioner for 1873-4 and 1874-5., Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, page 55:

A sea mammal (Orcinus orca) related to dolphins and porpoises, commonly called the killer whale.


collie

Perhaps originally from coal, with reference to its colour; compare colly and collier. More at Wikipedia at collie § Name.

Any of various breeds of dog originating in Scotland and England as sheepdogs


boto

Borrowed from Portuguese boto (“boto”), of uncertain origin.

But in a group where one boto puts on a display, there was much more tail-whacking, biting and other aggressive behavior among the males.

2008 April 1, Henry Fountain, “Carrying a Torch, or at Least Sprigs of Grass”, in New York Times:

Inia geoffrensis
Inia geoffrensis#Translingual

Inia geoffrensis, a species of freshwater dolphin endemic to the Amazon river system


squeal

Inherited from Middle English squelen, probably from Old Norse skvala (“to squeal, bawl”), from Proto-Germanic *skwel- (“to chatter, babble, scream”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *skel-, from *kelh₁- (“to ring, resound, cry”). Compare Old Norse skval (“a squeal”, noun), Swedish skvallra (“to babble, chatter, tell on”).

cog

A high-pitched sound, such as the scream of a child or a female person, or noisy worn-down brake pads.


fluffer

"This isn't MGM. I don't do this full-time," she said. "During production, I'm the AD. Occasionally, I fill in as a fluffer."

1991, Robert Reeves, Peeping Thomas, →ISBN, page 112:

(pornography) One who arouses male pornographic actors before filming.

撫弄師 /抚弄师

arouses a male pornographic actor through fellatio


kitty litter

en-noun

kitty litter (usually uncountable, plural kitty litters)

[ˈkʰɪɾi ˈlɪɾɚ]

(by extension, informal) Any similar mix, used to soak up liquid spills.

(motor racing, informal) A gravel trap (a large area of gravel used to slow cars that leave the track)


bilby

An Australian desert marsupial of the genus Macrotis with distinctive large ears and approximately the size of a rabbit.


titi

A New World monkey of the genus Callicebus, native to South America, distinguished by their long soft fur.


painter

From a variation of panther, paralleling other Southern pronunciations for can't and aunt (see ain't for more details).

I have fou't most of the creatur's of the forest, such as bears, wolves, painters and catamounts, but this is the beginning with the red-skins.

1893, James Fenimore Cooper, The Deerslayer:


fetlock

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

From Middle English fitlokes, feetlakkes pl, equivalent to foot + lock (“tuft of hair”). Cognate with Middle Low German fitlok, fitlock (“fetlock”), Dutch vitlok, vittelokke, vitslok, German Fissloch, Fisloch, Fislach (“fetlock; pastern”).

The tuft of hair that grows at this joint.


echidna

Coined in scientific literature around 1811. Probably from Ancient Greek ἔχιδνα (ékhidna, “snake, viper”) via Latin echidna. Compare ἐχῖνος (ekhînos, “hedgehog, etc.”). However, this sense is problematic (unless it is a reference to the ant-eating tongue). The name perhaps belongs to Latin echinus (“sea urchin, hedgehog”) from the aforementioned Ancient Greek term's alternate sense of "sea-urchin" (also "sharp points"), which Watkins explains as "snake-eater", from ἔχις (ékhis, “snake”), though it may actually be from Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰis (“hedgehog, hedgehog-like animals”). The 1810 Encyclopaedia Britannica deduces thus the animal's alternative name as "porcupine ant-eater".
Alternatively, and perhaps more likely, the name refers to Echidna as the name of a serpent-nymph in Greek mythology, "a beautiful woman in the upper part of her body; but instead of legs and feet, she had from the waist downward, the form of a serpent", in which case the animal was named for its mixed features (early naturalists doubted whether it was a mammal or amphibian). Ultimately, the etymology may be from a synthesis of all the roots above. (From OED.)

der

Any of the species of small spined monotremes in family Tachyglossidae, the four extant species of which are found in Australia and southern New Guinea.

mierystervark

any of the four species of small spined monotremes


stifle

The verb is derived from Late Middle English stuflen (“to have difficulty breathing due to heat, stifle; to suffocate by drowning, drown”) [and other forms]; further etymology uncertain, perhaps from stuffen (“to kill by suffocation; to stifle from heat; to extinguish, suppress (body heat, breath, humour, etc.); to deprive a plant of the conditions necessary for growth, choke”) + -el- (derivational infix in verbs, often denoting diminutive, intensive, or repetitive actions or events). Stuffen is derived from Old French estofer, estouffer (“to choke, strangle, suffocate; (figuratively) to inhibit, prevent”) [and other forms] (modern French étouffer), a variant of estoper, estuper (“to block, plug, stop up; to stiffen, thicken”) (modern French étouper (“to caulk”)), influenced by estofer (“to pad, stuff; to upholster”) (modern French étoffer). Estoper is derived from Vulgar Latin *stuppāre, from Latin stuppa (“coarse flax, tow”) (as a stuffing material; from Ancient Greek στύπη (stúpē), στύππη (stúppē) (compare στυππεῖον (stuppeîon)); probably from Pre-Greek) + -āre. According to the Oxford English Dictionary a derivation from Old Norse stífla (“to dam; to choke, stop up”) “appears untenable on the ground both of form and sense”.
The noun is derived from the verb.

noncog

(rare) An act or state of being stifled.


diprotodon

From di- + proto- + -odon, due to its prominent two front teeth.

It is rather hard to understand how animals so largo and heavy as the diprotodons and gigantic kangaroos could have existed there when the country was in the same state in which it is now,[…].

1882, Royal Society of New South Wales, Journal and proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, volume 15, page 51:

No fewer than eighty diprotodons are represented by the bones already unearthed, […]

1893, Edward Jewitt Wheeler, Isaac Kaufman Funk, William Seaver Woods, The Literary Digest, volume 7, page 638:

Soon we had a good view of the diprotodons, relatives of the present-day wombat but vastly larger.

1993, Lyon Sprague De Camp, Rivers of Time, page 248:

Any individual of the extinct marsupial genus Diprotodon, similar to a wombat in appearance but the size of a small elephant.


foxhound

Any of several medium-sized breeds of dog developed for hunting.


Tasmanian devil

en-noun

Tasmanian devil (plural Tasmanian devils)

Sarcophilus harrisii
Sarcophilus harrisii#Translingual

A medium-sized carnivorous marsupial (Sarcophilus harrisii) found exclusively on the island of Tasmania.

塔斯馬尼亞惡魔 /塔斯马尼亚恶魔

tǎsīmǎníyà èmó


heifer

Inherited from Middle English heyfre, hayfre, heyfer, from Old English hēahfore, hēahfru, of disputed origin; see the Old English entry for more discussion.

And the Lord ſpake vnto Moſes and vnto Aaron, ſaying, This is the ordinance of the Law, which the Lord hath commaunded, ſaying, Speak vnto the childꝛen of Iſrael, that they bꝛing thee a red heifer without ſpot, wherein is no blemiſh, and vpon which neuer came yoke.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 19:1–2:

We muſt be neat; not neat, but cleanly, Captaine: / And yet the Steere, the Heycfer^([sic]), and the Calfe, / Are all call'd Neat.

c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 278:

The breath of the mountain heifer was fragrant as the gales of Sirendiep, by feeding on ſpicy herbs.

1769, Firishta, translated by Alexander Dow, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi, volume I, Dublin: P. and W. Wilson et al., page iv:

A young female cow, (particularly) one over one year old but which has not calved.


streaker

A dolphin of species Stenella coeruleoalba.