get up

en-verb

get up (third-person singular simple present gets up, present participle getting up, simple past got up, past participle (UK) got up or (US) gotten up)

gets up (present singular third-person)
getting up (participle present)
got up (past)
got up (UK participle past)
gotten up (US participle past)

He got up me about the mess I made in the kitchen.

Back in January 1989, as soon as Rod got up me that night, I knew he rated me, cared about what I did and how I performed. I felt I′d climbed a big step up the credibility ladder.

2010 July 1 [2001], Ian Healy, Hands and Heals: The Autobiography (non-fiction), →ISBN:

I said ok and resorted to only taunting or using a taunt spell to get mobs off the wizzy but the cleric got up me for that too.

2003 February 6, James Hicks, “New LoY spell info up.”, in alt.games.everquest (Usenet):

To those of you who (and there a a few) who got up me yesterday at Mt White for being a slack-arse and not replacing the rear tyre on the 'Bird, I can now state for the record that she's shod with a brand new 020.

2003 October 20, Dave Ello, “New Battlax to support the old Battle-axe...”, in aus.motorcycles (Usenet):

Alan, silver-haired and full of Aussie wit, tells me how his favourite cousin got up him recently, ‘Of course, you get yourself into these situations if you′re always trying to be the hero.’ That really annoyed him.

2011, Mark Whittaker, Brave: Ordinary Australians and their extraordinary acts of courage (non-fiction), page 205:

(UK, Australia, colloquial) To criticise.


public

en-adj

public (comparative more public, superlative most public)

more public (comparative)
most public (superlative)

The adjective and noun are derived from Late Middle English publik, publike (“(adjective) generally observable, public; relating to the general public or public affairs; (noun) a generally observable place or situation”), from Anglo-Norman public, publik, publique, Middle French public, publique, and Old French public (“(adjective) generally observable, public; relating to the general public; official; (noun) community or its members collectively; nation, state; audience, spectators collectively”) (modern French public, publique (obsolete)); and from their etymon Latin pūblicus (“of or belonging to the community, people, or state; general, public”), an alteration of poplicus (influenced by pūbēs (“adult men; male population”)), from poplus (“community; the people, public; nation, state”) (later populus; from Proto-Italic *poplos (“army”); further origin uncertain, possibly from Etruscan or from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- (“to fill”)) + -icus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’). Doublet of people.
The Middle English word displaced native Old English ceorlfolc and folclic.
The verb is derived from the adjective.

publik

open to all members of a community, as opposed to only a segment of it

nobody ever went broke underestimating the good taste of the American public

nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public

nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public

no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public

no one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public

I meruailled, why himſelf [Niccolò Leoniceno] did not practiſe Phiſike of whiche facultee he was a Doctour, and a publique reader: I auaile moche more, ſaieth he, in that I teach all thother Phiſiciãs [physicians].

1564 February, Erasmus, “The Saiynges of Socrates”, in Nicolas Udall [i.e., Nicholas Udall], transl., Apophthegmes, that is to Saie, Prompte, Quicke, Wittie and Sentẽcious Saiynges, […], London: […] Ihon Kingston, →OCLC, book I, folio 4, recto, paragraph 11:

(UK, education, chiefly historical) In some older universities in the United Kingdom: open or pertaining to the whole university, as opposed to a constituent college or an individual staff member or student.


paedophilia

en-noun

paedophilia (countable and uncountable, plural paedophilias)

British standard spelling of pedophilia.


med

You med be religious, or you med not, but you can't help striking in your homely note with the rest.

1894 December – 1895 November, Thomas Hardy, Jude the Obscure, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], published 1896, →OCLC:

Pronunciation spelling
pronunciation spelling

(UK, dialect) Pronunciation spelling of might.


bathe

From Middle English bathen, from Old English baþian (“to bathe, wash”), from Proto-West Germanic *baþōn, from Proto-Germanic *baþōną (“to bathe”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₁- (“to warm”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian boadje (“to bathe”), Dutch baden (“to bathe”), German Low German baden (“to bathe”), German baden (“to bathe”), Danish bade (“to bathe”), Swedish bada (“to bathe”), Icelandic baða (“to bathe”). More at bath. Compare also bask.

I'm going to have a midnight bathe tonight.

I do not feel disposed to ask any questions, but devote myself entirely to the Governoress, who takes me over to the bathing-house in her boat. I have had my bathe, and am strolling along the sands, waiting for the Countess.

1885, Mrs. Forrester, “Retribution”, in Although He Was a Lord and Other Tales (Collection of British Authors, Tauchnitz Edition; volume 2327), Leipzig: [Christian] Bernhard Tauchnitz, page 140:

(British, colloquial) The act of swimming or bathing, especially in the sea, a lake, or a river; a swimming bath.


zed

→ Greek: ζεντ (zent)

→ Hindi: ज़ेड (zeḍ)

→ Japanese: ゼット (zetto), ゼッド (zeddo)

→ Korean: 제드 (jedeu)

→ Malay: zed

→ Marathi: जेड (jeḍ)

→ Russian: зэд (zɛd)

→ Thai: แซด (sɛ̂t)

→ Welsh: sèd

From Middle English zed, zedde, zede, from Old French zede, from Late Latin zeta, from Ancient Greek ζῆτα (zêta), from Hebrew ז (zayin) with influence from beta, eta and theta. Letter had rare nonstandard usage in Old English, such as in bezt, where it represented "ts" (compare the German, Italian, and Finnish pronunciation of Z). For the sleep sense, see zzz. The zombie sense comes from the initial letter. Doublet of zeta. Cognate to Spanish zeta, German Zett, French zède, Italian zeta, and perhaps Portuguese zê.

zed-bar

I'm going to go get some zeds.

(colloquial, usually in the plural) Sleep.


zed

en-verb

zed (third-person singular simple present zeds, present participle zedding, simple past and past participle zedded)

zeds (present singular third-person)
zedding (participle present)
zedded (participle past)
zedded (past)

Zedding hogs. Sleep sippers and spitters. Look at 'em cooking in their own snoring heat. One nose after another.

I guess I must have zedded, for I find a police officer, the same one that nicked me, shaking me.

1992, David Robins, Tarnished vision: crime and conflict in the inner city:

"Zedding away." "God, I was having the most awful dream. That you'd got lost by the sea and I couldn't find you and something was chasing me, me and Evie."

(intransitive, informal) To sleep or nap. (Compare zzz, catch some z's.)

We were zedding hell-bells up the hill towards Cervione, with a bank of road metal and a precipice on our left...

1931, Reginald Rankin, The Collected Works of Lt. Colonel Sir Reginald Rankin:

Licking his lips, his hand zedded on my thigh and he commented, penetratingly, that it wasn't pussy, but that driving the unmade road wasn't at all bad.

(intransitive, rare) To zigzag; to move with sharp alternating turns.


corned beef

en-noun

corned beef (countable and uncountable, plural corned beefs)

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

From corn (“to preserve (meat) in coarse corns of salt”, verb); (chief officer): rhyming slang for chief.

Steve and I raced for the building and began climbing the wall, before any of the screws knew what was happening. […] The Corned Beef came out first and initiated the ploy to get us down.

1999, Alex Alexandrowicz, David Wilson, The Longest Injustice: The Strange Story of Alex Alexandrowicz:

(UK, prison slang, historical) The chief officer of a prison.


wonder

wonder (countable and uncountable, plural wonders)

From Middle English wonder, wunder, from Old English wundor (“wonder, miracle, marvel”), from Proto-West Germanic *wundr, from Proto-Germanic *wundrą.
Cognate with Scots wunner (“wonder”), West Frisian wonder, wûnder (“wonder, miracle”), Dutch wonder (“miracle, wonder”), Low German wunner, wunder (“wonder”), German Wunder (“miracle, wonder”), Danish, Norwegian and Swedish under (“wonder, miracle”), Icelandic undur (“wonder”).
The verb is from Middle English wondren, from Old English wundrian, which is from Proto-Germanic *wundrōną. Cognate with Saterland Frisian wunnerje, West Frisian wûnderje, Dutch wonderen, German Low German wunnern, German wundern, Swedish undra, Icelandic undra.

inh

Miss Paynter had a little wonder as to whether the man, as she called Mr. Lacy in her own mind, had ever been admitted to this room. She thought not.

1934, Katharine Tynan, The house of dreams:

(UK, informal) A mental pondering, a thought.


chamber

From Middle English chambre, borrowed from Old French chambre, from Latin camera, from Ancient Greek καμάρα (kamára, “vaulted chamber”). Doublet of camera.

der

(UK) A single law office in a building housing several.


bene

en-adj

bene (comparative benar, superlative benat)

UK C16. Probably from Latin bene or Italian bene.

Egad, you carry a bene blink aloft. Come to the ken alone—no! my blowen; did not I tell you I should bring a pater cove, to chop up the whiners for Dawson?

1828, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Pelham: or The Adventures of a Gentleman, page 383:


bene

Stowe your bene!


kit

en-noun

kit (countable and uncountable, plural kits)

From Middle English kyt, kytt, kytte, from Middle Dutch kitte (“a wooden vessel made of hooped staves”). Related to Dutch kit (“tankard”) (see below). The further etymology is unknown. Perhaps from Proto-Germanic *kitjō-, *kut-, which would be related to the root of Dutch kot (“ramshackle house”), itself of non-Indo-European origin.
The transfer of meaning to the contents of a soldier's knapsack dates to the late 18th century, extended use of any collection of necessaries used for travelling dates to the first half of the 19th century.
The further widening of the sense to a collection of parts sold for the buyer to assemble emerges in US English in the mid 20th century.

der

A sell-out crowd of 10,000 then observed perfectly a period of silence before the team revealed their black armbands, complete with stitched-in poppies, for the match. After Fifa’s about-turn, it must have been a frantic few days for the England kit manufacturer. The on-field challenge was altogether more straightforward.

2011 November 10, Jeremy Wilson, “England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report”, in Telegraph:

(UK, sports) The standard set of clothing, accessories and equipment worn by players.

екип

Get your kit off and come to bed.

The Argentina fan who risked jail by getting her kit off at the World Cup final has broken her silence by posting more topless videos.

2022 December 20, “Topless Argie fan breaks silence with more nude vids as she dodges Qatar's wrath”, in The US Sun:


mono

Shortenings, ultimately from the prefix mono- (“one, single”).

(slang, UK, Australia) A bicycle or motorcycle trick where the front wheel is lifted off the ground while riding.


rubble

en-noun

rubble (countable and uncountable, plural rubbles)

From Middle English rouble, rubel, robel, robeil, from Anglo-Norman *robel (“bits of broken stone”). Presumably related to rubbish, originally of same meaning (waste material, bits of stone, rubble). Ultimately presumably from Old Norse rubba (“to huddle, crowd together, heap up", possibly also "to rub, scrape”), from Proto-Germanic *rubbōną (“to rub, scrape”), related to Proto-Germanic *reufaną (“to tear”), *raubōną (“to rob, steal, plunder”), perhaps via Old French robe (English rob (“steal”)) in sense of “plunder, destroy”; see also Middle English, Middle French -el.

der

(UK, dialect, in the plural) The whole of the bran of wheat before it is sorted into pollard, bran, etc.


cad

Short for caddie, from Scots, from French cadet, from dialectal capdet (“chief, captain”), from Latin capitellum, diminutive of caput (“head”).

(UK, Ireland, obsolete, slang) An idle hanger-on about innyards.


flan

Borrowed around 1846 from French flan (“cheesecake, custard tart, flan”), or in some uses (in reference to Spanish/Latin American flans) later from Spanish flan (itself from the French), both from Old French flaon (whence also Middle English flaon, flaun (“pie; cake”)), from Late Latin fladō (“flat cake”), from Frankish *flaþō (“flat cake”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleth₂- (“broad, flat”); compare German Fladen. Akin to Old High German flado (“flat cake, offering cake”). Doublet of flathe.
Although the -n is generally believed to derive from the Late Latin accusative form (fladonem) of fladō (“flat cake”), it might alternatively derive from an inflected form of the Frankish word (such as the Frankish accusative *flaþan, or the like). For a similar case, see garden.

cog

The menu includes a number of excellent fish dishes such as the […] broccoli flan.

2004, Shawn Blore, Alexandra de Vries, Frommer's Brazil, →ISBN, page 175:

(chiefly UK, Australia) Baked tart with sweet or savoury filling in an open-topped pastry case. (Compare quiche.)


commons

At the same time, the fashion at Oxford of confining lunch to a "commons" of bread and butter and a glass of beer till the crew reaches Putney (when a little meat is allowed,) is unreasonable.

1875, Walter Bradford Woodgate, "Oars and Sculls," and How to Use Them (page 125)

(obsolete, UK, Oxford University) Food served at a fixed rate from the college buttery, distinguished from battels.


wait

From Middle English waiten, from Anglo-Norman waiter, waitier (compare French guetter from Old French gaitier, guaitier), from Frankish *wahtwēn (“to watch, guard”), derivative of Frankish *wahtu (“guard, watch”), from Proto-Germanic *wahtwō (“guard, watch”), from Proto-Indo-European *weǵ- (“to be fresh, cheerful, awake”). Cognate with Old High German wahtēn (“to watch, guard”), German Low German wachten (“to wait”), Dutch wachten (“to wait, expect”), French guetter (“to watch out for”), Saterland Frisian wachtje (“to wait”), West Frisian wachtsje (“to wait”), North Frisian wachtjen (“to stand, stay put”). More at watch.
In some senses, merged or influenced by Middle English waiten, weiten (“to do good to, lie in wait for, to contrive good or harm on, catch, snare”), from Old Norse veita (“to give help to, assist, grant, cause to happen”), from Proto-Germanic *waitijaną (“to show, guide, advise, direct”), from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see, know”).
Largely overtook native Middle English biden, from Old English bīdan.

der

[…]as he returned home to his owne house, the waits should sound the hautboies all the way

1659, T[itus] Livius [i.e., Livy], “[Book XVII]”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Romane Historie […], London: […] W. Hunt, for George Sawbridge, […], →OCLC:

(in the plural, obsolete, UK) Hautboys, or oboes, played by town musicians.

Hark! are the waits abroad?

1609–1612, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “The Captaine”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act II, scene ii:

1819-1820, Washington Irving, The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon
The sound of the waits, rude as may be their minstrelsy, breaks upon the mild watches of a winter night with the effect of perfect harmony.

[…] the waits begin their rounds, and going from house to house, […] they sing carols and Christmas hymns until […] another Christmas-day has dawned.[…]

1890, Algernon Blackwood, Christmas in England:

(in the plural, UK) Musicians who sing or play at night or in the early morning, especially at Christmas time; serenaders; musical watchmen. [formerly waites, wayghtes.]


macintosh

He is sausaged into several overcoats and wears a brown macintosh under which he holds a roll of parchment.

1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 15: Circe]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 481:

(British) Alternative form of mackintosh (“a raincoat”)


go off

en-verb

go off (third-person singular simple present goes off, present participle going off, simple past went off, past participle gone off)

goes off (present singular third-person)
going off (participle present)
went off (past)
gone off (participle past)

Bugger—the milk's gone off already!

1987 September 3, Unpalatable Treatment, New Scientist, page 20,
But to cast out a technique that could not only reduce the incidence of food poisoning but could also allow us to move away from another bete noire of the “technophobes” — chemical treatment to prevent stored grain from going off— is daft

Don′t expect to store fragile food like fish, poultry and meat in the refrigerator at home for a long period of time, as it will go off quickly.

2005, Neil Perry, The Food I Love, page 13:

Although there is a popular myth about camel milk ‘never going off’, experience shows that pasteurised packaged camel milk does not keep any better than its cow equivalent, and seems to lose its flavour faster.

2005, Nancy Abeiderrahmane, “Modern Dairy Products from Traditional Camel Herding: An Experience in Mauritania”, in Bernard Faye, Palmated Esenov, editors, Desertification Combat And Food Safety: The Added Value Of Camel Producers, page 156:

(intransitive, UK, Australia) To putrefy or become inedible, or to become unusable in any way.

I've got to get the panels aligned quickly now because the epoxy resin will go off within 20 minutes or so.

(intransitive, chiefly UK, of epoxy resins) To cure; to set.

We can only hope she'll go off soon.

(intransitive, slang, UK, archaic, of a woman) To get married.


reed

From Middle English rede (“abomasum”), from Old English rēada, from Proto-West Germanic *raudō.

(UK, Scotland, dialect) The fourth stomach of a ruminant; rennet.


bun

From Middle English bunne (“wheat cake, bun”), from Anglo-Norman bugne (“bump on the head; fritter”), from Old French bugne (hence French beignet), from Frankish *bungjo (“little clump”), diminutive of *bungu (“lump, clump”), from Proto-Germanic *bungô, *bunkô (“clump, lump, heap, crowd”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰenǵʰ- (“thick, dense, fat”). Cognate with Dutch bonk (“clump, clot, cluster of fruits”). More at bunch.

bolletjie

a small bread roll, often sweetened or spiced

couldn't organise a bun fight in a bakery


tabnab

Nautical slang of obscure origin. Attested from the 20th century. Compare nab and possibly table.

He comes outside when weather's fine / To hang his singlets on the line, / And then returns - he needs no bell - / The scouse, or Sunday's duff to share; / The stokers tabnabs need his care; / The sea sounds far away in there, / Ssssssssh, like the hush in a conch-shell.

1928, Malcolm Lowry, “The Cook In The Gallery”, in The Collected Poetry of Malcolm Lowry, UBC Press, published 1992, page 39:

(slang, British, Navy) A small item of food offered at break times, normally the morning break.


yob

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

Backslang for boy. The second sense was likely influenced by hobnob and/or yokel.

2005 January 10, Melissa Jackson, “Music to deter yobs by”, in BBC News:

Yes, it's holiday time again for British yobs – and the rest of us can flee to those parts of Abroad which the louts ignore, or just cringe in shame at home.

2009 August 8, Janet Daley, “The real reason for all those louts on holiday”, in The Telegraph:

But while doing 70mph on the A1, a hooded yob threw rock^([sic – meaning a rock]) from a grass verge onto the windscreen of the family’s Jeep, causing it to swerve.

2017 March 27, Keiran Southern, “'We could have been killed': Fury at yobs who bricked windscreen with baby girl in car”, in Chronicle Live, retrieved 2017-03-28:

Three local yobs have also joined, but they have not reckoned on a redoubtable Conductor and two local revenue protection officers who soon escort them off the train!

2022 November 2, Paul Bigland, “New trains, old trains, and splendid scenery”, in RAIL, number 969, page 57:

(derogatory, chiefly UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang) A person who engages in antisocial behaviour or drunkenness.


unco

‘Ye should tear up this carpet, Robbie,’ Uncle Peter called back over his shoulder. ‘It's most unco wearisome when a body′s leg-weary.’

1920, Tod Robbins, “Who Wants a Green Bottle?”, in Freaks And Fantasies, published 2007, page 70:

Jamie has met only two kids of women: the mainly elderly and unco good who belong to his father's congregation, and those who drink in pubs and shebeens used by nearly penniless medical students.

1996, Alasdair Gray, “The Story of a Recluse”, in Every Short Story 1951-2012, Canongate, published 2012, page 267:


gormless

en-adj

gormless (comparative more gormless, superlative most gormless)

more gormless (comparative)
most gormless (superlative)

From dialectal English gaum (“heed, attention”) + -less (“without”), from Old Norse gaum, from Proto-Germanic *gaumaz, *gaumō (“heed, attention”). The ‘r’ found in this spelling is a vowel-lengthening device common in non-rhotic dialects of English.

suffix

Did I ever look so stupid: so gormless as Joseph calls it?

1847 December, Ellis Bell [pseudonym; Emily Brontë], chapter XXI, in Wuthering Heights: […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Thomas Cautley Newby, […], →OCLC:

But Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood were both so gormless and so wrapped up in their own silly little lives that they failed to notice anything unusual about their daughter.

There was a sort of gormless unstoppability about him that she found rather fascinating.

1990, Terry Pratchett, Moving Pictures, page 171:

Hmm. Made an excuse, did he? Not as gormless as he looks in press photographs, then.

2007 July 21, J. K. Rowling [pseudonym; Joanne Rowling], “The Wedding, Auntie Muriel”, in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter; 7), London: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 141:

“Don’t just stand there looking gormless. There’s plenty of work to do in the back.”

2015, Adele Abbott, Witch Is When Everything Went Crazy, page 33:

(chiefly UK, Commonwealth, Ireland, of a person) Lacking intelligence, sense or understanding; foolish.

vypatlaný

lacking intelligence or understanding; foolish


dab

Irish: daba

From Middle English dabben (“to strike”), probably of North Germanic origin, related to Old Icelandic dabba (“to tap, slap”), perhaps ultimately imitative. Compare also with Middle Dutch dabben (“to pinch, knead, fumble, dabble”) (Dutch dabben (“(of a horse) to stamp with the forelegs”)), Dutch deppen (“to dab”), possibly German tappen (“to fumble, grope”).
The noun is from Middle English dabbe (“a strike, blow”), from the verb. Related to tap. Compare also drub, dub.
African-American sense of “playful box” perhaps influenced by dap (“fistbump”).

onomatopoeic

imitative

cog

One had Glash's dabs on it and a half-inch of Macallan at the bottom.

2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 132:

(chiefly in the plural, dated, British) Fingerprint.


pyjamas

desc

→ Arabic: بِيجَامَا (bījāmā)

→ Arabic: بِيجَامَا (bījāmā)

→ Bulgarian: пижа́ма (pižáma)

→ Catalan: pijama

→ Czech: pyžamo

→ Dutch: pyjama

→ Estonian: pidžaama

→ Finnish: pyjama

desctree

→ French: pyjama
→ Romanian: pijama
→ Turkish: pijama

→ German: Pyjama

→ Greek: πυτζάμα (pytzáma)

→ Lithuanian: pižama

→ Italian: pigiama

→ Norwegian: pysjamas

→ Persian:

Dari: پیژامه (pīžāma)

Iranian Persian: پیژامه (pižâme)

Tajik: пижома (pižoma)

→ Portuguese: pijama

→ Russian: пижама (pižama)
→ Armenian: պիժամա (pižama)
→ Azerbaijani: pijama
→ Georgian: პიჟამა (ṗižama)
→ Kazakh: пижама (pijama)
→ Kyrgyz: пижама (pijama)
→ Tajik: пижама (pižama)
→ Turkmen: pijama
→ Uzbek: pijama

→ Spanish: pijama

→ Ukrainian: піжа́ма (pižáma)

→ Yiddish: פּיזשאַמע (pizhame)

/pɪˈd͡ʒɑːməz/

/paɪˈd͡ʒɑːməz/

From Hindi पैजामा (paijāmā) / Urdu پائِجامَہ (pāijāma), from Classical Persian پایجامه (pāyjāma), archaic form of پاجامه (pājāma).

bor

Urdu پائِجامَہ (pāijāma)

The performer opens one of the small drawers and takes out two sets of pyjamas.

1973, John Clucas Cannell, The Secrets of Houdini, Dover Publications, US, page 231

She wasn′t sure if Lena looked more surprised by her clobbering hug or the sight of her pyjamas on the bright New York City sidewalk.

2007, Ann Brashares, Summers of the Sisterhood: Forever in Blue, page 178:

British standard spelling of pajamas (clothes for sleeping in).

They too revert to simpler, non-western clothes—saris, dhotis, and pyjamas.

2010, Lucy Norris, Recycling Indian Clothing: Global Contexts of Reuse and Value, Indiana University Press, page 34:

British standard spelling of pajamas (loose trousers worn by men and women in South Asia).


vice

(UK) Alternative spelling of vise (“mechanical screw apparatus used for clamping”)


mummy

Diminutive of mum, related to mom and mommy, from mother.

“Oh, mummy, would you like the loveliest daughter-in-law in the world? Oh, mummy, I must marry Flora Dewsley. But I know I am not nearly good enough, mummy. She knows nothing of the world and its wickedness, and I — Well, mummy, at school, a fellow learns everything. And no man is perfect, is he, mummy?[…]”

1926, John Steinbeck, The Saturday Evening Post, volume 198, page 9:

Meeting mummy after this visit was not exactly easy.

1927, Harper's Magazine, volume 155, page 188:

“[…]What′s your problem, you little shit? Proud of yourself, for ruining Mummy′s life?” I was careful to use the insipid falsetto the experts commend. “You′ve got Daddy snowed, but Mummy′s got your number. You're a little shit, aren′t you?″

2003, Lionel Shriver, We Need to Talk About Kevin, published 2010, unnumbered page:

2004, Dennis Child, Psychology and the Teacher, Continuum International Publishing, page 91,
‘ […] We have to ask mummy if we can go to Rajah′s mummy′s house (Rajah′s mummy is the owner of the dog). We can if mummy says “yes”. […] ’

Darla stared at her father and said, Mummy, Mummy, Mummy!
Marjorie wheezed and said, Father. You. Are. Filthy!
Joe said Daddy′s muddy! Daddy′s muddy!
Darla stared at the darkened doorway where Howard stood, saying, Mummy, Mummy, Mummy, each time a little louder, each time a bit more shrilly,[…].

2009, Paul Harding, Tinkers, published 2010, unnumbered page:

(chiefly UK, New England, usually childish) mother.


ord

From Middle English ord (“point, point of a weapon, beginning”), from Old English ord (“point, spear-point, spear, source, beginning, front, vanguard”), from Proto-West Germanic *oʀd, from Proto-Germanic *uzdaz (“point”), of obscure origin (see *uzdaz).
Cognate with Middle English ord, North Frisian od (“tip, place, beginning”), Dutch oord (“place, region”), German Ort (“location, place, position”), Danish od (“a point”), Swedish udd (“a point, prick”), Icelandic oddur (“tip, point of a weapon, leader”). See also odd.

cog

"[...] But such is life — hard upon hard from ord to end; and if I had not been made of the best of neat-leather, the longer in water the tougher, I would have melted away with my tears long ago!"

[...] Tell me wholly as it was From ord to end how it did pass When first your father was of me ware.

1924, Adriaan Jacob Barnouw Esmoreit, An ingenious play of Esmoreit: the king's son of Sicily:

(now chiefly UK dialectal) A point of origin; a beginning.

When a man came from Sutherland into Caithness over the Ord [of Caithness, in the southern tip of the county], he was called an ord-louper .

(now chiefly UK dialectal) A point of land; a promontory.

Saul drew his sword, And ran even upon the ord. — Cursor Mundi.

And touched him with the spear's ord. — Romance of Sir Otuel.

Hadubraht, the son of Hiltibrant, said, "Gladly gifts should be received; ord (spear's point) against ord.

1814, Henry William Weber, Robert Jamieson, Sir Walter Scott, Illustrations of northern antiquities:

(now chiefly UK dialectal) The point or edge of a weapon.


jab

Originally a Scottish (unclear if Scots or Scottish English) form of English job (“peck, poke, thrust”), from Middle English jobben.

Our dog was exposed to rabies, so the whole family went to a clinic to get our jabs.

(British) A medical hypodermic injection (vaccination or inoculation)

A 'painless' sticking plaster flu jab that delivers vaccine into the skin has passed important safety tests in the first trial in people.

2017 June 28, Michelle Roberts, “Painless flu jab patch for people scared of injections”, in BBC News:

(British, Australia, New Zealand, sometimes Philippines) A vaccination, whether or not delivered via conventional injection.


jab

en-verb

jab (third-person singular simple present jabs, present participle jabbing, simple past and past participle jabbed)

jabs (present singular third-person)
jabbing (participle present)
jabbed (participle past)
jabbed (past)

(slang, UK) To give someone an injection.


brave

en-adj

brave (comparative braver or more brave, superlative bravest or most brave)

braver (comparative)
more brave (comparative)
bravest (superlative)
most brave (superlative)

From Middle French brave, borrowed from Italian bravo, itself of uncertain origin (see there). Doublet of bravo.


Michaelmas

From Middle English Michelmasse, Myghelmesse; equivalent to Michael + -mas.

(UK, Ireland, law, education) Ellipsis of Michaelmas term.


monster

en-verb

monster (third-person singular simple present monsters, present participle monstering, simple past and past participle monstered)

monsters (present singular third-person)
monstering (participle present)
monstered (participle past)
monstered (past)

From Middle English monstre, from Old French monstre, mostre, moustre, from Latin mōnstrum.

Are you monstering that event?

non-player character
non-player character

(UK, live action roleplaying games) To play (a series of) non-player characters as directed, without having the responsibility of organising the game itself; generally not limited to playing literal monsters or hostile combatants.

"Get the hell out of here!" Dante monstered when Santa approached the high school carolers.

(informal, British, transitive, intransitive) To punish, reprimand or intimidate.


manoeuvre

From Middle French manœuvre (“manipulation, manoeuvre”) and manouvrer (“to manoeuvre”), from Old French manovre (“handwork, manual labour”), from Medieval Latin manopera, manuopera (“work done by hand, handwork”), from manu (“by hand”) + operari (“to work”). First recorded in the Capitularies of Charlemagne (800 AD) to mean "chore, manual task", probably as a calque of the Frankish *handwerc (“hand-work”). Compare Old English handweorc, Old English handġeweorc, German Handwerk.

der

The system also reacts to unexpected traffic situations and handles them independently by employing evasive manoeuvres within the lane or by braking manoeuvres

2021, “Mercedes-Benz self-driving car technology approved for use”, in Fleet news:

UK, Canada, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand spelling of maneuver.


manoeuvre

en-verb

manoeuvre (third-person singular simple present manoeuvres, present participle manoeuvring, simple past and past participle manoeuvred)

manoeuvres (present singular third-person)
manoeuvring (participle present)
manoeuvred (participle past)
manoeuvred (past)

Three pairs of double doors are provided on each side, wide enough to take pallet trucks, and strengthened floors to allow the trucks to manoeuvre inside the vehicle.

1959 November, “Talking of Trains: S.R. Motor Luggage Vans”, in Trains Illustrated, page 523:

(transitive) UK, Canada, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand spelling of maneuver.


moist

moist (third-person singular simple present moists, present participle moisting, simple past and past participle moisted)

moists (present singular third-person)
moisting (participle present)
moisted (participle past)
moisted (past)

From Middle English moisten, moist, moiste (“to make moist or wet; to soak in liquid; to become moist or wet; to provide with moisture or water; to satisfy thirst with liquor or water, slake”) [and other forms], and then either:
* from Anglo-Norman muster (“to make moist or wet”), Middle French moistir, and Old French moistir (“to make moist or wet; to become moist or wet”) (compare enmoistir; modern French moitir), from Old French moiste, muste (“damp, moist, wet”) (see etymology 1) + -ir (suffix forming infinitives of second conjugation verbs); or
* from Middle English moist, moiste (adjective) (see etymology 1), though the adjective is first attested later.

der

He calleth for a ſponge (ſaith Theodoritus) and therevvith moiſteth and vvaſsheth Simeones mouthe, and then geueth him the holy Sacrament.

1566 January 30, Iohn Iewel [i.e. John Jewel], “M. [Thomas] Hardinge. The 21. Diuision.”, in A Replie unto M. Hardinges Ansvveare: […], London: […] Henry VVykes, →OCLC:

They [the legendary Fortunate Isles] haue raine there very ſeldom, howbeit a gentle winde commonly that bloweth in a litle ſiluer dew, which moiſteth the earth ſo finely, that it maketh it fertile and luſtie, not onely to bring forth all that is ſet or ſowen apon it but of it ſelfe without mans hand it beareth ſo good frute, as ſufficiently maintaineth the inhabitants dwelling apon it, liuing idlely, and taking no paines.

1579, Plutarke of Chæronea [i.e., Plutarch], “The Life of Sertorius”, in Thomas North, transl., The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romaines, […], London: […] Richard Field, →OCLC, page 629:

Now no more
The iuyce of Egypts Grape ſhall moyſt this lip.

c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii], page 367, column 1:

(obsolete except British, regional and US) To make (something) moist or wet; to moisten.


gaff

Unknown. Possibly from Etymology 1, via a sense of “a place that will be robbed” in criminal argot; possibly from Etymology 2, via a sense of "cheap theatre"; possibly from Romani gav (“village”) (whence German Kaff (“village”)).

We're going round to Mike's gaff later to watch the footie.

"Steady on, mate. How was I to know this was your gaff? I was lookin' for somewhere to kip."

1971, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 56:

And like I said, I was so fuck-faced that I forgot I'd moved and let myself back into my old gaff.

1993, Tristan Hawkins, Pepper, London: Flamingo, →ISBN, page 106:

Am I alone in feeling smug (if slatternly) about the news that super-clean homes are a breeding ground for infection? Apparently, all that bleach is bad not just for germs but for children's immune systems, too, and paradoxically causes more disease than it prevents. Not round my gaff. Oh no. My standards of housekeeping are so abysmally low that my eldest daughter was three years old before she even developed a temperature.

2015 April 4, Judith Woods, “I knew it! Spring cleaning is bad for your family's health [print version: Vindicated at last! It's healthier to be a slatternly housewife, p. 28]”, in The Daily Telegraph, archived from the original on 2015-04-09:

Man will enter the gaf with crown
Gun shot spin his head right round

2019 April 30, “The Godfather”, Ink (lyrics), 0:37–0:40:

The term ‘free gaf’ is music to any teenage ears in Dublin, while the term ‘wreak the gaf’ should fill any parent with dread. The term ‘gaf’ means ‘house,’ so when parents are away […]

2019 November 7, Erike Sanker, “20 mad Dublin slang phrases that only make sense to locals”, in Ireland Before You Die (IB4UD):

(Ireland; British, especially Dublin, Manchester, MLE, Cockney and Glaswegian; slang) A place of residence.

especially Dublin; Manchester; especially Dublin; Manchester

Significantly, the setting is a gaff, a low, illegal theatre, and not one of the legitimate East-End stages.

2004, Kerry Powell, The Cambridge Companion to Victorian and Edwardian Theatre, page 273:

(UK, slang, dated) A disreputable, low-end theatre.


mac

(UK, US, Canada, Australia, slang, offensive, derogatory, ethnic slur) A person of Scottish descent, used in driving culture to denigrate someone for poor/slow/amateurish driving responses, a reference to the frugality of Scottish people.


rasher

Unknown origin. Said to be an alteration of rasure.

He was a man who made his tent comfortable wherever he pitched it, and long before Altamont’s arrival, had done justice to a copious breakfast of fried eggs and broiled rashers, which Mr. Grady had prepared secundum artem.

1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 44, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

He received us in his quietly genial fashion, ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal.

1892, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb”, in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Wikisource:

He toasted his bacon on a fork and caught the drops of fat on his bread; then he put the rasher on his thick slice of bread, and cut off chunks with a clasp-knife, poured his tea into his saucer, and was happy.

1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter 2, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:

Would you like a bite of something? None of your damned lawdeedaw airs here. The rich of a rasher fried with a herring?

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

Thick-cut, thin-cut or flavoured, sometimes there is nothing nicer than a rasher on toast or a crispy rasher as part of a full fry up.

2010 March 25, “Put to the test: Back rashers”, in Irish Independent:

(UK, Ireland) A strip of bacon; a piece of bacon.

Now another layer of forcemeat, then rashers of ham, then forcemeat. Cover the surface with three rashers of fat bacon and a bayleaf; cover with paste, and bake for two hours in a moderate oven, covering the top with a piece of[…]

1874, John Charles Buckmaster, Buckmaster's Cookery: Being an Abridgment of Some of the Lectures Delivered in the Cookery School at the International Exhibition for 1873 and 1874 : Together with a Collection of Approved Recipes and Menus, page 172:

“A pound of tea at one-and-three, / And a pot of raspberry jam, Two new-laid eggs, a dozen pegs, / And a pound of rashers of ham.”

1896, Henry Davenport Northrop, Joseph R. Gay, Irvine Garland Penn, The College of Life Or Practical Self: A Manual of Self-improvement for the Colored Race ... Giving Examples and Achievements of Successful Men and Women of the Race ... Including Afro, page 622:

On March 24 : For breakfast - cocoa, two rashers of bacon, 2 oz. of dry oatmeal, and 1 oz. of cream. For dinner - 2 oz. of cooked meat, […]

1916, Royal Society of Medicine (Great Britain), Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, page 54:

We could see the circus performers eating tremendous breakfasts, with all the savage relish of their power and strength: they ate big fried steaks, pork chops, rashers of bacon, a half dozen eggs, great slabs of fried ham and great[…]

1989 May 1, Thomas Wolfe, Francis E. Skipp, The Complete Short Stories Of Thomas Wolfe, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 203:

12 rashers of British smoked dry-cured streaky bacon

2017 February 16, Sarah Randell, A Pot of Marmalade: The ultimate guide to making and cooking with marmalade, Saltyard Books, →ISBN:

Reggie pulls out a rasher of beef jerky from his back pocket and pulls off a bite with a distinct “Snap!” He then sits down next to Siggy, opposite the two girls.

(Can we date this quote?), Joe Romanoski, Michelle Randell, The Farborough Scare, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 76:

(UK, Ireland) A strip, a piece (of something, such as ham, bacon, etc).


lido

After Lido (Lido di Venezia), an island with a long beach in Venice, Italy, site of Europe’s first modern beach resort (1857), from Italian lido (“beach, shore”), from Latin litus (“shore”) (hence also English littoral (“of the shore”)). The name is aspirational, evoking glamorous Venice; compare Venetian Pool, another outdoor pool named for Venice.

(British) Part of the sea by a beach sectioned off for swimming and other aquatic activities.


hooter

Suddenly, far down and beyond the toun there came a screech as the morning grew, a screech like an hungered beast in pain. The hooters were blowing in the Segget Mills.

1933, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Cloud Howe, page 34:

When the right-away was given, Driver Gibson would give a sonorous blast on Cardean's deep-toned hooter, and amid a flurry of swirling steam the train would move majestically out, with nearly half the city of Carlisle—or so it would appear—as onlookers on the platform.

1945 May and June, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 152:

A chime whistle, presented to the L.M.S.R. by American model railway enthusiasts in 1939, is installed now as a works hooter at Crewe Works, as its height precludes its use on a British locomotive.

1946 September and October, “Notes and News: Locomotive Whistle Gift”, in Railway Magazine, page 322:

(British) A siren or steam whistle, especially one in a factory and used to indicate the beginning or the end of a working day or shift.


stag party

(British, Canada) A bachelor party; a party held for a man who is about to be married.


hen party

(British, Australia) A bachelorette party; a party held for a woman who is about to be married.


snitch

Origin uncertain. Perhaps an alteration of Middle English snacche (“a trap, snare”), snacchen (“to seize (prey)”, whence modern English snatch). Compare also Middle English snik snak (“a sudden blow, snap”). Alternatively, perhaps from a dialectal variant of sneak, from Middle English sniken, from Old English snīcan (“to creep; crawl”). More at sneak.

cog

'Yah, I wouldn't git a second-'and dress at a pawnbroker's!'
'Garn!' said Liza indignantly. 'I'll swipe yer over the snitch if yer talk ter me. [...] "

1897, W.S. Maugham, Liza of Lambeth, chapter 1:

He added in conclusion that he strongly disliked the police coming and sticking its nose into his affairs and, since the horror which such actions inspired in him was not far from making him wish to vomit, he extracted from his pocket a silken square of the colour of the lilac flower (the one that isn’t white) but impregnated with Barbouze, the Fior perfume, and with it dabbed his snitch.

1960, Barbara Wright (tr.), Zazie in the metro, Penguin Classics, translation of Zazie dans le métro by Raymond Queneau, published 2001, →ISBN, page 96:

On one level clearly emblematic of her class status, “she’d have really looked down her snitch at me”), Virginia Woolf's nose, both Bennett and his audience would know, signifies as well the far more frightening power, the phallic power, attributed to women, strong women in particular.

1978, Brenda R. Silver, quoting Alan Bennett, Virginia Woolf icon, University of Chicago Press, published 1999, →ISBN, Take Seven: British Graffiti: Me ,I'm Afraid of Virginia Woolf and Sammy And Rosie Get Laid, page 158:

‘Yes, I’m a witch! I wiggle my snitch![...]’

1994, Christine Marion Fraser, Noble Beginnings, HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 74:

Bluenoze: Blow your nose to clear your snitch of whatever it is you've been snorting and read the postings again.

1999 September 27, "billy", “Re: Babies Having Babies”, in uk.media.tv.misc (Usenet):

Question: do benign bacteria live in one's snitch and keep the other, nastier ones at bay ?

1999 March 26, G Greenway, “Re: aah-cho!!”, in alt.gothic (Usenet):

Have a perpetual dew drop hanging from your snitch

2001 July 27, catmandoo, “Re: Please help me to be 'correct'.”, in uk.local.isle-of-wight (Usenet):


on the piss

From on (“regularly taking”) + the + slang piss (“any alcoholic drink”).

We're going out on the piss tonight. Want to come?

Life is meaningless, when I've been on the piss.

2008, Colin Shaddick, Isn't Sex Noisy, →ISBN, page 50:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang, vulgar) Drinking alcoholic beverages to excess.


moot

en-adj

moot (comparative more moot, superlative most moot)

more moot (comparative)
most moot (superlative)

From Middle English mōt, ȝemōt, from Old English *mōt, ġemōt (“meeting”), from Proto-Germanic *mōtą, from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d- (“to encounter, come”). Cognate with Scots mut, mote (“meeting, assembly”), Low German Mööt (“meeting”), Moot (“meeting”), archaic Dutch (ge)moet (“meeting”), Danish møde (“meeting”), Swedish möte (“meeting”), Norwegian møte (“meeting”), Icelandic mót (“meeting, tournament, meet”). Related to meet.

cog

[…] :indeed we were obligd to hawl off rather in a hurry for the wind freshning a little we found ourselves in a bay which it was a moot point whether or not we could get out of: […]

1770, Joseph Banks, The Endeavour Journal of Sir Joseph Banks, January 4, 1770 (published 1962)

[T]he uncertain, unsettled condition of this science of Cetology is in the very vestibule attested by the fact, that in some quarters it still remains a moot point whether a whale be a fish.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “Chapter 32”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

1903, Walter Crane, Lewis F. Day, Moot Points: Friendly Disputes on Art and Industry Between Walter Crane and Lewis F. Day:

The extent to which these Parisian radicals ‘represented’ the French people as a whole was very moot.

2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 477:

(current in UK, rare in the US) Subject to discussion (originally at a moot); arguable, debatable, unsolved or impossible to solve.


The form number designated by Britain's HM Revenue and Customs department.

2012, Forbes, Has Unconventional Oil Production Peaked?
Get any concessions wrong in advanced markets, and CEO’s know they’ll pay a very heavy price on stock markets. ‘P45’s’ all round, and that’s before we consider any national flags involved, or the small fact that host nations are piling on pressure to get pumps working, donkey’s nodding and receipts rolling in.

(UK, Ireland) A form that an employee receives when they terminate their employment, detailing income for social security and taxation purposes for the current financial year.


ward

en-noun

ward (countable and uncountable, plural wards)

→ Swahili: wodi

From Middle English ward, warde, from Old English weard (“watching, ward, protection, guardianship; advance post; waiting for, lurking, ambuscade”), from Proto-West Germanic *wardu, from Proto-Germanic *wardō (“protection, attention, keeping”), an extension of the stem *wara- (“attentive”) (English wary, beware), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to cover”).
Cognate with German Warte (“watchtower”), warten (“wait for”); English guard is a parallel form which came via Old French.

inh

A protected place, and by extension, a type of subdivision.


manœuvre

She delighted in schemes and in projects; she governed her husband by a series of manœuvres, whose only fault was their being entirely wasted; as a simple wish, openly expressed, would have answered every purpose.

1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter III, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 25:

[…] but then it came of itself: it was not elicited by meretricious arts and calculated manœuvres; and one had but to accept it — to answer what he asked […]

Gregson and Lestrade had watched the manœuvres of their amateur companion with considerable curiosity and some contempt.

1886, Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet:

Peter, forging ahead with the bag, stopped to see the result of these manœuvres.

1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1965, →OCLC, page 131:

[…] we may certainly prepare ourselves for every kind of novel stratagem and every kind of brutal and treacherous manœuvre.

1940, Winston Churchill, We shall fight on the beaches:

All early accounts agree that one of Stalin’s characteristics was ‘laziness’ or ‘indolence’ - which Bukharin impressed on Trotsky as Stalin’s ‘most striking quality’. Trotsky remarked that Stalin ‘never did any serious work’ but was always ‘busy with his intrigues’. Another way of putting this is that Stalin paid the necessary attention to the detail of political manœuvre.

1968, Robert Conquest, “The Purge Begins”, in The Great Terror: Stalin's Purge of the Thirties, Macmillan Company, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, pages 74–75:

[…] and the belief that states had increasingly little room for manœuvre if they wanted their people to benefit from it.

2003, David Miller, Political Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, page 7:

(UK, formerly Australia) Alternative form of manoeuvre


manœuvre

en-verb

manœuvre (third-person singular simple present manœuvres, present participle manœuvring, simple past and past participle manœuvred)

manœuvres (present singular third-person)
manœuvring (participle present)
manœuvred (participle past)
manœuvred (past)

We can ask how long it was before the team scored its first goal; or how long the centre-forward spent in manœuvring the ball towards the goal; and even how long the ball was in flight between his kicking it and its going between the goal-posts. But we cannot ask how many seconds were occupied in the scoring of the goal.

1954, Gilbert Ryle, “dilemma vii: Perception”, in Dilemmas: The Tarner Lectures, 1953, The Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, page 103:

Mr.Marples has thus manœuvred himself into a corner.

1963 June, “Second thoughts on Beeching”, in Modern Railways, page 362:


into

From Middle English in-to, from Old English intō, equivalent to in + to. Cognate with Scots intae.

enough sense to pound sand into a rathole

it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God

knock someone into the middle of next week

you can't put the toothpaste back into the tube

Five into three is fifteen.

w:Oxford English Dictionary#Electronic versions

Oxford University Press
w:Oxford University Press

(British, archaic, India, mathematics) Expressing the operation of multiplication.

do

taking distinct arguments to distinct values


flay

flay (third-person singular simple present flays, present participle flaying, simple past and past participle flayed)

flays (present singular third-person)
flaying (participle present)
flayed (participle past)
flayed (past)

From Middle English flayen, flaien, fleien, from Old English *flīeġan ("to cause to fly, put to flight, frighten"; found only in compounds: āflīeġan), from Proto-Germanic *flaugijaną (“to let fly, cause to fly”), causative of Proto-Germanic *fleuganą (“to fly”).

gloss

"to cause to fly, put to flight, frighten"; found only in compounds: <i class="Latn mention" lang="ang">āflīeġan</i>

inh

(transitive, UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To cause to fly; put to flight; drive off (by frightening).

If they'd let me have my way, I could have flayed him into shape

1979, “The Trial”, in The Wall, performed by Pink Floyd:

(transitive, UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To frighten; scare; terrify.

(intransitive, UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To be fear-stricken.


flay

(UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) A fright; a scare.

(UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) Fear; a source of fear; a formidable matter; a fearsome or repellent-looking individual.


fax

From Middle English fax, from Old English feax (“hair, head of hair”), from Proto-West Germanic *fahs, from Proto-Germanic *fahsą (“hair, mane”), from Proto-Indo-European *poḱsom (“hair”, literally “that which is combed, shorn, or plucked”), from Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- (“to comb, shear, pluck”). Cognate with Dutch vas (“headhair”), German Fachs (“head-hair”), Norwegian faks (“mane”), Icelandic fax (“mane”), Sanskrit पक्ष्मन् (pákṣman, “eyelash, hair, filament”).

cog

(obsolete or UK dialectal) The hair of the head.


haem

en-noun

haem (countable and uncountable, plural haems)

Haem is ubiquitous, abundant and necessary for energy metabolism. Most bacteria have a haem biosynthesis pathway, but nevertheless, since haem is a major source of iron (an essential metal), microbes take up exogenous haem to retrieve iron.

2010, Pierre Cornelis, Simon Andrews (editors), Iron Uptake and Homeostasis in Microorganisms, page 17:

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


smackhead

(UK, derogatory, slang) A person who regularly uses heroin.


pisshead

(UK, Commonwealth, Ireland, derogatory, vulgar, slang) A person who regularly overindulges in alcoholic drink.


duvet

From French duvet, from Middle French duvet, from Old French duvet (“down, the feathers of young birds”), alteration of dumet, dumect, which in turn derives from dum, dun (“down, feathers”), from Old Norse dúnn (“down, down feather”), from Proto-Germanic *dūnaz (“down”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to smoke, fume, raise dust”).
Cognate with Icelandic dúnn (“down”), Danish dun (“down”), German Daune (“down”), Dutch dons (“down”). More at down.

der

(British, New Zealand, Canada) A quilt or usually flat cloth bag with a filling (traditionally down) and usually an additional washable cover, used instead of blankets; often called a comforter or quilt, especially in US English.


petrolhead

2004, Roger Austin Learmonth, Petrolhead: The Life and Times of a Classic Car Buff, →ISBN:

2009, Stuart Prebble, Grumpy Old Drivers: The Official Handbook, unnumbered page,
In the early years it had been very much a series for people I believe are known by the curiously unappealing term ‘petrolheads’. Since most petrolheads are probably out in the evenings, burning up the rubber or the tarmac or whatever it is that petrolheads do, the show had a fairly limited audience.

(colloquial, UK, Ireland) A car enthusiast.


waxy

From Middle English waxi, wexy, equivalent to wax (“soft oily substance”) + -y.

(UK, obsolete, slang) A cobbler (shoe repairer).


greenhouse

From green + house ("house for growing greens"), in reference to the produce grown within.

In the slang of the Royal Air Force man, the cockpit of his plane is the ‘pulpit’ or ‘office’, the glass covering over it the ‘greenhouse’.

(UK military slang, dated) The glass of a plane's cockpit.


tranter

Through the open doorway of a small inner room on the left hand, of a character between pantry and cellar, was Dick Dewy’s father, Reuben, by vocation a ‘tranter’, or irregular carrier.

1872, [Thomas Hardy], “II: The Tranter's”, in Under the Greenwood Tree: A Rural Painting of the Dutch School, volume I, London: Tinsley Brothers, →OCLC, part I, page 13:

1879, William Barnes, Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect, Dobbin Dead
An’ he met wi’ zome yew-twigs the men had a-cast
Vrom the yew-tree, in churchyard, the road that he past.
He wer pweison’d. (1.) O dear, ’tis a hard loss to bear,
Vor a tranter’s whole bread is a-lost wi’ his meäre;

...the persons tenanting these few houses included two retired military officers, one old navy lieutenant, a small farmer and tranter, a relieving officer and registrar, and an old militiaman […]

1929, Florence Hardy, The Early Life of Thomas Hardy, 1841-1891:


omy

(obsolete, UK, dialect) Mellow, as land.


nondescript

From non- + descript (from Latin dēscrīptus, past participle of dēscrībō).

By a nice British compromise, the enforcement car — visible just then as a white spot on the television screen — has nothing externally to show its police affiliation, but unlike the CID's nondescripts, carries two large policemen in uniform.

1970, Peter Laurie, Scotland Yard: a study of the Metropolitan Police, page 118:


nip

en-verb

nip (third-person singular simple present nips, present participle nipping, simple past and past participle nipped)

nips (present singular third-person)
nipping (participle present)
nipped (participle past)
nipped (past)

From late Middle English nippen, probably of Low German or Dutch origin, probably a byform of earlier *knippen (suggested by the derivative Middle English knippette (“pincers”)), from Middle Low German knîpen, from Old Saxon *knīpan, from Proto-West Germanic *knīpan, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *knīpaną (“to pinch”).
Related to Dutch nijpen, knijpen (“to pinch”), Danish nive (“pinch”); Swedish nypa (“pinch”); Low German knipen; German kneipen and kneifen (“to pinch, cut off, nip”), Old Norse hnippa (“to prod, poke”); Lithuanian knebti.

Ben mort, shall you and I heave a bough, mill a ken, or nip a bung, and then we'll couch a hogshead under the ruffmans, and there you shall wap with me, and I'll niggle with you.

1611, Thomas Middleton, “The Roaring Girl”, in Arthur Henry Bullen, editor, The Works of Thomas Middleton, volume 4, published 1885, act 5, scene 1, pages 128–129:

The twelfth is a beau-trap, if a cull he does meet, / He nips all his cole, and turns him into the street.

1712, J. Shirley, “The Black Procession”, in Farmer, John Stephen, editor, Musa Pedestris, verse 4, published 1896, page 38:

(obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) To steal; especially to cut a purse.


nip

A novice nip, newly arrived in London, went one afternoon to the Red Bull in Bishopsgate, an inn converted to a playhouse.

1977, Gãmini Salgãdo, The Elizabethan Underworld, Folio Society, published 2006, page 27:

(obsolete, UK, thieves' cant) A pickpocket.


get off

get off (third-person singular simple present gets off, present participle getting off, simple past got off, past participle (UK) got off or (US) gotten off)

gets off (present singular third-person)
getting off (participle present)
got off (past)
got off (UK participle past)
gotten off (US participle past)

sundat

to move from being on top of (something)

afhalen van ...

to move (something) from being on (something else)

lakata koskemasta

to stop touching or interfering with something or someone

He couldn't get the infant off until nearly two in the morning.

(transitive, UK) To make (someone) fall asleep.

If I wake up during the night, I cannot get off again.

I'd like to get off with him after the party.

(intransitive, slang, UK) To kiss; to smooch.


sheath

From Middle English sheth, shethe (“holder for a sword, knife, etc., scabbard, sheath”) [and other forms], from Old English sċēaþ (“sheath”), from Proto-West Germanic *skaiþiju, from Proto-Germanic *skaiþiz (“sheath; covering”), from Proto-Indo-European *skey- (“to dissect, split”) (possibly from the notion of a split stick with a sword inserted).
The English word is cognate with Danish skede, Dutch schede, Icelandic skeið, German Scheide, Low German scheed, Norwegian skjede.

nb...

chethe, scǽð, scaþ, schede, schete, scheth, schethe, seaþ, seeth, seth, sethe, shæþ, shede, sheethe, sheith, (Southwest) ssethe, sseþe, (early forms) scæðe, scaþe, seaþe


drier

From Middle English driere, dreyere (“one who dries”), equivalent to dry + -er (agent noun suffix).

(chiefly British, Canada) Alternative spelling of dryer


try

From Middle English trien (“to try a legal case”), from Anglo-Norman trier (“to try a case”), Old French trier (“to choose, pick out or separate from others, sift, cull”), of uncertain origin. It is probably related to Italian tritare (“to grind; to sort; to analyze”) (see also French trier). Alternatively, believed to be a metathetic variation of Old French tirer (“to pull out, snatch”), from Gothic 𐍄𐌹𐍂𐌰𐌽 (tiran, “to tear away, remove”), from Proto-Germanic *teraną (“to tear, tear apart”), from Proto-Indo-European *der- (“to tear, tear apart”), see tear. Related to Occitan triar (“to pick out, choose from among others”), although the Occitan verb could also be a borrowing from French. Alternatively or by confluence, the Old French is from Gallo-Roman Vulgar Latin *triare, of unknown origin.
Replaced native Middle English cunnen (“to try”) (from Old English cunnian), Middle English fandien (“to try, prove”) (from Old English fandian), and Middle English costnien (“to try, tempt, test”) (from Old English costnian).

cog

[t̠͡ɹ̠̊˔aɪ̯]

[t̠͡ɹ̠̊˔ʷaɪ̯]

They will not passe thorough the holes of the sieve, ruddle or trie, if they be narrow.

1603, Plutarch, translated by Philemon Holland, The Philosophie, Commonlie Called, The Morals […], London: […] Arnold Hatfield, →OCLC:

(UK, dialect, obsolete) A screen, or sieve, for grain.


earwig

en-verb

earwig (third-person singular simple present earwigs, present participle earwigging, simple past and past participle earwigged)

earwigs (present singular third-person)
earwigging (participle present)
earwigged (participle past)
earwigged (past)

From Middle English erwigge, from Old English ēarwicga, from ēare (“ear”) + wicga (“insect”), so named from a popular belief that they are able to penetrate a person's head through the ear.

He had heard nothing from Fin, or anyone else, since the angry exchange the other night and was worried about how things were going, but he couldn′t ask about the LeMotts, not with Mum earwigging.

2007, Russell K. Lewis, In a Moment...: Book One of the Ley of the Land, page 381:

The nameless earwigging writer scrawled in his notebook that “MS and CT also considered that such low life would have a greater pride and satisfaction in life if they could themselves be cooked and served still bleating to rich diners.″

2007, Cat Rambo, Jeff VanderMeer, The Strange Case of the Lovecraft Café: The Surgeon′s Tale and Other Stories, page 89:

This man turned up on the last train, wanting a room, and his name had been odd enough to stay in the children′s minds as they earwigged—not something you ever do, Jonty.

2010, Charlie Cochrane, Lessons in Seduction, page 100:

We are meeting at a friendly, higher-end Shanghai brunching spot beloved of expats—cramped and informal enough that one of the three bankers at the next table is cheerfully earwigging our conversation.

2017 December 1, Leo Lewis, “Eric Cantona on seagulls, fixing Man Utd and why you can't buy passion”, in Financial Times:

(transitive, UK, slang) To eavesdrop on.


dogging

en-noun

dogging (countable and uncountable, plural doggings)

Even that […] had been less awful than this date-rape opportunity and likely dogging hotspot, with its hasty skim of tarmac spread like cheap, stale caviar across the pink pedestrian tiles beneath […].

2016, Alan Moore, Jerusalem, Liveright, page 21:

(UK, uncountable) The practice of having sexual intercourse in public places, especially parks, deliberately taking the chance of being watched.


trapezium

trapezium (plural trapeziums or trapezia)

Recorded since 1570, learned borrowing from Late Latin trapezium, from Ancient Greek τραπέζιον (trapézion, “irregular quadrilateral”, literally “a little table”), diminutive of τράπεζα (trápeza, “table”). Doublet of trapeze.

uder

(geometry, British, Australia, New Zealand) A quadrilateral with two sides parallel.

(restrictively) A quadrilateral with two sides parallel and two sides non-parallel.


knackered

en-adj

knackered (comparative more knackered, superlative most knackered)

more knackered (comparative)
most knackered (superlative)

I've got this job in a warehouse just now and it finishes quite early but I'm dead knackered at the end of the day so I don't know about going out and like studying every night.

2002, Robert Edenborough, Effective Interviewing: A Handbook of Skills and Techniques, pages 97–98:

2003, Hugh Dauncey, Geoff Hare (editors), The Tour de France, 1903-2003: A Century of Sporting Structures, Meanings and Values, Frank Cass Publishers, London, 2005, page 225,
Then, it all just gets worse and worse, you don't sleep so much, so you don't recover as well from the day's racing, so you go into your reserves, you get more knackered, so you sleep less... It's simply a vicious circle.

So my joy at hearing his voice quickly turns to a paroxysm of anxiety as he manages by exhausted gesture and sound to let us know how knackered he feels, how desperate to get horizontal, almost from the first moment he lands in the chair.

2009, Grace Maxwell, Falling & Laughing: The Restoration of Edwyn Collins, page 84:

In the course of this discussion, the (male) presenter, when uttering the word 'knackered', felt obliged to preface his animation of this word with “excuse my language”.

2020 November 12, Jim O’Driscoll, Offensive Language: Taboo, Offence and Social Control, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 48:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang, sometimes offensive) Tired or exhausted.


knackered

From "ready for the knacker's yard" or "fit to be knackered", meaning "worn-out livestock, fit to be slaughtered and rendered".

In the end though he had to admit that the car was knackered...

2003, Simon Murphy, The Murders of Mutchrose Village, page 28:

We take an old knackered machine out to China and say, 'Copy that, brand new,' and they do.

2009, John Newton, Vance Miller - Kitchen Gangster?, page 82:

(UK, Ireland, South Africa, colloquial) Broken, inoperative.


tumbler

(UK, Scotland, dialect, obsolete) A kind of cart; a tumbril.


earn

en-verb

earn (third-person singular simple present earns, present participle earning, simple past and past participle earned)

earns (present singular third-person)
earning (participle present)
earned (participle past)
earned (past)

Probably either:
* from Middle English erne, ernen (“to coagulate, congeal”) (chiefly South Midlands) [and other forms], a metathetic variant of rennen (“to run; to coagulate, congeal”), from Old English rinnan (“to run”) (with the variants iernan, irnan) and Old Norse rinna (“to move quickly, run; of liquid: to flow, run; to melt”), both from Proto-Germanic *rinnaną, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃er- (“to move, stir; to rise, spring”); or
* a back-formation from earning (“(Britain regional, archaic) rennet”).

nb...

(chiefly Middle English from Southwest England and Southwest Midlands, and Early Middle English) eorne, eornen, herne, hurnen, uerne, urne, urnen, hurnen, (Early Middle English, Southwest Midlands) eærne, earnæ, heorne, hirnen, irne, irnen

back-formation

(transitive, archaic) To curdle (milk), especially in the cheesemaking process.


awk

en-adj

awk (comparative more awk, superlative most awk)

more awk (comparative)
most awk (superlative)

From Middle English [Term?], from Old Norse ǫfugr, ǫfigr, afigr (“turned backwards”) (whence Danish avet (“backwards”), Swedish avig (“turned backwards”)), from Proto-Germanic *abuhaz. Cognate with German äbich, Gothic 𐌹𐌱𐌿𐌺𐍃 (ibuks, “turned back”). Akin to Sanskrit अपाच् (apāc, “turned away”). Compare dialectal Danish ave (“to turn”), Dutch averechts (“opposite, backwards, contrary”), Icelandic öfga (“to reverse”).

cog

[…] whose wild and madbrain humour nothing fitteth so just, as the stalest dudgen or absurdest balductum, that they or their mates can invent in odd and awk speeches […]

1815 Sir Egerton Brydges, Archaica: Harvey's Four letters, and sonnets, touching Robert Greene; Pierce's supererogation; [and] New letter of notable contents. Brathwaite's Essays upon the five senses, From the private press of Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, printed by T. Davison, p142

(obsolete, UK, dialect) Clumsy in performance or manners; not dexterous; awkward.


situation

From Middle English situacioun, situacion, from Middle French situation, from Medieval Latin situatio (“position, situation”), from situare (“to locate, place”), from Latin situs (“a site”). By surface analysis, situate + -ion.

der

‘Let me hear another sound from you,’ said Scrooge, ‘and you’ll keep your Christmas by losing your situation!

1843, Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol:

When he was nineteen, he suddenly left the 'Co-op' office, and got a situation in Nottingham.

1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “Chapter 3”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:

You take a morning paper from the top of the stack
And read the situations from the front to the back
The only job that's open need a man with a knack
So put it right back in the rack Jack.

1946, Vaughn Horton, Denver Darling, Milt Gabler, Choo Choo Ch'Boogie:


fer

“[…] Them rich fellers, they don't make no bad breaks with their money. They watch it all th' time b'cause they know blame well there ain't hardly room fer their feet fer th' pikers an' tin-horns an' thimble-riggers what are layin' fer 'em. […]”

1899, Stephen Crane, chapter 1, in Twelve O'Clock:

‘Got summat fer yeh here – I mighta sat on it at some point, but it’ll taste all right.’

1997, J.K. Rowling, chapter IV, in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone:

(dialectal, especially British) Pronunciation spelling of for.


on the game

UK late-19th century. However, the game as a euphemism for sexual activity dates to at least Troilus and Cressida (1602): "Set them down / For sluttish spoils of opportunity / And daughters of the game." Compare with the similar euphemism sport.

Oh please go on the game. It's a steady job and you'd be working from home.

1986 January 9, Ben Elton, Richard Curtis, Bells (Blackadder II), episode 1, spoken by Kate's Father (Edward Jewesbury):

What's he want it for anyway? Don't tell me he's going on the game.

1990 November 18, Andrew Davies, Michael Dobbs, House of Cards, season 1, episode 1:

(UK, idiomatic, slang, euphemistic) Working as a prostitute.


inn

From Middle English in, inn, from Old English inn (“a dwelling, house, chamber, lodging”); akin to Icelandic inni (“a dwelling place, home, abode”), Faroese inni (“home”).

cog

Leicester Inn

(British, dated) The town residence of a nobleman or distinguished person.


bake

From Middle English baken, from Old English bacan (“to bake”), from Proto-West Germanic *bakan, from Proto-Germanic *bakaną (“to bake”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₃g- (“to roast, bake”).
Cognate with West Frisian bakke (“to bake”), Dutch bakken (“to bake”), Low German backen (“to bake”), German backen (“to bake”), Norwegian Bokmål bake (“to bake”), Danish bage (“to bake”), Swedish baka (“to bake”), Ancient Greek φώγω (phṓgō, “roast”, verb).

cog

A fish bake made with cod chunks, sliced parboiled potatoes, […]

2009, Dictionary of Food: International Food and Cooking Terms from A to Z, →ISBN:

If you happen to have small, heat-proof glass or ceramic pots in your kitchen (known as ramekins) then you can make this very easy pasta bake in fun-size, individual portions.

2009, Rosalind Peters, Kate Pankhurst, Clive Boursnell, Midnight Feast Magic: Sleepover Fun and Food:

(especially UK, Australia, New Zealand) Any of various baked dishes resembling casserole.


rattler

/ˈɹætələ(ɹ)/

A freight train or, (chiefly British), a passenger train.


ladies

As a lavatory for women, via misspelling of ladies'. Compare gents.

Pardon me, I need to visit the ladies.

(British, euphemistic) A ladies' room: a lavatory intended for use by women.


lurker

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

(archaic, UK, dialect) A small fishing-boat.

In every large town sham official documents, with crests, seals, and signatures, can be got for half-a-crown. Armed with these, the patterer becomes a ‘lurker,’—that is, an impostor; his papers certify any and every ‘ill that flesh is heir to.’

1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor; […], volume I (The London Street-folk. Book the First.), London: [George Woodfall], →OCLC, page 219:

(obsolete slang, UK) An impostor; a quack.


purveyor

From Anglo-Norman purveour, from Old French porveor, agent noun from porveoir. See purvey. Doublet of provedore and proveditor.

(historical, UK) An officer who provided provisions for the king's household.


conservative

en-adj

conservative (comparative more conservative, superlative most conservative)

more conservative (comparative)
most conservative (superlative)

From Middle French conservatif, from Latin cōnservō (“to preserve”). Equivalent to conserve + -ative.

We have always been conscientiously attached to what is called the Tory, and which might with more propriety be called the Conservative, party.

(British, politics) Relating to the Conservative Party.


lurk

en-verb

lurk (third-person singular simple present lurks, present participle lurking, simple past and past participle lurked)

lurks (present singular third-person)
lurking (participle present)
lurked (participle past)
lurked (past)

From Middle English lurken, from Old Norse *lúrka, possibly from Proto-Germanic *lūrukōną (“to be lying in wait, lurk”), equivalent to lour + -k (frequentative suffix).
Cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk lurka (“to sneak away, go slowly”), dialectal Swedish lurka (“to dawdle, be slow in one's work”), Saterland Frisian lüürkje (“to look secretly, spy”), West Frisian luorkje (“to lurk”), Middle Low German lûrken (“to deceitfully stalk”).

cog

As junior dogsbody, he was lurked with this mission.

2015, Andrew Gordon, The Rules of the Game: Jutland and British Naval Command:

(UK, naval slang, transitive) To saddle (a person) with an undesirable task or duty.


faggot

From Middle English fagot, from Old French fagot (“bundle of sticks”), of uncertain origin. Unlikely from Old Occitan fagot or Italian fagotto, as these appear later than the Old French term. Compare also Italian fangotto and Spanish fajo (“bundle, wad”). Perhaps from a diminutive of Vulgar Latin *facus, from Latin fascis (“bundle of wood”). Compare also Old High German fazza (“bundle, load, burden”). Doublet of fagotto. See also: fag.
The senses relating to persons, though possibly originating as an extension of the sense "bundle of sticks", may have been reinforced by faygele, from Yiddish פֿייגעלע (feygele, “homosexual”, literally “little bird”), related to English fowl.

der

In the depth of, winter, however, a faggot of real French Sticks — although of little intrinsic value — may possibly enliven for a few moments an English Fireside.

1853, Sir Francis Bond Head, A faggot of French sticks: or, Paris in 1851, page 2:

Besides the logs and roots that simmered with turves and dung on the cottage fire, rapid heat for bread-making came from faggots - bundles of dry twigs about 4 ft long - which were fed into the oven, burned and then removed as ash before the dough went in.

1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 118:

(chiefly UK, Ireland, collective) A bundle of sticks or brushwood intended to be used for fuel tied together for carrying. (Some sources specify that a faggot is tied with two bands or withes, whereas a bavin is tied with just one.)

Today would be faggots in gravy and chocolate pudding with a white sauce. I didn't like faggots but picked at them and rolled the peas around my plate.

2008, Julie Hodgson, In My Father's Pockets, page 16:

(now sometimes offensive (see usage notes), chiefly UK, Ireland) A meatball made with offcuts and offal, especially pork. (See Wikipedia.)

I appoynt thée no more continencie, than to eate while thy bellie is full, nor conﬅancie, but to brawle rather than burne: a filbert is better than a faggot, except it be an Athenian ſhe handfull: you know that Coſmoſophos, euer ſince your laﬅ mariage, how doth the father of your ſonne in law?

1591, T[homas] L[odge] of Lincolns, Catharos Diogenes in his Singularitie: Wherein is comprehended his merrie baighting fit for all mens benefits: Christened by him, A Nettle for Nice Noſes, London: Iohn Busbie, page 12; republished [Glasgow]: [Hunterian Club], [1875]:

she wants me to go to bed to her, and I won't, ... for she is as crooked as a ram's horn ... and as ugly as sin besides ; rot her, the dirty little faggot, she torments me.

1796, Theobald Wolfe Tone, Autobiography:

The woman, in accordance with the custom of the country, raised the Irish cry, in a loud melancholy wail ...
Darby, who prided himself on maintaining silence, could not preserve the consistency of his character upon this occasion ... "Your sowl to the divil, you faggot!" he exclaimed, "what do you mane? The divil whip the tongue out o' you! ..."

1834, William Carleton, The Midnight Mass:

he used to be pretending to be laid up with a sick voice doing his highness to make himself interesting for that old faggot Mrs Riordan that he thought he had a great leg of and she never left us a farthing all for masses for herself and her soul greatest miser ever was actually afraid to lay out 4d for her methylated spirit […]

1922, James Joyce, chapter 18, in Ulysses:

To me she is fractious, tiresome, and a faggot. Yet the subtle desirableness is in her, for me. As it is in the brown hen, or even a sow.

1925, D. H. Lawrence, Reflections on the Death of a Porcupine and Other Essays: .. Love Was Once a Little Boy:

MOTHER: To see who?
DA: You faggot, you; don't let on you don't know.

(UK, Ireland, dated, colloquial, derogatory, now offensive) A shrewish woman.

The Glasgow Herald thought that his attack on the faggots was too serious […]

1973, Ellen Reid Gold, Gladstone in Midlothian: A Rhetorical Analysis of His 1879 Campaign, page 114:

(UK, Ireland, historical, possibly now offensive) A faggot voter.

(UK, Ireland, dated, slang, now offensive) A lazy, weak, work-shy person.


unitary

Outside the metropolitan areas most councils (English and Welsh counties, London boroughs, Scottish and Welsh unitaries, and Northern Ireland districts) are now elected en bloc every four years.

2005, John Greenwood, Robert Pyper, David Wilson, New Public Administration in Britain:


poof

en-noun

poof (plural poofs or (less common) pooves)

He recalls how everybody got called a ‘poof’ at Forrester High School in the seventies. Back then, only ‘wanker’ possibly rivalled it as the most common term of abuse. But The Poof was the Poof.

2015, Irvine Welsh, A Decent Ride, Random House, →ISBN, page 21:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, derogatory, colloquial) A gay man; especially one who is effeminate.


blow off

en-verb

blow off (third-person singular simple present blows off, present participle blowing off, simple past blew off, past participle blown off)

blows off (present singular third-person)
blowing off (participle present)
blew off (past)
blown off (participle past)

Please avoid blowing off while we're in church.

(intransitive, euphemistic, UK, Australia) Synonym of fart.


gents

A clipped form of gentlemen. As a room, via misspelling of gents', a clipped form of gentlemen's room.

Where is the gents? I need a slash.

A gents' toilet room might be found in a house that caters for the cheaper class of theatrical patronage, where the slangy language of the "goin' to the mat this aft?" style prevails. A gents toilet room is not found in the Southern Hotel. It either "men's" or "gentlemen's".

1898, The Hotel/Motor Hotel Monthly, volume 6, page 27:

London's first 'gents' public toilets were opened in Fleet Street in 1851, followed in 1852 by a 'ladies' toilet at 51 Bedford Street, Strand.

2000, Munroe Blair, Ceramic Water Closets, page 15:

One unidentified man spoke of how he was approached to "go to the Gents" with an MP at an event for young political activists while another man described how an MP invited his entire office staff to a gay bar.

2014 April 11, Charlotte Meredith, “The Palace of Sexminster”, in Huffington Post: United Kingdom:

(chiefly UK, informal euphemistic) A men's room: a lavatory intended for use by men.


office

Tok Pisin: opis

→ Belarusian: о́фіс (ófis)

→ Bulgarian: о́фис (ófis)

→ Cebuano: opis

→ Chichewa: ofesi

→ Central Dusun: upis

→ Hindi: ऑफ़िस (ŏfis)

→ Iban: opis

→ Japanese: オフィス

→ Marshallese: wōpij

→ Malay: opis

→ Russian: о́фис (ófis)

→ Scottish Gaelic: oifis

→ Swahili: afisi

→ Tausug: upis

→ Ukrainian: о́фіс (ófis)

Microsoft Office
office (disambiguation)

From Middle English office, from Old French office, from Latin officium (“personal, official, or moral duty; official position; function; ceremony, esp. last rites”), contracted from opificium (“construction: the act of building or the thing built”), from opifex (“doer of work, craftsman”) + -ium (“-y”, forming actions), from op- (“work”) + -i- (connective) + -fex (combining form of faciō (“to do, to make”)).
The use in reference to office software is a genericization of various proprietary program suites, such as Microsoft Office.

zyrë

room(s) or building used for non-manual work

The secretary of state's British colleague heads the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

(figuratively, in large organizations) The administrative departments housed in such places, particularly:

(UK, Australia, usually capitalized, with clarifying modifier) A ministry or other department of government.

If they find the treason or felony... of the party accused... the king is thereupon, by virtue of this office found, intitled to have his forfeitures.

1768, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, volume III, page 259:

If the Crown claimed the land of an idiot, the person had first to be found an idiot by office.

1977, John McDonald Burke, Jowitt's Dictionary of English Law, volume I, page 280:

inquest of office
inquest of office#English

(UK law, historical) Clipping of inquest of office:

I withdraw into ‘the office’, otherwise the observer's cockpit.

1917, Alan Bott, An Airman's Outings, page 161:

In the slang of the Royal Air Force man, the cockpit of his plane is the ‘pulpit’ or ‘office’, the glass covering over it the ‘greenhouse’.

‘Up in the office they too knew it.’ ‘The office? You mean the flight deck?’ ‘Just that. No more. No less. The office.’

(UK military slang, dated) A plane's cockpit, particularly an observer's cockpit.


gate

Borrowed from Old Norse gata, from Proto-Germanic *gatwǭ. Cognate with Danish gade, Swedish gata, German Gasse (“lane”). Doublet of gait.

(British, Scotland, dialect, archaic) Manner; gait.


avail

en-noun

avail (countable and uncountable, plural avails)

From Middle English availen (“to be of use”), from Old French a (“to”) + vail from valoir (“to be worth”), from Latin valere (“to be worthy, strong”).

(British, acting) Non-binding notice of availability for work.


icebox

→ Sabah Malay: aisbuk

pakastelokero

compartment of a refrigerator used as a freezer

(UK) A compartment in a refrigerator that is colder than the rest of the refrigerator and is used as a freezer.


lair

From Middle English leir, leire, lair, lare, from Old English leġer (“couch, bed”), from Proto-Germanic *legrą, from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ-.

Then would I in Plenty's lap,
For the first time take a nap;
Falling back in easy lair,
Sweetly slumb'ring in my chair;

1820, John Clare, “Address to Plenty in Winter”, in Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery, page 50:

Wake ye, sleep ye, my hapless boy,
In this homeless house of care?
Lack ye the warmth of a mother's eye
On the cauldrife, lonely lair?

1843 June 14, William Thom, “Extract from a Letter to J. Robertson, Esq.”, in Rhymes and Recollections of a Hand-loom Weaver, 3rd edition, London: Smith, Elder and Co., published 1847, page 136:

(British dialectal) A bed or resting place.


lair

en-verb

lair (third-person singular simple present lairs, present participle lairing, simple past and past participle laired)

lairs (present singular third-person)
lairing (participle present)
laired (participle past)
laired (past)

The lee-light that December gies
Was lairing in the wast,
Whan Christy wi' her oa claes,
Was boun' to dree the blast.

1822, Hew Ainslie, “The Waesome Death O' Christy Ford”, in A Pilgrimage to the Land of Burns, Deptford: W. Brown, page 42:


soldier

From Middle English soudeour, from Old French soudier or soudeour (“mercenary”), from Medieval Latin soldarius (“soldier (one having pay)”), from Late Latin solidus, a type of coin. Displaced Old English cempa (whence obsolete kemp).
(red herring): An allusion to soldiers' red uniforms; red herring is, reciprocally, a slang term for "soldier".

der

Beside his egg was a plate of buttered toast, already cut up into soldiers.

2008, Nicholas Drayson, A Guide to the Birds of East Africa, page 180:

(British, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand) A piece of buttered bread (or toast), cut into a long thin strip for dipping into a soft-boiled egg.


sub-lieutenant

commissioned officer
commissioned officer

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

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


bally

He's just a bally idiot.

However, be that as it may and whether you liked the bally thing or didn't, the point was that it had vanished [...] It amazed me that I could have allowed myself to be let in for a binge of this description simply because a woman wished it. Too bally chivalrous for our own good, we Woosters, and always have been. [...] “When you hear me burst into song, you'll know there's peril afoot and you'll have plenty of time to nip out of the window.” “And break my bally neck?” [...] “Nothing can possibly go wrong.” “Just as you say, sir. But I still have that feeling.” The blood of the Woosters is hot, and I was about to tell him in set terms what I thought of his bally feeling, when I suddenly spotted what it was that was making him crab the act.

1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “VII, VIII, AND XV”, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

“Bunny has a bad heart.” She glanced toward the corpse in the hallway. “The bally fool... the stupid, bally fool.

1984, Armistead Maupin, Babycakes, page 134:

(British, dated, euphemistic) Bloody (used as a mild intensifier).


bally

That was a bally foolish thing to do, old chap!


Paki

Either a clipping of Pakistani or a back-formation from Pakistan. Doublet of Pak.

Their byword is Aggro (Aggravation) and their crucial enemies are hippies, homosexuals and Pakis (Pakistanis or Indians).

1970 March 29, Nik Cohn, “England's New Teen Style Is Violence”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Paragraph 2, DPP v Collins ([2006] 1 WLR 2223)
In these telephone calls and recorded messages the respondent, who held strong views on immigration and asylum policy and the provision of public support to immigrants and applicants for asylum, ranted and shouted and made reference to "Wogs", "Pakis", "Black bastards" and […] "Niggers".

(UK, Canada, by extension) Anyone whose origins are perceived to be from South Asia/the Indian subcontinent.


Paki

(British, Canada, derogatory, ethnic slur) Pakistani, or perceived to be Pakistani.


jammy

en-adj

jammy (comparative jammier, superlative jammiest)

jammier (comparative)
jammiest (superlative)

jammy bastard

jammy sod

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


fridge

en-verb

fridge (third-person singular simple present fridges, present participle fridging, simple past and past participle fridged)

fridges (present singular third-person)
fridging (participle present)
fridged (participle past)
fridged (past)

Probably imitative of the sound of chafing or rubbing.

A Man's body and his mind, with the utmoſt reverence to both I ſpeak it, are exactly like a jerkin, and a jerkin's lining;—rumple the one—you rumple the other. There is one certain exception however in this caſe, and that is, when you are ſo fortunate a fellow, as to have had your jerkin made of a gum-taffeta, and the body-lining to it, of a ſarcenet or thin perſian. […] [Y]ou might have rumpled and crumpled, and doubled and creaſed, and fretted and fridged the outſides of them all to pieces;—in ſhort, you might have played the very devil with them, and at the ſame time, not one of the inſides of 'em would have been one button the worſe, for all you had done to them.

1761, [Laurence Sterne], chapter IV, in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, volume III, London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley […], →OCLC, pages 13–15:

The town spread upwards before them, smoking vaguely in the midday glare, fridging the crest away to the south with spires and factory bulks and chimneys.

1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “The Early Married Life of the Morels”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC, part I, page 20:

(transitive, archaic, chiefly British, dialectal) To chafe or rub (something).


pad

1554, "bundle of straw to lie on", probably from Low German or West Flemish pad (“sole of the foot”), perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pent- (“to pass”), which would make it related to both path and find.

unk

probably


pad

From Middle English pade, padde, from Old English padde, from Proto-West Germanic *paddā, from Proto-Germanic *paddǭ (“toad”). Cognate with Dutch pad, German Low German Pad (“toad”), dialectal German Padde, Danish padde, Swedish padda, Icelandic padda (“toad”), and possibly to English paddle. Doublet of pode


pad

From Dutch pad or Middle Low German pat (“path”). Doublet of path.

And when the map shows that the creek will no longer take him where he wants to go, then he looks for an animal pad and follows it, getting down on his belly and wriggling under thorny bush when he has to.

1999, Julia Leigh, The Hunter, Faber & Faber 2012, p. 36

(British dialectal, Australia, Ireland) A path, particularly one unformed or unmaintained; a track made by animals.

A Pad came pacing down the way : / The Cur, with never-ceasing tongue , / Upon the passing trav'ler sprung

1720, John Gay, “Fables”, in Poems on Several Occasions:

These free-born sounds proceeded from four pads / In ambush laid, who had perceived him loiter / Behind his carriage; and, like handy lads, / Had seized the lucky hour to reconnoitre

1819–1824, [Lord Byron], Don Juan, London, (please specify |canto=I to XVII):

(British, obsolete) A robber who infests the road on foot; a highwayman or footpad.

(British, obsolete) A tramp or itinerant musician.


pad

Perhaps

(British, dialectal) A type of wickerwork basket, especially as used as a measure of fish or other goods.


para

en-adj

para (comparative more para, superlative most para)

more para (comparative)
most para (superlative)


monitor

From Latin monitor (“warner”), from perfect passive participle monitus (“warning”), from verb monere (“to warn, admonish, remind”). Warship sense is from USS Monitor, the first ship of this type.

So, as she did not like the masters to be prying about the play-ground out of school, she chose from among the biggest and most trustworthy of her pupils five monitors, who had authority over the rest of the Boys, and kept the unruly ones in order.

1871, Henry William Pullen, The Fight at Dame Europa's School:

But it was not so—at least, not always—for though they fell out among themselves, they united their forces against the common enemy—the monitors!

1881, Talbot Baines Reed, chapter X, in The Fifth Form at St. Dominic's:

He learned that a monitor should assist the teachers in distributing worksheets, maintaining class discipline, helping classmates in need and so on.

(Can we date this quote?), Pearl Poon, Class Monitor Election, Hong Kong ICAC Comics:

(Hong Kong, Singapore, archaic in British) A student leader in a class.


broach

From Middle English broche, from Old French broche, from Vulgar Latin *brocca, originally a feminine form of Latin broccus, perhaps ultimately of Gaulish origin (see Scottish Gaelic bròg; cognate to brochure).

(architecture, UK, dialect) A spire rising from a tower.


nancy

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

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


baggy

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

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

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


mag

"Why, of course you wanted to get in," Mr. Bucket asserts with cheerfulness; "but for a old gentleman at your time of life […] not to consider that if he don't keep such a business as the present as close as possible it can't be worth a mag to him, is so curious! You see your temper got the better of you; that's where you lost ground," says Mr. Bucket in an argumentative and friendly way.

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

When all your tin is gone and spent,
 And you've not a mag for bread or rent

1861, Philip William Perfitt, The Pathfinder, page 377:


quite

A development of quit, influence by Anglo-Norman quite. For an analogous semantic development from the same root, compare Armenian շատ (šat).

“That's a rather ugly colour for a house, don't you think?” — “Quite.”

(chiefly UK) Indicates agreement; exactly so.


sac

But it is really the court-baron which represents the ancient assembly of the mark, while the court-leet represents the lord's jurisdiction of sac and soc, whether granted before or since the coming of William.

1876, Edward Augustus Freeman, The History of the Norman Conquest of England, page 311:

In later times, if the lord had "sac and soc,” his court had the authority of the Court Leet; if he had the view of frankpledge the suitors at his court were free from attendance at the sheriff's tourn; his court was then in all points like the hundred court, but independent of the sheriff.

1882, William White, History, gazetteer, and directory, of Lincolnshire, page 21:

The grant of “sac and soc” did not always carry with it the right to hold a court, but frequently amounted only to the privilege of receiving the forfeitures the lord's men should incur in the Hundred court, or possibly to one-third of the revenues of the Hundred and Shire, which had formerly gone to the ealdorman.

1899 February, F. M. Cobb, “Early English Courts”, in The Western Reserve Law Journal, volume 5, number 1, page 16:

(UK, law, historical) The privilege, formerly enjoyed by the lord of a manor, of holding courts, trying causes, and imposing fines; now used only in the phrase sac and soc or soc and sac.


page

From Old French page, possibly via Italian paggio, from Late Latin pagius (“servant”), probably from Ancient Greek παιδίον (paidíon, “boy, lad”), from παῖς (paîs, “child”); some sources consider this unlikely and suggest instead Latin pagus (“countryside”), in sense of "boy from the rural regions". Used in English from the 13th century onwards.

der

(British) A youth employed for doing errands, waiting on the door, and similar service in households.


burke

en-verb

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Socrates and Plato burked the issue.

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


burke

(British, slang) Alternative form of berk


par

en-noun

par (countable and uncountable, plural pars)

(UK) An amount which is taken as an average or mean.


daff

en-verb

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

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

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

inh

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

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

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

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

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


daff

Get your daffs here - £2 a bunch.

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

1934, Dorothy L. Sayers, The Nine Tailors:

(British, informal) Clipping of daffodil.


faeces

en-noun

faeces pl (normally plural, singular faex)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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