chaurin.
/ˈtʃaʊri/ A whisk or fly-flapper, made of hair or feathers (properly the bushy tail of the Tibetan Yak).‘In a costly decorated handle, it was one of the insignia of ancient Asiatic royalty’. In 17–18th cent. commonly called cow-tail by English-speakers.
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the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > pest control > [noun] > device for catching flies > device for driving off flies
werela1390
flapc1440
fly-flapc1440
flapper1570
flip-flap1600
cow-tail1672
fly-flapper1749
chauri1777
fly-brush1838
fly-whisk1838
fly-duster1860
scare-fly1862
fly-whipper1872
fly-fan1891
fly-flick1914
fly-swatter1917
swatter1917
fly-swish1922
swatting1925
fly-swat1937
1777 Stewart Thibet in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 67 484 The tails..are used, mounted on silver handles, for Chowras.
c1813 M. M. Sherwood Stories Church Catech. xxvii. 283 A black woman..beating away the flies with a chowry.
1827 W. Scott Surgeon's Daughter in Chron. Canongate 1st Ser. II. xv. 351 A confidential servant..waved the great chowry, or cow-tail, to keep off the flies.
1848 J. H. Stocqueler Oriental Interpreter Chowrie, or whisk, made by fastening horse-hair to a short stick, commonly lacquered in rings of alternate colours. This implement is used to drive the flies away.
1864 J. A. Grant Walk across Afr. 146 A small boy..carried his chowrie, or fly-flapper.
1881 J. Grant Cameronians I. iii. 42 No need for a chowree to whisk inside the curtains here, as in India.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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