† coshn.1
Obsolete or dialect.
A small cottage, hut, hovel.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > hut or hovel > [noun]
hulka1000
boothc1200
hull?c1225
lodge1290
hottea1325
holetc1380
tavern1382
scalea1400
schura1400
tugury1412
donjon?a1439
cabinc1440
coshc1490
cabinet1579
bully1598
crib1600
shed1600
hut1637
hovela1640
boorachc1660
barrack1686
bothy1750
corf1770
rancho1819
shanty1820
kraal1832
shelty1834
shackle1835
mia-mia1837
wickiup1838
caboose1839
chantier1849
hangar1852
caban1866
shebang1867
humpy1873
shack1878
hale1885
bach1927
jhuggi1927
favela1961
hokkie1973
c1490 Promptorium Parvulorum 94 Coote, lytylle howse [King's Cambr. cosh, Phillipps cosche, Pynson cosshe], casa.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. CCCiiii Some persons buyldeth to god but a pore cosshe or smal cotage.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 209/1 Cosshe a sorie house, cauerne.
1547 W. Salesbury Dict. Eng. & Welshe Bwth, cottage, cosse.
1847 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words I Cosh, a cottage, or hovel. Craven.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
coshn.2
dialect.
The husk of grain; the pod of beans or pease.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > corn, cereals, or grain > [noun] > chaff or husks of grain
grita700
chaffc1000
crapa1425
coralc1440
pug?1440
shelling1598
shood1601
ray1656
scufting1688
rubble1767
cosh1787
sheeling-seeds1802
1787 W. Marshall Provincialisms in Rural Econ. Norfolk II. 377 Cosh, the husk or chaff of wheat and oats.
1866 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 2nd Ser. 2 i. 167 The..cost of separating it [seed] from the husk or cosh must always be considerable.
1886 R. E. G. Cole Gloss. Words S.-W. Lincs. Cosh, the pod of beans or tares: as ‘Tars have such a many coshes’; hence also Cosh'd: as ‘How well the beans are cosh'd’.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online June 2018).
coshn.3
/kɒʃ/, U.S. /kɑʃ/ slang.
a. A stout stick, bludgeon or truncheon; a length of metal used as a life-preserver; also (dialect), a stick; a school cane; a caning. under the cosh, at one's mercy, helpless.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > club or stick > [noun]
sowelc893
treec893
cudgelc897
stinga900
bat?c1225
sticka1275
clubc1275
truncheon14..
bourdonc1325
bastona1400
warderera1400
plantc1400
kibble1411
playloomc1440
hurlbatc1450
ploykc1450
rung1491
libberlac1500
waster1533
batonc1550
macana1555
libbet1562
bastinado1574
crab-tree comb1593
tomahawkc1612
billeta1616
wiper1622
batoon1637
gibbeta1640
crab-bat1647
kibbo1688
Indian club1694
batterdasher1696
crab-stick1703
bloodwipea1705
bludgeon1730
kierie1731
oaken towel1739
crab1740
shillelagh1772
knobstick1783
pogamogganc1788
whirlbat1791
nulla-nulla1798
waddy1800
kevel1807
supple1815
mere1820
hurlet1825
knobkerrie1826
blackthorn1829
bastera1833
twig1842
leangle1845
alpeen1847
banger1849
billy1856
thwack-stave1857
clump1868
cosh1869
nulla1878
sap1899
waddy1899
blunt instrument1923
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > there is danger in a course of action [phrase] > unprotected > helpless
over a barrel1939
under the cosh1958
1869 F. Henderson Six Years in Prisons Eng. vii. 76 The coshman (a man who carries a ‘cosh’ or life preserver).
1874 Hotten's Slang Dict. (rev. ed.) 129 Cosh, a neddy, a life-preserver; any short, loaded bludgeon.
a1889 in Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang (1889) (at cited word) The officer..sought to give the finishing coup de grâce with his cosh.
1893 H. T. Cozens-Hardy Broad Norfolk (Eastern Daily Press) 83 Words which I have been accustomed to hear in common use... Cosh,..a stick.
1896 A. Morrison Child of Jago i The cosh was a foot length of iron rod, with a knob at one end, and a hook (or a ring) at the other.
1898 Eng. Dial. Dict. at Cosh A caning at school. War[wickshire]. You will get the cosh.
1904 Daily Chron. 29 Sept. 4/5 ‘Coshes’—pieces of lead pipe, known to the police as life-preservers.
1925 E. Fraser & J. Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 64 Cosh, the bludgeon carried by night patrols men and trench raiders.
1925 E. Fraser & J. Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 138 Kosh, a name for a trench club, or knobkerry, used in trench raids.
1927 Weekly Disp. 23 Oct. 4 A truncheon, or, in prison vernacular, ‘kosh’.
1958 F. Norman Bang to Rights i. 37 In the nick where you are under the cosh..most of the screws seem to take a sadistic delight in makeing [sic] things as uncomfortable as they can for you.
1959 ‘M. Ainsworth’ Murder is Catching i. 19 Clench a newspaper over a handful of coins and you've got a comfortable little cosh.
1959 I. Opie & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolchildren xvii. 374 Amongst children one of the most common names for the cane is ‘the cosh’.
1960 Observer 24 Jan. 7/2 As for the Criminal Justice Act, it could be very useful to have all the villains under the cosh, as they expressed it. It made it much easier to get information.
1965 Spectator 15 Jan. 67/1 All chains gone from the boys' lavatories to make coshes.
b. elliptical. = cosh-boy n. at Compounds, cosh-man.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > rule of law > lawlessness > [noun] > crime > a criminal or law-breaker > other types of criminal
felon1297
misdemeanor1533
misfeasor1631
Alsatian1688
cosh-man1869
strong arm1893
street man1904
war criminal1906
Raffles1907
lone wolf1909
muscle man1929
single-o1930
hot rod1936
cosh1937
muscle boy1940
muscle1942
cosh-boy1953
cosh-bandit1954
slag1955
frightener1962
scammer1972
shonk1981
bail bandit1991
1937 E. Partridge Dict. Slang 182/2 Cosh,..with the, one who uses a cosh.
1963 ‘J. Bell’ Flat Tyre in Fulham iv. 36 He had been..picked as a useful cosh.
Compounds
attributive and in other combinations.
cosh-bandit n. one who uses or carries a cosh.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > criminality > criminal person > [noun] > violent > using cosh
cosh-man1869
cosh-boy1953
cosh-bandit1954
society > law > rule of law > lawlessness > [noun] > crime > a criminal or law-breaker > other types of criminal
felon1297
misdemeanor1533
misfeasor1631
Alsatian1688
cosh-man1869
strong arm1893
street man1904
war criminal1906
Raffles1907
lone wolf1909
muscle man1929
single-o1930
hot rod1936
cosh1937
muscle boy1940
muscle1942
cosh-boy1953
cosh-bandit1954
slag1955
frightener1962
scammer1972
shonk1981
bail bandit1991
1954 Britannica Bk. of Year 637/1 Cosh-bandit.
1964 Economist 6 June 1141/2 Unless it is taken..by cosh-bandits before he gets it.
cosh-boy n. = cosh-bandit n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > criminality > criminal person > [noun] > violent > using cosh
cosh-man1869
cosh-boy1953
cosh-bandit1954
society > law > rule of law > lawlessness > [noun] > crime > a criminal or law-breaker > other types of criminal
felon1297
misdemeanor1533
misfeasor1631
Alsatian1688
cosh-man1869
strong arm1893
street man1904
war criminal1906
Raffles1907
lone wolf1909
muscle man1929
single-o1930
hot rod1936
cosh1937
muscle boy1940
muscle1942
cosh-boy1953
cosh-bandit1954
slag1955
frightener1962
scammer1972
shonk1981
bail bandit1991
1953 ‘H. Cecil’ Nat. Causes xvii. 198 As a prosecutor he would become known as ‘The terror of the cosh boys’.
1954 Ann. Reg. 1953 7 Two ‘cosh boys’, as they were called (young ruffians armed with coshes or in some cases firearms), had been convicted.
cosh-man n. = cosh-bandit n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > criminality > criminal person > [noun] > violent > using cosh
cosh-man1869
cosh-boy1953
cosh-bandit1954
society > law > rule of law > lawlessness > [noun] > crime > a criminal or law-breaker > other types of criminal
felon1297
misdemeanor1533
misfeasor1631
Alsatian1688
cosh-man1869
strong arm1893
street man1904
war criminal1906
Raffles1907
lone wolf1909
muscle man1929
single-o1930
hot rod1936
cosh1937
muscle boy1940
muscle1942
cosh-boy1953
cosh-bandit1954
slag1955
frightener1962
scammer1972
shonk1981
bail bandit1991
1869Coshman [see sense a].
cosh-carrier n. a prostitute's bully; hence cosh-carrying.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > prostitution > [noun] > living on earnings of prostitute > man who > protector of prostitute or courtesan
ruffian1563
hackster1607
ruffiano1611
bully1675
cosh-carrier1893
protector1938
1893 Nottingham Daily Express 7 Mar. 6/1 ‘The next trade I shall start with will be that of a cosh-carrier.’ By this witness understood that Owen meant living with a woman, and being a ‘bully’ for her.
1896 A. Morrison Child of Jago i Cosh-carrying was near to being the major industry of the Jago.
1896 A. Morrison Child of Jago v She neither fought nor kept a cosh-carrier.
Derivatives
cosh v. (transitive) to strike with a cosh.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of striking with specific blunt weapon > strike with specific blunt weapon [verb (transitive)]
mellc1440
wapper1481
bebat1565
rib-roast1570
batonc1580
flail1582
club1593
bastonate1596
cudgel1598
rib-baste1598
shrub1599
truncheon1600
cut1607
scutch1611
macea1634
batoon1683
towel1705
quarterstaff1709
pole1728
handspike1836
blackjack1847
bludgeon1868
sandbag1887
cosh1922
sap1926
pistol-whip1930
knuckle-dust1962
1922 E. Wallace Flying Fifty-five xlii. 255 Somebody ‘koshed’ Miss Barrington's head lad and nearly killed him.
1927 E. Wallace Squeaker xxvii. 253 He pulled the life-preserver from his pocket and thrust it into Leslie's hand. ‘Go and cosh him!’
coshed adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of striking with specific blunt weapon > [adjective] > struck with specific blunt weapon
bastoned1593
staveda1625
bludgeoned1887
coshed1896
1896 A. Morrison Child of Jago i The coshed subject..felt the colder air, and moved a leg.
1896 A. Morrison Child of Jago i With a sudden blow behind the head, the stranger was happily coshed.
ˈcosher n.
ΚΠ
1889 C. T. Clarkson & J. H. Richardson Police! xxv. 348 ‘Coshers’ and ‘trippers’ or ‘picking-up molls’, are vile men and women who travel from town to town.
1905 Eng. Dial. Dict.: Suppl. 75/1 Cosher, Brks., a slang word for ‘policeman’.
ˈcoshing n. and adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of striking with specific blunt weapon > [noun]
staving1487
clubbing1593
swaddling1621
rib-basting1659
bludgeon-work1813
coshing1898
pistol-whipping1928
1898 Eng. Dial. Dict. at Cosh To beat, flog with a stick. Hence coshing, a flogging, a caning at school.
1959 I. Opie & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolchildren xvii. 374 The miscreant receives what is variously termed a..caning, clouting, coshing, [etc.].
1961 Economist 9 Dec. 1021/2 The coshing, car-getaway, cash-grabbing streets of London today.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1972; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
coshn.4
/kɒʃ/, /kɒˈseɪtʃ/, U.S. /kɑʃ/ Mathematics.
= hyperbolic cosine at hyperbolic adj. 2b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > geometry > [noun] > branches of > trigonometry > functions of > hyperbolic
cosh1873
sinh1873
tanh1879
1873 Messenger Math. II. 189 (1 - x4)(1 - x4/34)…= cos (πx/2) cosh(πx/2).
1891 E. W. Hobson Treat. Plane Trigonom. xvi. 303 We have, at once from the definitions, the following relations between the hyperbolic functions: cosh2u− sinh2u = 1, [etc.].
1968 P. A. P. Moran Introd. Probability Theory vii. 324 Next the cosh term is expanded in an infinite series.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1972; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
coshadj.
/kɒʃ/, U.S. /kɑʃ/, Scottish English /kɔʃ/ Scottish and dialect.
1. Quiet, still.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > quietness or tranquillity > [adjective] > specifically of people or animals
queemlOE
quietc1384
cosh1803
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > inaudibility > [adjective] > silent > of places or times
stillc1275
quieta1382
silent1559
as silent as the grave1613
cosh1803
soundless1816
voiceless1816
1803 in W. Scott Minstrelsy Sc. Border (ed. 2) II. 376 He..sang fu' sweet the notes o' love, Till a' was cosh within.
1847–78 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words Cosh, quiet, still. Salop.
1881 Autobiog. J. Younger iv. 34 John Wallace had sat as cosh as a mouse in the corner.
1881 Autobiog. J. Younger xxiii. 284 All was hushed as cosh as midnight.
1893 N.E.D. at Cosh Mod. Sc. Keep it cosh! Be cosh about it.
2. Sheltered, snug, comfortable.
ΚΠ
a1774 R. Fergusson Poems (1785) 161 Blyth to find..That a' his housie looks sae cosh and clean.
1813 E. Picken Misc. Poems I. 124 (Jam.) I've guid gramashens worn mysel'..They kept me cosh baith cauf an' coots.
1837 R. Nicoll Poems (1842) 82 Beside our cosh hearthstane.
3. Trim, neat.
ΚΠ
1826 J. Wilson Noctes Ambrosianae xxiv, in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Feb. 215 They came all flocking in..their bosoms made cosh and tidy.
1832 J. D. Carrick in Whistle-Binkie 1st Ser. 48 The coshest wife that e'er I met, Was Mistress Dougal Dhu.
4. (See quot. 1808.)
ΚΠ
1808 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Cosh..4. In a state of intimacy; ‘They are very cosh’.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1c1490
n.21787
n.31869n.41873adj.a1774