nickern.1
/ˈnɪkə/, U.S. /ˈnɪkər/ Now archaic and historical. † 2. A demon, a devil. Obsolete. rare.
1. A supernatural being supposed to live in the sea or other waters; a water-demon, a kelpie. Formerly also (in Middle English): †a siren, a mermaid (obsolete).In Scottish tradition the being was supposed to appear in the form of a horse.In quot. OE4 translating Latin hippopotami.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > mythical creature or object > [noun] > aquatic monster or serpent
nickerOE
cetec1220
dragona1340
serra1449
hurlpool1553
afanc1573
orcc1590
sea monster1600
Hydrus1667
sea-dragon1749
kraken1755
sea-snake1755
Midgard1770
the (great) sea-serpent1774
sea-worm1799
taniwha1840
makara1873
Mamlambo1919
lau1923
Ogopogo1926
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > hybrid creature or monster > [noun] > of classical mythology > siren
mermineOE
nicker1340
sirenc1366
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > hybrid creature or monster > [noun] > human hybrid > mermaid or merman > mermaid
nicker1340
mermaidc1350
mermaiden1397
sea-maid1600
sea-woman1608
merwoman1811
merrymaid1865
Mammy Water1966
OE Beowulf 422 Þær ic..on yðum slog niceras nihtes.
OE Blickling Homilies 211 Þonne gewitan þa saula niðer..& him onfengon ða nicras.
OE Blickling Homilies 209 Under þæm stane wæs niccra eardung & wearga.
OE tr. Alexander's Let. to Aristotle (1995) §15. 234 Sona þæs ðe hie inne [i.e. in the river] wæron swa wæron þa nicoras gearwe.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 10851 Þat water is unimete brade nikeres þer baðieð inne.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 61 (MED) Hy byeþ a ssewynge of þe ze þet me klepeþ nykeren, þet habbeþ bodyes of wyfman and tayl of uisssse.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. 1439 Þer fand þei Nikers þat mery song þat drecched þam ferly long.
?a1475 Promptorium Parvulorum (Winch.) (1908) 307 Nykyr [a1500 King's Cambr. Nikyr]: In plurali Sirene.
a1500 Treat. Ghostly Battle in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1896) II. 435 (MED) The nykare [v.r. nekir], or meremaydene, that cast opone the water syde dyuerse thyngis whyche semene fayre..to mane, but anone as he taketh hit..she taketh hyme ande deuoureth hym.
1553 J. Withals Shorte Dict. f. 10/1 A nicre, remora, echeneis.
1603 Proph. Waldhaue in Whole Prophesie Scotl. sig. B7v There is a Neker in the North, thy nest shal destroy.
1834 Fraser's Mag. 10 54 The Anglo-Saxons did not cease to believe in the existence..of the elves and the nicers.
1853 C. Kingsley Hypatia I. xii. 257 ‘What is a nicor, Agilmund?’ ‘A sea-devil who eats sailors.’
1881 Contemp. Rev. Aug. 194 In folk-lore, the figure of Odin-Nikor..has been diffused into a host of water-sprites, male and female, whose names—Necks and Nixes, that is Nickses; or Neckers, Nickers, Nöckens, Nickels, and Nöckels—all point to the same root from which the name of Nikar, as well as that of the mystic Water-Horse, Nuggle, is derived.
1892 S. A. Brooke Hist. Early Eng. Lit. I. iii. 59 The nickers lie there on the sloping rocks of the ness, monsters that at mid-day go out into the open sea.
1922 E. R. Eddison Worm Ouroboros xiii. 189 Lions, dragons, nickers of the sea, spread-eagles, elephants.
1961 T. Gunn My Sad Captains 27 Creeping from sense to craftier sense..These men had fashioned a defence Against the nicker's snap, and hostile spear.
1965 ELH 32 427 Beowulf's byrnie wards off the attack of numbers of sædeor..which, like the nicker killed by the hero's arrow, recall the meredeor..of the boyish swimming-match.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > evil spirit or demon > [noun]
evil angel, spiritc950
ghosteOE
uncleanOE
demonOE
devilOE
devilshineOE
groa1225
debleriea1325
devilnessa1400
devilryc1400
sprat?a1475
nicker1481
fiend of hell1509
imp1526
virtue1584
elf1587
succubus1601
blue devilc1616
black man1656
woolsaw1757
buggane1775
bhut1785
demonic1785
pishachi1807
devil-devil1831
skookum1838
taipo1848
lightning bird1870
demonry1883
pisaca1885
mafufunyanas1963
mare1981
1481 W. Caxton tr. Hist. Reynard Fox (1970) 94 Alas me growleth of thyse fowle nyckers, Come they out of helle?
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
nickern.2
/ˈnɪkə/, U.S. /ˈnɪkər/ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > games of chance > [noun] > player of games of chance > cheat or swindler
butter1474
rooka1568
steal-counter1588
nicker1669
sharper1681
tat-monger1688
gambler1735
blackleg1767
gouger1790
sharp1797
tatsman1825
leggism1843
spieler1859
sniggler1887
1669 (title) The nicker nicked; or, the cheats of gaming discovered.
1674 C. Cotton Compl. Gamester xxx. 170 Four (called by the Tribe of Nickers little Dick-Fisher.
ΚΠ
1676 A. Marvell Mr. Smirke sig. K3v Yet I am not neither one of the most credulous nickers or applyers of natural events to humain transactions.
3. A member of a band of hooligans active in London in the early 18th cent., who made a practice of breaking windows by throwing copper coins at them. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > ruffianly conduct > ruffian > [noun] > breaking windows
nicker1716
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > violent behaviour > [noun] > rough or boisterous > person > specific
nicker1716
1716 J. Gay Trivia iii. 74 His scatter'd Pence the flying Nicker flings, And with the Copper Show'r the Casement rings.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iii. 361 At a later period arose the Nicker, the Hawcubite, and the yet more dreaded name of Mohawk.
1886 M. E. Braddon Mohawks ix The Flying Post described how the Nickers had broken all Mr. Topsparkle's windows with halfpence.
1895 E. C. Brewer Dict. Phrase & Fable (rev. ed.) 589/1 The succession of these London pests after the Restoration was in the following order: The Muns, the Tityré Tūs, the Hectors, the Scourers, the Nickers, then the Hawkubites..and then the Mohocks.
4. A person who or thing which nicks or cuts something.† a. A person who nicks horses' tails. Obsolete.† c. Telegraphy. A recording apparatus which makes nicks in a strip of paper. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > [noun] > docking or nicking > docker
docker1810
nicker1810
1810 Sporting Mag. 35 263 The defendant's witnesses, whom Mr. Serjeant Pell..described as croppers, dockers, nickers and trimmers.
1859 Harper's Mag. May 797/2 A close inspection showed that the cut which the nicker had given his tail was not yet quite healed.
b. Woodworking. That part of a centre bit which cuts the circular outline of the hole to be made by the tool.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > piercing or boring tools > [noun] > auger or gimlet > for specific shapes > part of
nicker1846
1846 C. Holtzapffel Turning & Mech. Manip. II. 541 A thin shearing point or nicker, that cuts through the fibres like the point of a knife.
1865 Routledge's Mag. for Boys June 353 The nicker leads or prepares the way for the cutter throughout the entire depth of the hole.
1947 H. E. King School Certificate Woodwork vi. 63 Boring Bits... The router and nicker are sharpened on the inside only.
1988 R. McMullan Macmillan Dict. Building 34/2 [The centre bit] has a central point and two side cutters or nickers.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telegraphy > telegraph > [noun] > types of > recording telegraphs
telegraph register1845
Morse1867
recorder1867
nicker1871
ink-writer1876
inker1882
ticker1883
news ticker1887
tape-machine1891
synchronograph1897
tape-ticker1904
undulator1910
reperforator1913
1871 Echo 2 Feb. Professor Morse's printing nickers and embossers.
5. colloquial (chiefly British). A person who steals something; a thief. Frequently with preceding noun.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > [noun]
thief688
bribera1387
stealer1508
taker?a1513
goodfellow1566
snatcher1575
lift1591
liftera1592
larcin1596
Tartar1602
lime-twig1606
outparter1607
Tartarian1608
flick1610
puggard1611
gilt1620
nim1630
highwayman1652
cloyer1659
out-trader1660
Robin Goodfellow1680
birdlime1705
gyp1728
filch1775
kiddy1780
snaveller1781
larcenist1803
pincher1814
geach1821
wharf-rat1823
toucher1837
larcener1839
snammer1839
drummer1856
gun1857
forker1867
gunsmith1869
nabber1880
thiever1899
tea-leaf1903
gun moll1908
nicker1909
knocker-off1926
possum1945
scuffler1961
rip-off1969
1909 Chatterbox 202/2 Common shore-thieves, or ‘nickers’, who are always present in our big seaport towns.
1988 Sunday Times (Nexis) 18 Sept. Buster Edwards..goes from nappy nicker at Mothercare to a trained member of a gang.
1989 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 3 Aug. 6 Can we really approve of that nicker of picnic baskets, Yogi Bear?
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† nickern.3
Obsolete.
1. A marble made of baked clay. Also in plural: a game played with such marbles.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > children's game > marbles > [noun] > marble > types of
nicker1675
alley1720
blood alley1821
commoney1837
Rouge Royal1837
peewee1848
stoney1856
knicker1860
bonce1862
plunker1863
dobber1875
agate1886
mig1886
glassy1887
miggle1890
shooter1892
aggie1896
knuckler1896
milkie1908
ghoen1913
miggie1916
immy1928
glarney1953
1675 T. Duffett Mock-tempest iv. i. 34 Now I can't teach my Wife to play Nickers.
1696 Philos. Trans. 1695–7 (Royal Soc.) 19 299 That kind [of Bean] which in Jamaica is called Ash-coloured-Nickar, from its being perfectly round and very like a Nickar, such as Boys use to play withal.
1699 A. Boyer Royal Dict. (at cited word) Marbles, Round fine clay Nickers for Children to play withal.
1700 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 22 703 The Boys play with these Fruit instead of Marvels or Nickars, from whence I suppose the name.
1847 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words II. 576/1 Nicker,..a little ball of clay or earth baked hard and oiled over for boys to play at nickers.
1894 J. Inglis Oor Ain Folk xii. 94 Every boy prided himself on having a favourite nicker.
2. = knicker n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > children's game > other children's games > [noun] > counter or button for throwing
dump1770
nicker1888
knicker1899
1888 Advance (Chicago) 27 Dec. What's a nicker? ‘A flat thick piece of lead..which you throw down at the buttons.’
1889 A. T. Pask Eyes of Thames 119 The leaden ‘nicker’ is produced from the trousers pocket.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
nickern.4
/ˈnɪkə/, U.S. /ˈnɪkər/ 1. The hard round seed of any of several trees or shrubs; esp. that of certain species of Caesalpinia (see sense 2), used as a bead, in folk medicines, and (esp. in the Caribbean) for playing marbles. See also nicker-nut n. at Compounds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > non-British shrubs > [noun] > tropical > bonduc > seed of
bean of Molucca1611
Molucca bean1675
Molucca nut1696
nicker1696
Virgin Mary's nut1703
1696 H. Sloane in Philos. Trans. 1695–7 (Royal Soc.) 19 299 The Third kind of Bean..was that kind which in Jamaica is called Ash-coloured-Nickar, from its being perfectly round and very like a Nickar, such as Boys use to play withal.
1961 F. G. Cassidy Jamaica Talk xii. 278 Instead of marbles various native seeds are used such as the nickal... Grey nickals are common, yellow ones are not.
2. Any of several trees or shrubs bearing hard round seeds; spec. (chiefly Caribbean) either of two tropical climbing shrubs of the genus Caesalpinia (family Caesalpiniaceae ( Leguminosae)) with flat spiny pods, one (in full grey nicker) with grey seeds, and the other (in full yellow nicker) with yellowish seeds; also called bonduc. Cf. earlier nicker-tree n. at Compounds.horse-nicker: see horse n. Compounds 2c.The Latin names of the grey and yellow nicker are much confused: cf. quot. 1938.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > non-British shrubs > [noun] > tropical > bonduc
bonduc1696
nicker-tree1696
horse-nicker1750
nicker1750
1750 G. Hughes Nat. Hist. Barbados 195 The Horse-Nicker is a small groveling tree, growing chiefly in a loose, marly, or sandy soil.
1756 P. Browne Civil & Nat. Hist. Jamaica ii. ii. 228 The Grey Nickar... The seeds are of a grey colour, and commonly used instead of marbles by all the boys.
1756 P. Browne Civil & Nat. Hist. Jamaica ii. ii. 228 The yellow Nickar. This plant resembles the foregoing [sc. the Grey Nickar].., but it is not prickly.
1792 M. Riddell Voy. Madeira 90 The guilandia moringa or yellow nickar..bears a..berry like polished marble.
1938 Jrnl. Bot., Brit. & Foreign 76 180 Caesalpinia Bonduc (L.) Roxb. ..This is the Grey Nickar, a species with..leaden-grey seeds, commonly known as C. bonducella (L.) Fleming or more recently as C. Crista L...Caesalpinia major (Medic.) Dandy & Exell, comb. nov... This is the Yellow Nickar, a species with..yellow or yellowish grey seeds, usually known as C. Bonduc Roxb.
1965 E. G. B. Gooding et al. Flora Barbados 176 Caesalpinia bonduc... Grey nicker, Horse-nicker... Shrub, often scrambling by means of prickles.
1982 C. R. Bell & B. J. Taylor Florida Wild Flowers 156/2 Yellow Nicker. Caesalpinia bonduc Roxburgh... (The very similar Gray Nicker, C. crista, may not be a biologically separate species.)
Compounds
nicker bean n. (a) = sense 1; (b) = sense 2 (cf. Molucca bean n.).
ΚΠ
1857 I. F. Holton New Granada iv. 47 I have seen it since.., growing in company with the low, straggling, abominably thorny bush that bears the burning beans or nicker-beans, Guilandina Bonduc.
1891 Bot. Gaz. 16 136 Another common plant of the lowlands [of Jamaica] and one which the collector is likely to remember with regret is the necker-bean. This is a more or less climbing shrub..bearing clusters of spiny pods which contain about two drab seeds the size of marbles.
1950 Ecol. Monogr. 20 328/1 The nicker bean, Guilandina crista, may also root on the dry land and then invade to the tops of the mangrove itself.
nicker-nut n. (a) = sense 1; (b) = sense 2.
ΚΠ
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Molucca,..the ash-coloured nickar-nut.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. I. 556/1 The seeds..are very hard, and beautifully polished, and are called Nicker nuts or Bonduc nuts.
1946 Amer. Jrnl. Bot. 33 418/2 On the beach are small clumps of the nicker-nut (Caesalpinia Bonducella).
1946 Amer. Jrnl. Bot. 33 447/1 This prickly plant with yellow flowers is the source of the gray nickar nuts of the tropics which are sometimes cast ashore on the coast of Ireland and Scotland.
1991 Ornament Autumn 68/2 In Costa Rica, gray nickernuts are often strung with seeds of the guanacaste (Enterolobium cyclocarpum), a huge tree of the rain forest.
nicker-tree n. any of several trees or shrubs bearing hard, round, often glossy seeds or fruits (cf. sense 2); esp. the bonduc, Caesalpinia bonduc, or (U.S.) the Kentucky coffee-tree, Gymnocladus dioica.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > non-British shrubs > [noun] > tropical > bonduc
bonduc1696
nicker-tree1696
horse-nicker1750
nicker1750
1696 H. Sloane Catal. Plantarum in Jamaica 145 The Ash-colour'd Nickar Tree.
1725 H. Sloane Voy. Islands II. 40 Nicker Tree. It grows among shrubs in the Savannas everywhere.
1750 G. Hughes Nat. Hist. Barbados 118 The Black Nicker-Tree. This grows to be a large tree covered with a bark of a greyish white.
1763 J. Clayton Let. 16 Mar. in William & Mary Q. (1926) 6 322 I should, in particular, be very glad to know if you saw anything of the Canada Bonduc, or Nickar-tree.
1847 Pharm. Jrnl. & Trans. 7 225 On the medicinal and economic properties of the Sapindus Saponaria. Soap Berry, or Black Nickar Tree.
1890 Notes & Queries 4 286 The name Nickar Tree is locally given in the United States to the Kentucky coffee tree.
1960 R. A. Vines Trees, Shrubs, & Woody Vines Southwest 531 Kentucky-mahogany, American Coffee-tree, Nicor-tree, and Stump-tree.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
nickern.5
/ˈnɪkə/, U.S. /ˈnɪkər/, Scottish English /ˈnɪkər/ Originally Scottish.
A neigh, a neighing sound. Also: a laugh, a snigger.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > sound made by horse > [noun] > neigh or whinny
wehee1362
neigha1522
nichera1791
nickera1791
whicker1882
whickering1899
the mind > emotion > pleasure > laughter > types of laughter > [noun] > sniggering > instance of
snirt1781
nichera1791
nickera1791
snigger1823
snitter1825
snicker1836
sniggle1852
squirk1882
squiggle1898
a1791 Lochmaben Harper xiii, in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1890) IV. vii. 19/2 His mare's away to Lochmaben, Wi' mony a nicker and mony a sneer.
1834 in C. Sharp Bishoprick Garland 42 Settin up a greater nicker and a whinney.
1883 R. Cleland Inchbracken xxvi. 210 She just leugh..an' syne she gae the ither nicker.
1887 Overland Monthly May 519/1 There was a sound of munching jaws and swishing tails, nickers and scuffles, all night among the wagons.
1916 Kelso Chron. 24 Mar. 3 The crack in the paper was gude, but the stour it has raised is geein' a' and sundra a graund nicker.
1932 W. James Big-enough i. 5 Once in a while when aching pains was at their worst he'd let out a weak nicker that could never be heard.
1953 M. Traynor Eng. Dial. Donegal 196/2 Nicker, a light kind of laugh, a snigger.
1976 D. M. Goodall Horses & their World ii. 26 Horses do talk to each other and to people by..the friendly nicker..of greeting.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
nickern.6
/ˈnɪkə/, U.S. /ˈnɪkər/ British slang.
One pound sterling; †a sovereign (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > sum of money > [noun] > specific sums of money > a pound
li.c1450
quid1661
strike1680
note1775
scrieve1821
nicker1871
saucepan lid1896
bar1911
berry1918
smacker1920
thick 'un1968
sob1970
1871 H. J. Byron Cyril's Success (new ed.) III. 45 I shall only be too delighted... That's a nicker for Treherne.
1910 Sessions Papers 1 June 128 I suppose this has cost you a couple of ‘nickers’.
1960 D. Lessing In Pursuit of Eng. ii. 66 It's a little matter. A hundred nicker. And it'd double itself in a year.
2000 J. Caughie Television Drama iv. 116 Don't go far when you're used to a hundred nicker in yer pocket.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
nickern.7
/ˈnɪkə/, U.S. /ˈnɪkər/ English regional (north midlands).
A woodpecker; (perhaps) spec. the green woodpecker, Picus viridis.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Piciformes > [noun] > family Picidae > genus Picus (woodpecker)
woodhackc1440
woodwall1490
woodpecker1530
woodhacker1548
woodpeck1552
woodspite1555
woodspeckc1560
modwall1572
eat-bill1598
speck1601
tree-jobber1601
hecco1604
eat-bee1608
knag1639
French pie1783
pie1783
nicker-pecker1787
rind-tabberer1848
peckerwood1859
nickle1885
nicker1886
the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Piciformes > [noun] > family Picidae > genus Picus (woodpecker) > picus viridis (green woodpecker)
rain-fowl1440
woodwall1490
speight1513
hickwall?1533
rainbird1544
woodspite1555
green-peak1598
yaffingale1609
pick-a-tree1615
witwall1668
storm cock1769
nicker-pecker1787
yaffle1792
awl-bird1802
popinjay1802
yaffler1802
dirt-bird1847
yuckle1847
stock eagle1884
nicker1886
1886 R. E. G. Cole Gloss. Words S.-W. Lincs. 98 Nicker,..a Woodpecker; as ‘Those nickers are calling out; they reckon it's a sign of wet.’
1995 J. M. Sims-Kimbrey Wodds & Doggerybaw: Lincs. Dial. Dict. 204/2 Nicker, a green woodpecker. ‘Theer's a nicker-ooāle in yon owd ak be the fence.’
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
nickerv.
/ˈnɪkə/, U.S. /ˈnɪkər/, Scottish English /ˈnɪkər/, Irish English /ˈnɪkər/ Originally Scottish.
1.
a. intransitive. Of a horse, donkey, etc.: to make a soft noise, as when recognizing a foal or being offered a titbit.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > sound made by horse > [verb (intransitive)] > neigh
neighOE
neicherc1550
wehee1602
nickerc1617
nichera1700
whicker1753
snicker1824
c1617 King James VI & I Poems (1958) II. 91 As cursouris nikkiris [v.r. nickers] rydand in the nicht.
1691 Bragadocio ii. i. 18 Not long, since the Horse in the Poultry-Market nicker'd for Provinder.
1773 R. Fergusson Poems 119 The cuissers prance and nicker, An' our the ley-rig scud.
1820 W. Scott Monastery III. viii. 214 Mounted on nags that nicker at the clash of a sword.
1862 Harper's Mag. July 156/2 He whistled, sang lively snatches of song, joked with the horse, and when the horse nickered laughed a young horse-laugh to keep him company.
1879 R. L. Stevenson Trav. with Donkey (1886) 21 This other donkey..and Modestine met, nickering for joy.
1926 Amer. Mercury Apr. 463/2 They looked up and nickered when we came into the barn.
1959 J. Thompson Getaway xi. 62 In one of the rear stalls, a sway-backed horse nickered contentedly.
1992 BBC Wildlife (BNC) Jan. 42 A mare can nicker when her foal has strayed towards a danger that she would not approach herself.
b. transitive. To utter in a fretful or peevish manner.
ΚΠ
1929 S. Lewis Dodsworth xiv. 145 ‘I just can't make love except by a north light!’ he nickered to Fran.
1986 New Yorker 25 Aug. 22/3 Ev was twitching and nickering, ‘Come on, Nor, come on. We'll have to sit way at the back. Come on!’
2. intransitive. English regional (northern), Scottish, and Irish English. To laugh loudly or shrilly; (now more usually) to laugh in a half-suppressed or secretive manner, to snicker. Also occasionally transitive: to utter (a laugh, etc.) in this manner.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > laughter > types of laughter > laugh in specific manner [verb (intransitive)] > snigger
neicherc1550
whickera1656
snicker1694
nichera1700
snigger1706
snirt1724
snirtle?a1786
sniggle1815
snitter1825
nicker1827
1827 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd 22 He nicker't sic a lang gaffaw.
1863 J. P. Robson Songs Bards of Tyne 254 The keel-bullies nick'rd, but on Mally toddled.
1887 ‘S. Tytler’ Logie Town I. xix. 208 Adam Lauder wondered what the deil that fine gentleman, young Burn Foot, was nickering at.
1953 M. Traynor Eng. Dial. Donegal 196/2 Nicker,..of persons: to snigger, laugh in a suppressed way.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1OE
n.21669
n.31675n.41696n.5a1791n.61871n.71886
v.c1617