ottern.1
/ˈɒtə/, U.S. /ˈɑdər/ 1. Any of various semiaquatic, fish-eating mustelid mammals of the subfamily Lutrinae, with short legs, webbed feet, and dense fur, able to swim with great agility; esp. Lutra lutra of Eurasian rivers and coasts. See also sea-otter n.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Mustelidae (weasel, marten, otter, or badger) > [noun] > genus Lutra (otter)
ottereOE
badger1591
river-dog1610
water weasel1611
dog-fisher1655
water dog1655
river otter1780
land otter1844
water wolf1907
eOE Épinal Gloss. (1974) 32 Lutrus, otr [eOE Erfurt Gloss. octur].
OE Antwerp Gloss. (1955) 73 Lutria, otor.
c1250 ( Bounds (Sawyer 492) in W. de G. Birch Cartularium Saxonicum (1887) II. 522 On suþeweardan of oteres hole up &lang wiliges oþþa lace.
c1300 St. Brendan (Laud) 642 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 237 On is hindore fet An Otur þare cam gon.
c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 118 As þe ottyr sleth fysch & gaderyth it on hepe in-to his hole.
?c1450 tr. Bk. Knight of La Tour Landry (1906) 22 (MED) Late us ete the gret ele, and y will saie to my husbond that the otour hathe eten hym.
a1500 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 700/16 Hic lutricius, a notyre.
1525 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles II. xcii. [lxxxviii.] 273 Lyke an Otter in the water.
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 iii. iii. 126 An Otter sir Iohn, why an Otter? Falst. Why? shees neither fish nor flesh. View more context for this quotation
1602 E. Hayes in J. Brereton Briefe Relation Discouerie Virginia 16 Beares, Otters, Wolves..and squirrels..[are] accounted very rich furres.
1693 tr. G. de Foigny New Discov. Terra Incognita ii. 25 The flesh resembles that of our Spanish otter.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth IV. 149 In the first step of the progression from land to amphibious animals, we find the Otter.
1811 in C. A. Johns Week at Lizard 64 To John Johns for an oater..1s.
1839 E. D. Clarke Trav. Var. Countries (new ed.) 136/1 Great quantities of the furs and skins of the otter, beaver, and fox, are annually brought to market by the traders.
1917 St. Nicholas Nov. 78/2 There was a time not so very long ago when these otters were found in the Pacific Ocean in countless herds.
1969 Observer 6 Apr. (Colour Suppl.) 13 Except in ‘Ring of Bright Water’ country and the remoter Scottish watersides, the otter must now be counted as rare.
1991 B. Tulloch Migrations (BNC) 63 Everyone is keen to see otter, but again they prove elusive.
2001 N. Griffiths Sheepshagger 227 Once he saw an otter slip smoothly from this water and climb the bank with a fish wriggling in its tomcat mouth and slide like oil into a burrow.
2. The fur or skin of an otter.
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society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > skin or hide > skin with hair attached or fur > [noun] > of otter
ottera1300
otter skina1399
sea-otter1813
Alaska seal1873
a1300 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Jesus Oxf.) 358 in R. Morris Old Eng. Misc. (1872) 70 Ne oter ne acquerne, Beuveyr ne sablyne.
1429 in F. W. Weaver Somerset Medieval Wills (1901) 131 (MED) Togam furratam [with] oter.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 250/1 Ottre, a furre, peaux de loutres.
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler ii. 41 The gloves of an Otter are the best fortification for your hands against wet weather. View more context for this quotation
1887 J. Ashby-Sterry Lazy Minstrel (1892) 46 You never..saw such A lithe little learner in otter.
1977 New Yorker 10 Oct. 72/1 Natural Canadian Otter.
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society > travel > travel by water > one who travels by water or sea > sailor > [noun]
shipmanc900
seamanOE
buscarlOE
shipperc1100
ship-gumec1275
marinerc1300
skipper1390
marinela1400
waterman1421
maryneller1470
seafarer1513
sea-fardingera1550
navigator1574
marinec1575
sailer1585
Triton1589
Neptunist1593
canvas-climber1609
sea-crab1609
tar-lubber1610
Neptunian1620
salt-rover1620
sailora1642
tarpaulin1647
otter1650
water dog1652
tarpauliana1656
Jack1659
tar1676
sea-animal1707
Jack tar1709
sailor-man1761
tarry-breeks1786
hearty1790
ocean-farera1806
tarry-jacket1822
Jacky1826
nautical1831
salt water1839
matelotc1847
knight of the tar-brush1866
main-yard man1867
gobby1883
tarry-John1888
blue jersey1889
lobscouser1889
flat-foot1897
handyman1899
1650 Irish Monthly Mercury No. 1. 3 'Tis a frequent rule with God, to evidence the sin in the punishment: neer 2000 of these Otters were drowned.
1728 Street-robberies, Consider'd 33 Otter, a Sailor.
4. An American breed of sheep having short crooked legs and long bodies. Also called ancon sheep. Now historical.Recorded earliest in otter sheep: see Compounds 2.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > genus Ovus > [noun] > Ovus Aries (domestic sheep) > specific breeds or members of > Ancon
otter sheep1809
ancon sheep1819
otter1890
1809 E. A. Kendall Trav. Northern Parts U.S. I. 309 Some of the farmers [in Connecticut] are partial to a remarkable variety of sheep, which they call the otter-sheep.
1813 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 103 88 Hence proceeded a strongly marked variety in this species of animals, before unknown in the world. It has been called by the name of the Otter breed.
1890 C. L. Morgan Animal Life & Intell. (1891) vi. 226 From this one lamb the otter, or ancon, breed was raised.
1911 Chambers's Jrnl. Dec. 776/1 Thus was laid the foundation of a variety called the ‘otter breed’ of sheep.
1948 E. N. Wentworth America's Sheep Trails xxiv. 550/2 From the standpoint of ‘Mendelian heredity,’ the most interesting breed of early sheep was the Ancon or Otter, which presented a typical unit character in a mutation to achondroplasia, the so-called ‘bull-dog’ type.
5. Fishing.
a. A fishing device, typically used by poachers or other unlicensed anglers, consisting of a wooden float with baited hooks attached that is paid out on a long line; (also) a similar device used by anglers to retrieve fishing gear that has become snagged.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > [noun] > kind of
prick-tackle1463
ledger-tackle1653
fly-tackle1834
otter1834
bait-tackle1835
paternoster tackle1852
spinning-tackle1856
otter-line1862
traveller1864
skate1882
sea-ledger1887
otter1898
otter-board1901
ripper1925
salmon tackle-
1834 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Nov. 577 Returnin' to the Loch, I thoucht I wud try the otter.
1851 H. Newland Erne 53 The otter is a thin piece of board, about four feet long and a foot or so broad.
1861 G. H. Kingsley in F. Galton Vacation Tourists & Trav. 1860 165 Certain Philistines have increased the mischief by permitting their gillies to use the otter.
1968 Economist 17 Aug. 46/3 In addition the angler needs all the paraphernalia of lines..casts, flies.., gadgets to tie them, ‘otters’ to free them from rocks and so on.
1987 Trout & Salmon Mar. 62/2 I had gone fishing one day without any form of otter in my bag, the only aids to bait-recovery in it being the usual length of string and some split key rings.
1999 Advocate (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) (Nexis) 23 Aug. 1–2 b In England during the 15th century..peasants would use trawls to poach fish from wealthy landowners' ponds. The doors became known as otters, because of the way they wobbled through the water.
b. = otter-board n. 3, door n. 4b. Now rare.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > [noun] > kind of
prick-tackle1463
ledger-tackle1653
fly-tackle1834
otter1834
bait-tackle1835
paternoster tackle1852
spinning-tackle1856
otter-line1862
traveller1864
skate1882
sea-ledger1887
otter1898
otter-board1901
ripper1925
salmon tackle-
1898 Daily News 19 Feb. 2/1 The steam catchers..are of the most approved type, with special steam winches and ‘Otter’ fishing gear.
1936 F. S. Russell & C. M. Yonge Seas (ed. 2) 275 In the case of the otter-trawl two ‘otters’ or ‘doors’ are used. To these the sides of the net's mouth are attached, and they are set at such angles that as they are drawn over the sea bottom they diverge farther and farther from the centre of the net's mouth until an equilibrium point is reached and the mouth of the net is stretched agape.
c. In extended use: a paravane used esp. in minesweeping.
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society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > naval weapons and equipment > [noun] > mine-sweeping devices
sweep1775
mine dredger1904
paravane1916
otter1920
Oropesa float1939
1910 Blackwood's Mag. June 899/1 We might adapt to naval use those poaching expedients, the ‘cross-line’ and the ‘otter’.]
1920 Nature 8 Jan. 487/1 The paravane or otter..proved a very effective weapon against both mines and submarines.
1920 Rep. Brit. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 1919 273 The Protector Paravanes, or Otters, carry a form of cutter, but no explosive charge whatever.
1954 J. J. Quill Bradford's Gloss. Sea Terms (new ed.) 138/2 The mooring of a mine coming in contact with this taut tow-line slides along to the otter where it enters a pair of cutting jaws and is cut adrift.
1988 Defence Update Nov. 9/2 The cables are separated by ‘otters’ which spread them out to either side of the ship.
6. slang. Among gay men: a man of slender or average build who has a hairy body. Cf. bear n.1 3d(b).
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1990 soc.motss 19 Sept. (Usenet newsgroup, accessed 4 Nov. 2019) [In a classification system for gay men regarded as bears.] A thin bear (otters!).
1993 Gay Scotland Jan. 24/1 (advt.) Otter required by small bear. Hibernation quarters provided if required.
2009 Time Out N.Y. 24 Sept. 94/3 [The DJs] dish out sexy, loungey sounds at the cozy den that gets packed weekly with cubs, otters, muscle bears, and various other forms of warm and woolly wildlife.
Compounds
C1. General attributive and objective.
otter-killer n.
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1655 I. Walton Compl. Angler (ed. 2) ii. 71 The want of Otter-killers..will in time prove the destruction of all Rivers.
1995 Re: Is Cocker still Sporting Breed? in rec.pets.dogs.breeds (Usenet newsgroup) 23 Feb. What do you suggest for working ability proof in the bull breeds the manhunters the ratters the fox and otter killers etc?
otter-track n.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Mustelidae (weasel, marten, otter, or badger) > [noun] > genus Lutra (otter) > track or trace of
marchc1425
otter-path1771
slide1842
otter-track1854
otter-mark1856
1854 W. H. C. Hosmer Poet. Wks. I. 284 Otter-tracks are by the trapper found Upon the yielding sand.
1864 J. C. Atkinson Stanton Grange 192 One or two points near the presumed otter-tracks.
1984 Washington Post (Nexis) 27 Jan. 47 Our disappointment dissipated when we came across unmistakable otter tracks on the beaver dam.
otter trap n.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > equipment > trap or snare > [noun] > trap for other animals
wolf pen1647
otter trap1659
marten trap1743
bear trap1771
sable-trap1784
coyote getter1961
1659 in H. W. Richardson York Deeds (Maine) (1887) II. f. 13 Reserveing..lyberty vnto mee..to sett otter Trapps with out Molestation.
1897 R. Munro Prehist. Probl. 245 Among the fishing gear..he includes this otter-trap.
1958 L. Whishaw As far as you'll take Me x. 142 Last of all he loaded two iron otter traps, resembling fencers' masks, but about four feet long and one and a half feet deep.
1984 E. Hoagland Balancing Acts (1993) 326 Their homestead..has been restored by the refuge management, with its cane-boiling syrup equipment..and toothed otter traps.
C2. † otter-dog n. Obsolete a dog used to hunt otters; an otterhound.† otter-line n. Obsolete rare = sense 5a.† otter-mark n. Obsolete rare a trace left by an otter; cf. march n.4, mark n.1 21.† otter-path n. Obsolete a continuous trail of prints left by an otter.† otter spear n. Obsolete a spear used in hunting otters.
otter canoe n. U.S. a kayak used by sea-otter hunters in Alaska.
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1871 Amer. Naturalist 4 69 An ‘otter canoe’. is fifteen feet long, nearly five feet wide, and eighteen inches deep... These boats are admirable sea-goers.
1997 T. Clark Empire Of Skin ii. 122 Continuous soft sound of Indian polishing otter canoe glassy hull for silent running up beach.
otter civet n. a semiaquatic civet of South-East Asia, Cynogale bennettii, which has short dark-brown fur and resembles an otter.
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1933 R. I. Pocock in Proc. Zool. Soc. 1032 (note) This species, which might popularly be called the Water-Civet or Otter-Civet, a comparatively large, heavily built, uniformly coloured, short-tailed animal, was described by Lydekker.
1991 R. M. Nowak Walker's Mammals of World (ed. 5) II. 1158/2 The otter civet is usually found near streams and swampy areas. It can climb well and, when chased by dogs, often takes refuge in a tree.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > hound > [noun] > otter-hound
otterhound1575
otter-dog1653
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler i. 4 All men that keep Otter dogs ought to have a Pension from the Commonwealth. View more context for this quotation
1840 T. Hood Up Rhine (1854) 71 If you only fancy the very worst country for hunting in the whole world, except for otter dogs, you will have it exactly.
1885 Cent. Mag. May 36/2 His close, heavy under fur and color..suggested a close relationship to the otter-dog.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > [noun] > kind of
prick-tackle1463
ledger-tackle1653
fly-tackle1834
otter1834
bait-tackle1835
paternoster tackle1852
spinning-tackle1856
otter-line1862
traveller1864
skate1882
sea-ledger1887
otter1898
otter-board1901
ripper1925
salmon tackle-
1862 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Mar. 182 Death stauns owre't wi' otter-line, Oot liftin' ten by ten.
otterman n. rare an angler who uses an otter (sense 5a).
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fisher > [noun] > using net > using trawl-net
trawler1599
trawler-man1618
trawl-man1775
fleeter1888
otterman1901
trawl-master1902
trawl-fisherman1907
1901 Field 5 Jan. 19/2 The otterman must chuckle inwardly when he sees a perspiring and jaded angler..with one or two fish in his basket.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Mustelidae (weasel, marten, otter, or badger) > [noun] > genus Lutra (otter) > track or trace of
marchc1425
otter-path1771
slide1842
otter-track1854
otter-mark1856
1856 P. E. Dove Logic Christian Faith v. i. §1. 247 We should understand why the otter-marks led to the water.
otter moth n. now rare the ghost moth, Hepialus humuli (family Hepialidae).
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Hepialidae > hepialus humuli (ghost moth)
ottera1400
miller's soul1585
ghost moth1776
otter moth1804
ghost swift1819
1804 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 12 229 Hop yards might be preserved from the honey-dew..and from the ottermoth, by being covered with stones.
1909 Daily Chron. 26 Aug. 4/7 What is left of the green shoots by the yellow flea becomes the prey of the red spider or the otter moth.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Mustelidae (weasel, marten, otter, or badger) > [noun] > genus Lutra (otter) > track or trace of
marchc1425
otter-path1771
slide1842
otter-track1854
otter-mark1856
1771 G. Cartwright Jrnl. (1792) I. 253 From the head of the pond, a good otter-path led into Twelve-o'clock Harbour.
1864 J. C. Atkinson Stanton Grange 189 What might have been termed an otter-path; not merely the track of his feet here and there.
otter sheep n. now historical a sheep of the otter breed (see sense 4).
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the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > genus Ovus > [noun] > Ovus Aries (domestic sheep) > specific breeds or members of > Ancon
otter sheep1809
ancon sheep1819
otter1890
1809Otter-sheep [see sense 4].
1863 H. S. Randall Pract. Shepherd (ed. 7) v. 42 A family of them, the Otter Sheep—so termed from their short, crooked, rickety legs.
1912 R. Lydekker Sheep ii. 38 They received the name of otter-sheep..and produced both good mutton and good wool, but their peculiar value in a country like New England consisted in their inability to break pasture.
1994 BioScience (Electronic ed.) 44 If the case of the otter sheep has any bearing on the subject of the origin of species it certainly shows that differentiation may take place by degradation as well as by elevation.
otter-shell n. any of various burrowing marine bivalve molluscs of the genus Lutraria (family Lutrariidae), with relatively thin elliptical shells.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Pelecypoda or Conchifera > [noun] > section Siphonida > sinu-pallialia > family Mactridae > member of
horseshoe1775
hen clam1841
otter-shell1865
trough shell1867
surf clam1873
1865 J. G. Wood Comm. Shells of Sea-shore 45 As is implied by the scientific title, Lutraria, the Otter-shells inhabit the mud, into which they burrow deeply, exactly as do the Gapers.
1865 J. G. Wood Comm. Shells of Sea-shore 47 The Oblong Otter-shell is not so plentiful as its oval relative.
1901 E. Step Shell Life ix. 152 Another small genus of this order is known as the Otter-shells (Lutraria), of which we have two species.
1977 N. F. McMillan Observer's Bk. Seashells 137 The three British Otter-shells (Family Lutrariidae) are large shells, the first-mentioned [sc. Lutraria lutraria] being the largest and also the most frequently encountered.
otter shrew n. any of various central African, semiaquatic, insectivorous mammals of the family Tenrecidae, esp. (more fully giant otter shrew) Potamogale velox, which resembles a small otter.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > [noun] > order Insectivora > family Tenrecidae (otter-shrew)
tenrec1729
Potamogale1860
otter shrew1876
tang1891
potamogalid1895
1876 A. R. Wallace Geogr. Distribution Animals I. v. 87 (table) Potamogalidæ... Otter Shrew.
1975 Nature 13 Nov. 107/2 Joysey and his colleague..were concerned particularly to look for specimens of the West African otter shrew (Potamogale velox), a large and vicious insectivore that lives in muddy water and is apparently active only at night.
2000 C. Tudge Variety of Life i. iii. 44 Mammals have returned to the water many times. In addition to pinnipeds and otters there are..insectivores like the water shrew and the giant otter-shrew of Central Africa, [etc.].
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the world > food and drink > hunting > equipment > [noun] > spear
boar-spear1465
otter spear1540
boar-staff1579
hunt-spear1594
wolf-spear1823
1540 in Wilts Archæol. Mag. 8 272 [They] did assaulte this deponent with their swerdes and an otter-speare.
a1589 L. Mascall Bk. Fishing 42 The Otter speare is vsed when a man hunteth the otter in riuers or brookes.
1736 Compl. Family-piece ii. i. 227 Observe his Vents, that you may strike him with your Otter Spear.
1817 W. Scott Rob Roy I. v. 109 Nets, fishing-rods, otter spears, hunting poles, with many other singular devices and engines for taking or killing game.
otter skin n. an otter pelt; (also, as a mass noun) the skin of the otter.
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society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > skin or hide > skin with hair attached or fur > [noun] > of otter
ottera1300
otter skina1399
sea-otter1813
Alaska seal1873
a1399 in W. G. Benham Oath Bk. Colchester (1907) 7 (MED) Weuerwombes and oter skynes, tymbar, v d.
1545 Rates Custome House sig. cjv Otter skynnes the pece xii.d.
1625 W. Morrell New-Eng. 18 An Otter skin their right armes doth keepe warme.
1725 D. Defoe New Voy. round World ii. 96 A Jerkin made of an Otter Skin.
1849 F. Parkman Calif. & Oregon Trail x. 144 The dandy carried a bow and arrows in an otter-skin quiver at his back.
1994 L. Erdich Bingo Palace xi. 135 Beaver and ermine and otter skins hang there.
otter tail n. a dog's tail resembling that of an otter.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > dog > [noun] > parts of > (parts of) tail
trundle-taila1640
whip tail1709
screw-tail1820
ringtail1871
worm1877
otter tail1932
1932 Lady Howe in A. C. Smith et al. Hounds & Dogs viii. 69 The tail..should be very thick towards the base gradually tapering towards the tip, of medium length, should be practically free from any feathering, but should be clothed thickly all round with the Labrador's short, thick, dense coat, thus giving that peculiar rounded appearance which has been described as the ‘otter’ tail.
1973 P. R. A. Moxon Gundogs (ed. 9) iv. 71 The Labrador Retriever..is undoubtedly ideal for water, the sleek water-resisting coat and ‘otter’ tail seeming almost designed for the job.
1994 Dog World June 54/1 Otter tail: Thick at the rot, round and tapering with the hair parted or divided on the underside.
otter trawl n. a trawl fitted with an otter-board (otter-board n. 3).
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > net > [noun] > drag-net
dray-netc1000
pullc1303
draw-net1386
dredge1471
drag1481
dragneta1542
train1576
tug-net1584
trainel1585
draught-net1630
trawl-net1697
trail1711
trawl1759
trail-net1820
pole trawl1836
train net1864
otter trawlc1870
turn-net1883
pair trawl1967
c1870 J. N. Hearder Guide Sea Fishing & Rivers S. Devon (ed. 5) 35 Otter trawl, improved construction, with otter boards.
1899 W. C. McIntosh Resources of Sea 93 The new otter-trawls capture more round than flat fishes.
1936 F. S. Russell & C. M. Yonge Seas (ed. 2) 275 In the case of the otter-trawl two ‘otters’ or ‘doors’ are used.
1995 Daily Tel. 27 Mar. 2/4 Until the 1960's, trawlers used otter trawls which could move further and caused much less damage to the sea bed.
otter trawling n. fishing with an otter-trawl.
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1889 Act 52 & 53 Vict. c. 23 §6 It shall not be lawful to use the method of fishing known as beam trawling or otter trawling within three miles of low water mark of any part of the coast of Scotland.
1976 Scotsman 25 Nov. 17/5 It shall not be lawful for any person to use for the purpose of catching herring any of the following methods of fishing, namely..otter trawling, [etc.].
1986 W. Clement Struggle to Organize ii. 25 Otter Trawling. Otter trawls are used to catch groundfish such as cod and haddock.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
ottern.2
Probably a transmission error in a late manuscript of Floris & Blauncheflur, showing otter fly for the correct reading butterfly. The form otter here is interpreted by N.E.D. (1903) as a use of otter n.1 short for otter moth n. at otter n.1 Compounds 2, although this is first attested four centuries later.The Early English Text Society edition (1901) remarks on the unreliability of the Sutherland MS (p. xliv). For the comparable passage in an earlier, probably more reliable manuscript, see quot. c1300.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Hepialidae > hepialus humuli (ghost moth)
ottera1400
miller's soul1585
ghost moth1776
otter moth1804
ghost swift1819
c1300 (c1250) Floris & Blauncheflur (Cambr.) (1966) l. 473 Þer fliste vt a buterfliȝe, Are ihc wiste, on min iȝe.]
a1400 (c1250) Floris & Blauncheflur (Egerton) (1966) 772 Or y it ere wyst, An otter [Fr. pappilon] fleyȝ ageynst my brest.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2004; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
otterv.
/ˈɒtə/, U.S. /ˈɑdər/ Angling. Now rare.† 1. intransitive. To fish with an otter (otter n.1 5a). Also transitive: to fish (a lake) in this way. Obsolete.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > type or method of fishing > [verb (intransitive)] > fish with hook > with number of hooks
scratch1659
spiller1836
otter1861
paternoster1891
1861 G. H. Kingsley in F. Galton Vacation Tourists & Trav. 1860 165 Certain Philistines have increased the mischief by permitting their gillies to use the otter... If the gilly otters for you, he will for himself.
1890 Daily News 29 Sept. 4/8 A loch can be ‘ottered’, fish can thus be made shy and hard to catch.
1892 Field 7 May 681/2 The fish..are..shy, having been well whipped over or ottered for by the local fishermen.
2. intransitive. To hunt otters.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > hunting specific animals > hunt specific animal [verb (intransitive)] > hunt otter
otter1902
1902 Daily Chron. 3 July 3/2 He writes of..ottering in St. John's Vale, of the Grasmere rush-bearing.
1991 Working Terrier Feb. 37/2 To get to otter you need a better dog, one that will face water and smaller holes.
Derivatives
ˈottered adj. Angling rare that has been fished with an otter (otter n.1 5a).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > [adjective] > by illicit means
ottered1901
1901 Field 5 Jan. 19/2 An observant gamekeeper..tells me that he knows well the signs of an ottered lake.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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