peltern.1
/ˈpɛltə/, U.S. /ˈpɛltər/ A dealer in animal skins or hides. Also: a person or machine employed in pelting animals.Cf. pelleter n.1, peltier n.1, pelterer n.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trader > traders or dealers in specific articles > [noun] > in skins or furs
leather-kersner1226
fellmonger1310
pelter1318
pelleter1332
peltier1389
peltmonger1565
furrier1575
pell-monger1676
north-wester1791
skinmana1821
pelterer1876
1318 Feet Fines of Kent in Archaeologia Cantiana (1882) 14 245 (MED) Robert Ylger, Pelter.
1365 in A. H. Thomas Cal. Plea & Mem. Rolls London Guildhall (1929) II. 31 (MED) [Stephen Daubeneye and Thomas de Leuesham], pelters.
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 78 (MED) And if hym nedeþ suture..be þay swed with suture of pelterz, i. skynnerez [L. pellipariorum].
a1552 J. Leland De Rebvs Britannicis Collectanea (1770) II. 545 William Bastarde of Normandies Mother was a Pelters Daughter.
1880 Globe (Atchison, Kansas) 8 June Seventeen dogs were wiped from the face of the earth by the pelter this morning.
1890 Cent. Dict. 4365/2 Pelter, a dealer in skins or hides; a skinner.
1904 Q. Jrnl. Econ. 19 15 In a gang of sheep butchers the pace is set by the ‘pelter’, who loosens the hide so that it can be pulled off without tearing the ‘fell’, or mucous covering.
1924 Eng. Hist. Rev. 39 522 The less important trades, such as the Shethers [sic], the Pelters, and the Spicers, were represented in smaller proportions.
1989 T. Perriam Where it all Began 164 Ron Summers, a pelter, fell down the skin hole one day.
2000 Nelson Mail (N.Z.) (Nexis) 29 Apr. 11 He stands beside the automatic pelter that strips the hides from the carcases.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
peltern.2
Obsolete.
A paltry or insignificant person.With quot. a1577 cf. quot. 1553 at pelting adj.1
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > one who is unimportant > paltry, mean, or contemptible
turdc1400
shrub1566
skybala1572
peltera1577
whipstart1581
smatchetc1582
squib1586
paltripolitan1588
scrub1589
Jack-a-Lent1596
snotty-nose1604
whipstera1616
whimling1616
whiffler1659
insignificancy1661
insect1684
insignificant1710
pic1839
squirt1844
whiffmagig1871
sniff1890
picayune1903
a1577 G. Gascoigne Hundred Flowers in Wks. (1587) 41 Yea let suche pelters prate, saint Needam be their speede, We neede no text to answer them but this, The Lord hath nede.
1577 T. Kendall tr. Politianus et al. Flowers of Epigrammes f. 4 The veriest pelter pilde maie seme, to haue experience thus.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online June 2018).
peltern.3
/ˈpɛltə/, U.S. /ˈpɛltər/ 1.
a. A person who pelts someone or something, esp. with missiles. Cf. dog pelter n. at dog n.1 Compounds 3a.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warrior > armed man > [noun] > one using missiles
pelter1726
1726 J. Swift Correspondence III. 188 The world with respect to Eggs is divided into Pelters and Roasters.
1828 N. Webster Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. Pelter, one that pelts.
1842 T. P. Thompson Exercises I. 276 To ask why the pelters should not be put into the stocks.
1881 P. Robinson Under Punkah 186 The driver and guards..have no time to get down and catch the pelters, and therefore it is safe to pelt.
1915 H. G. Wells Res. Magnificent iv. 256 Sketching is always a peltable or mobable offence, as being contrary to the Koran, and sitting down tempts the pelter.
2001 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 9 Apr. 8 Hamed got pelted with lager on the way down and seemed mightily aggrieved about it, pointing security staff in the direction of the pelter.
b. colloquial (chiefly humorous). A gun. Also: a small ship carrying guns. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > small-arm > [noun]
handgun1411
piece1575
small arms1685
popper1751
shooting-iron1775
pelter1827
squib1839
shooter1840
shooting-stick1845
Betsy1856
smoke-wagon1891
rod1903
gat1904
belt gun1905
roscoe1914
smoke-stick1927
heat1928
heater1929
smoke-pole1929
John Roscoe1932
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > war vessel > [noun] > gunboat
artillery boat1759
gun-boat1793
gun-vessel1800
gun-brig1801
schooner-gun-vessel1806
gunship1841
turret-ship1862
turret-vessel1862
pelter1890
1827 J. Barrington Personal Sketches Own Times II. 10 Our family pistols, denominated pelters, were brass.
1861 in Official Rec. Union & Confederate Navies War of Rebellion (U.S. Naval War Rec. Office) (1901) 1st Ser. 12 296 The Minnesota, 51, a screw, closely followed by..a number of screw and ‘paddle pelters’, mounting rifled guns.
1890 Daily News 2 Dec. 5/3 The old ‘donkey frigates’ and ‘ten-gun pelters’ which were an old theme of jocularity in the service.
1989 Shooting Industry (Nexis) Feb. 24 I recall owning a Marlin slide action 12-gauge shotgun, with a slightly loose-fitting barrel... I did so much missing with this old pelter that it ended up being traded to a friend.
2. colloquial. A pelting shower, rainstorm, etc. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > precipitation or atmospheric moisture > rain > [noun] > a or the fall of rain > downpour
floodc1275
spate1513
spout1554
gourder1565
squata1640
downpouring1669
deluge1720
pash1722
plout1740
on-ding1776
pelt1785
soaker1789
pelter1791
teem1793
pour1794
oncome1808
downpour1811
plash1820
slashing1829
plungec1841
dispunging1876
steeper1878
splurge1879
soak1891
drencher1892
toad-strangler1938
1791 J. Byng Diary 3 July in Torrington Diaries (1935) II. 360 Tho' it rain'd all the way, so as to hurry me, yet it was not a pelter.
1816 J. Austen Let. 9 July (1995) 316 We were obliged to turn back..but not soon enough to avoid a Pelter all the way home.
1842 R. H. Barham Dead Drummer in Ingoldsby Legends 2nd Ser. 197 In vain sought for shelter From..‘a regular pelter’.
1901 ‘G. Douglas’ House with Green Shutters 145 The storm's at the burstin'!..we're in for a pelter.
1966 T. H. Raddall Hangman's Beach i. vi. 83 Boats' crews and carpenters..came out in the cold pelter to McNab's island.
1987 M. Hughes Log Jam (1989) vi. 81 Slowly, out of the pelter of questions, the finger-printing and photographing, one clear picture emerging.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > largeness > [noun] > an exceptionally large thing of its kind
swinger1599
rapper1653
thumper1660
whisker1668
spanker1751
slapper1781
whopper1785
skelper1790
smasher1794
pelter1811
swapper1818
jumbo1823
sneezer1823
whacker1825
whanger1825
infant1832
bulger1835
three-decker1835
bouncer1842
snorter1859
whalera1860
plonker1862
bruiser1868
snapper1874
plumper1881
boomer1885
heavy1897
sollicker1898
sanakatowzer1903
Moby Dicka1974
stonker1987
1811 M. Lonsdale Th' Upshot in F. Jollie Sketch of Cumberland Manners 4 An' dall, but it's a pelter.
1869 J. C. Atkinson Peacock's Gloss. Dial. Hundred of Lonsdale 62/2 Pelter, anything large.
1892 E. J. Milliken 'Arry Ballads 70/1 Their ain't nothink the nobs is fair nuts on but wot these 'ere bellerers ban. Wy, they're down upon Sport, now, a pelter. Perposterous, ain't it, old man?
a1903 J. R. Wise in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1903) IV. 463/2 [Worcestershire] Pelter [anything large; a ‘whopper’].
4. colloquial (chiefly regional). A rage, a temper; a state of agitation. †in a pelter: in a hurry, at speed (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > anger > manifestation of anger > [noun] > fit(s) or outburst(s) of anger
wratha1200
wrethea1400
hatelc1400
angerc1425
braida1450
fumea1529
passion1530
fustian fume1553
ruff1567
pelt1573
spleen1590
blaze1597
huff1599
blustera1616
dog-flawa1625
overboiling1767
explosion1769
squall1807
blowout1825
flare-up1837
fit1841
bust-up1842
wax1854
Scot1859
pelter1861
ructions1862
performance1864
outfling1865
rise1877
detonation1878
flare-out1879
bait1882
paddy1894
paddywhack1899
wingding1927
wing-dinger1933
eppie1987
the world > movement > rate of motion > swiftness > swift movement in specific manner > moving swiftly in specific manner [phrase] > in or with haste
in hastec1300
whip and spura1500
at (the) post1507
in post1525
in a pelter1861
1861 J. Barr Poems 9 I couldna speak a single word I was in such a pelter.
1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms iii. 19 Nobody ever seemed to be able to get into a pelter with Jim.
c1889 ‘F. Leslie’ Let. in W. T. Vincent Recoll. Fred Leslie (1894) II. xxiii. 97 Dear, dear! I have wasted time and ought to have been at work on our burlesque. Now I am determined to go in a pelter.
1914 J. S. Angus Gloss. Shetland Dial. (at cited word) What's du in sik a pelter aboot?
1988 C. Coulter Calypso Magic (1999) 285 ‘Her highness is in a pelter,’ Dido added... ‘You don't wanna rile herself moh.’
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by speed or gait > [noun] > swift horse
courserc1300
stirring horse1477
runnera1500
stirrer1570
spanker1814
ganger1817
ginger1825
clipper1836
traveller1889
speeler1893
pelter1899
1899 W. T. Goodge Hits! Skits! & Jingles! 12 Helter skelter, What a pelter! Such a pace to win a welter!
1901 Munsey's Mag. Jan. 484/1 It ain't the first time the pelter's carried double.
6. In plural. Scottish colloquial. Verbal or written abuse; severe criticism. Esp. in to get (also receive) pelters, to give a person pelters.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > invective or abuse > [noun]
balec1220
ordurec1390
revile1439
brawlingc1440
railing1466
opprobry?a1475
revilingc1475
vituperation1481
vituper1484
vitupery1489
convicy1526
abusion?1530
blasphemation1533
pelta1540
oblatration?1552
words of mischief1555
abuse1559
inveighing1568
invection1590
revilement1590
invective1602
opprobration1623
invecture1633
thunder and lightning1638
raillery1669
rattlinga1677
blackguarding1742
pillory1770
slang1805
slangwhanging1809
bullyragging1820
slanging1856
bespattering1862
bespatterment1870
bad-mouthing1939
bad mouth1947
slagging1956
flak1968
verbal1970
handbagging1987
pelters1992
1992 Glasgow Herald 14 Sept. (Sport section) 8 Those in the Broomfield enclosure really do give the opposition ‘pelters’ when Airdrie play at home.
1997 Daily Record (Glasgow) (Nexis) 17 Oct. 12 No matter what Skoda do in terms of keeping motoring costs down, you'll get the snobs who give them pelters.
2000 Big Issue in Scotl. 18 Jan. 36/4 Hurley received pelters for crossing the picket line during the recent Screen Actors Guild's dispute.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
peltern.4
/ˈpɛltə/, U.S. /ˈpɛltər/ colloquial (originally U.S.).
An old, feeble, or inferior horse.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > equus caballus or horse > [noun] > inferior or old and worn-out
brockc1000
stota1100
jadec1386
yaud?a1513
roila1529
tit1548
hilding1590
tireling1590
dog horsec1600
baffle1639
Rosinante1641
aver1691
keffel1699
runt1725
hack horse1760
rip1775
kadisha1817
dunghill1833
pelter1854
crow-bait1857
caster1859
plug1860
knacker1864
plug horse1872
crock1879
skate1894
robbo1897
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by speed or gait > [noun] > slow horse
slow1826
pelter1854
1854 Spirit of Times 29 July 279/3 The nigh leader..had been one of the ‘pelters’ that we sometimes read about.
1896 G. Ade Artie i. 4 It's like hitchin' up a four-time winner 'longside of a pelter.
1902 H. F. Day Pine Tree Ballads 147 He'd..take a wheezy old pelter with a hopity gait and he'd make you believe..there were all kinds of pedigrees tied up in him.
1931 D. Runyon in Cosmopolitan Sept. 84/1 Mahogany..is..not such a bad old pelter.
1996 Sporting Life (Nexis) 28 Mar. 9 At the age of ten, the remarkable old pelter gained the easiest victory of his 118-race career when he trotted up in the Gods Solution Handicap at Catterick yesterday.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
pelterv.
/ˈpɛltə/, U.S. /ˈpɛltər/ 1. intransitive. Esp. of rain: to patter or beat down; = pelt v.1 4b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > precipitation or atmospheric moisture > rain > rain falls [verb (intransitive)] > patter
pelter1680
1680 M. Stevenson Dido to Æneas 130 Curst be the Shower that did Pelter, When to the Ditch we went for shelter.
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Pelter, to patter, or beat.
1856 Southern Literary Messenger 23 455 When the beasts, as the flood was beginning to pelter, All fled to the ark of old Noah for shelter.
1898 E. G. Dyson Mines & Other Lines 164 When the rain comes down in sluice-heads, or the cutting hailstones pelter, And the sheep drift with the blizzard.
1907 Washington Post 6 Sept. 8/3 As the forenoon wore on the showers set in, and at 1 o'clock it simply peltered.
1996 G. D. Schmidt Sin Eater 124 With the rain peltering down, no one could go out.
2. transitive. To deliver repeated blows to; to go on pelting or striking; = pelt v.1 1b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > strike [verb (transitive)] > shower with blows > continuously
pelter1715
1715 M. Davies Εἰκων Μικρο-βιβλικὴ Pref. 2 How Giles the Footman writes against the gruff Sabran the Jesuit, and pelters him with Sentences out of the Holy-Fathers and Scholastick Divinity.
1716 M. Davies Crit. Hist. 93 in Athenæ Britannicæ III To pelter him with Heaps and Clouds of those Historical Balls or Librarian Bullets, or Pelotes or Peletons.
1869 J. C. Atkinson Peacock's Gloss. Dial. Hundred of Lonsdale 62/2 Pelter, to batter, to beat.
1886 B. Brierley Cast upon World 181 He'd ha' peltered my honds, like playin' at slap.
1919 Sci. Monthly June 515 Knight, Needham and myself were caught on an exposed slope, and..were peltered with stinging hail the size of peas.
1963 A. G. Haas Metternich 55 Misunderstood and suddenly peltered by reproaches from all sides..he could only trust that his monarch would stand behind him.
2001 Clarion-Leader (Jackson, Mississippi) (Nexis) 29 Nov. 1 a Rain continued to pelter the state Wednesday, as residents and relief agencies worked to clean up after Saturday's tornadoes.
3. intransitive. To move quickly or vigorously; = pelt v.1 6. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > rate of motion > swiftness > going swiftly on foot > go swiftly on foot [verb (intransitive)] > run > run fast or at full speed
to pull it1792
to run (also be off) like a redshank1809
sky1824
tattera1825
peel1860
pelter1906
hare1908
1906 W. S. Maugham Bishop's Apron xix. 297 The strange spectacle of a comely young woman and an ecclesiastical dignitary..peltering towards the Achilles Statue as fast as they could go.
1923 Chambers's Jrnl. Apr. 240/2 Rawlins..peltered up on deck to recover his composure.
1992 H. Cook Worshippers & Way viii. 147 Son'sholoma Gezira and his companions fled, peltering away with a slap-slap of sandals.
Derivatives
ˈpeltering adj. (chiefly in sense 1).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > precipitation or atmospheric moisture > rain > [adjective] > heavy
steepc1330
pissingc1475
thightc1480
pouring1577
pashing1581
sad1590
steep-down1601
solid1621
even down1622
sluicy1697
pelting1710
buck1732
steeping1774
peppering1827
sluicing1847
torrential1849
peltering1858
plumping1879
teeming1880
lashing1885
monsoonish1886
sheeting1940
1858 C. J. Lever Martins of Cro' Martin xiv. 131 Now, rising to pace the room, or drawing nigh the window to curse the peltering rain without.
1927 Glasgow Herald 27 Aug. 8 The peltering rains (which were certainly general) made the grass so wet that the..cow ate far too much juice.
1999 Times of India (Nexis) 5 Sept. An entire clutch of local workers..gathered at Kharun Ka Adda in the heart of the city to take shelter from the peltering rain.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.11318
n.2a1577n.31726n.41854v.1680