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单词 pot
释义

potn.1

Brit. /pɒt/, U.S. /pɑt/
Forms: Old English– pott (now in sense 8), Middle English petes (plural, transmission error), Middle English putte, Middle English 1600s poot, Middle English–1500s pote, Middle English–1600s potte, Middle English– pot, 1500s patte, 1500s poat, 1500s poatte, 1500s pootte, 1600s poot, 1600s poote; also Scottish pre-1700 pate, pre-1700 poit, pre-1700 poite, pre-1700 poitt, pre-1700 poote, pre-1700 pote, pre-1700 potte, pre-1700 pout, pre-1700 poyt, pre-1700 1700s patt, pre-1700 1700s– pat, 1900s– poat.
Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Cognate with Old Frisian pot , Middle Dutch pot (Dutch pot ), Middle Low German pot , put (German regional (Low German) pott , putt ; > German Pott (16th cent.)), Old Icelandic pottr (Icelandic pottur ), Old Swedish pott , potta (Swedish pott , potta ), Danish pot , potte , further etymology uncertain (see below). Probably reinforced in Middle English by Anglo-Norman and Old French pot (first half of the 12th cent. in Old French, earliest in metaphorical use); compare Old Occitan pot (14th cent.; Occitan pòt ), Catalan pot (1363), Spanish pote (c1450 or earlier; also as bote (c1450)), Portuguese pote (1461), Italian †potto (1611 in Florio; perhaps compare also poto a kind of drink (a1306; now archaic or literary)). Compare also post-classical Latin pottus pot, vessel (frequently from 13th cent. in British and continental sources; perhaps 6th cent. in Venantius Fortunatus as potus , apparently showing alteration after classical Latin pōtus drinking, drink: see pote n.3, although interpretation of this example is not certain); perhaps recorded earlier as a proper name, Pottus, on vessels from Trier, perhaps illustrating the use of the name of the object as a nickname for the manufacturer. The word in the Germanic and Romance languages and in post-classical Latin perhaps ultimately shows a loanword from a pre-Celtic language (perhaps Illyrian or perhaps a non-Indo-European substratal language), although a number of other etymologies have also been suggested.Welsh pot (15th cent.), Irish pota (1475), and Scottish Gaelic poit are all apparently < English. With sense 3c compare earlier pottle n.4 With sense 5b compare post-classical Latin pottus (1271 in a British source in this sense). In sense 11e sometimes alternatively explained as shortened < potentate n. (compare quot. 1909 at sense 11e). With sense 14 compare earlier pot v.4 7. With use of the word in the pot goes so long (also often) to the water that it is broken at last at Phrases 2 compare Middle French tant va pot a eve qu'il brise (early 14th cent.) and compare the pitcher goes often to the well, but is broken at last at pitcher n.1 Phrases 2. Apparently also attested early in place names, as Pottun (late 10th cent.; now Potton, Bedfordshire), Poterne (1086; now Potterne; Wiltshire), Pottaford (now lost; 12th cent. in a copy of a Suffolk charter of 970), Pottwyll (now lost; a1400 in a copy of a Wiltshire charter of 994); it is noteworthy that parallel formations in crock n.1 are also attested. When used as an element in place names, probably denoting either places where pots were made or places where ancient pottery had been unearthed. The word is rare in Old English, the more usual word being crocc crock n.1
I. A vessel used for storage, cooking, etc.
1.
a. A relatively deep vessel (typically with a cylindrical or otherwise rounded body and made of earthenware, metal, plastic, etc.) used chiefly to hold a liquid or solid substance.Frequently with distinguishing word, as glue-, ink-, jam-, water-pot, etc.: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > receptacle or container > vessel > [noun] > rounded vessel or pot
potOE
crewe1579
broch1679
society > occupation and work > equipment > receptacle or container > vessel > [noun] > earthenware vessel
crockc1000
pigc1450
pot1463
muga1522
olla1535
test1545
capruncle1657
fictile1849
cruche1856
figuline1878
OE Recipe (Vitell. C.iii) in T. O. Cockayne Leechdoms, Wortcunning, & Starcraft (1864) I. 378 Nim readstalede harhuna, & ysopo, & stemp & do on ænne neowna pott, an flering of ða harhuna & oðer of ysopo..forð þæt se pott beo full.
a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 73 Al swo is þe pott ðe is idon on ðe barnende ofne.
c1300 Childhood Jesus (Laud) (prose section) in C. Horstmann Altengl. Legenden (1875) 1st Ser. 58 (MED) Here Jesus hiet bringue bi fore him fif pottes fulle of watur.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 22937 Bot als potter wit pottes dos Quen he his neu wessel fordos.
1463 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 23 A greet erthin potte.
c1480 (a1400) St. Julian 512 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 472 Thre gret poyttis..fillyt of gold to þe hals.
1571 in E. Roberts & K. Parker Southampton Probate Inventories, 1447–1575 (1992) II. 299 J dozen smale sirope pottes, iij s.
1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke 4 I was like a potte with a wide mouth, that receiueth quickly and letteth out as quickly.
1612 B. Jonson Alchemist v. v. sig. M3 A few crack'd pots, and Glasses. View more context for this quotation
1658 Sir T. Browne Hydriotaphia: Urne-buriall iii. 31 Whether they were burnt, or only baken in oven or sun, according to the ancient way, in many bricks, tiles, pots, and testaceous works.
1692 R. South 12 Serm. I. 395 Agathocles first handling the Clay, and making Pots under his Father.
1701 in Rec. Early Hist. Boston 10 This order shall not be understood..to debarr..any tradesmen or others from kindling charcole in a pot or pan out of doore.
1769 E. Raffald Experienced Eng. House-keeper iii. 68 Put rich melted Butter in small Cups or Pots.
1813 T. Jefferson Let. 13 Aug. in Writings (1984) 1290 To raise a continued stream of water, the simplest means..is to attach to an endless chain..a number of pots or buckets.
1898 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. V. 441 Blowing out the contents of each of the pipettes into a small glass pot, in which they are thoroughly stirred.
1931 V. Woolf Waves 107 On the table among the pots of jam, the loaves and the butter.
1989 Which? Apr. 167/1 Stirred yoghurts are poured into pots after fermentation, and tend to be runny.
b. spec. A vessel of this kind (now usually one of metal with a handle or handles) used in cooking. Hence: such a vessel and its contents. Also allusively: cooking, food, as for the pot. Also figurative.Frequently in plural in collocation with pans, as pots and pans.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > cooking > [noun]
pot?c1225
cooking1596
coction1605
cocture1662
concoction1680
kitchening1842
slow cooking1851
pancake-making1904
cook-up1911
pot wrestling1914
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > equipment for food preparation > cooking vessel or pot > [noun]
pot?c1225
flesh-kit1575
plasma1616
vessel1719
pot-au-feu1792
cookpot1835
cooker1849
hook-pot1867
canaree1895
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 272 Þe wombe pot [Fr. li pot de uostre uentre, L. olla ventris] þe walleð ofmetes & mare ofdrunh.
c1330 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 34 (MED) Deþ..has..put þe pouer to þe pot & ouer him yknett his knott Vnder his clay kist.
c1390 G. Chaucer Parson's Tale 951 Certes, whan the pot [v.r. potte] boyleth strongly, the beste remedie is to withdrawe the fyr.
c1400 Bk. to Mother (Bodl.) 135 (MED) Wiþinne þe pot of hure brenninge herte, seþeþ hem alle togedere wiþ fuyr of sorew and penaunce.
a1475 Liber Cocorum (Sloane) (1862) 16 Put alle in þe pot with grythe.
1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour i. xviii. sig. Jviiv Kylling of dere with bowes..serueth well for the potte (as is the commune saynge).
1584 T. Cogan Hauen of Health lxiii. 68 An herbe sometime vsed in medicine, but most commonly for the pot.
a1657 G. Daniel Trinarchodia: Richard II cix, in Poems (1878) III. 164 Gant let Glocester's pott Boyle only over, though his were as Hott.
1667 Earl Tweeddale in O. Airy Lauderdale Papers (1885) II. 45 This was to me lik the spoonful that spoils the pot.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 126 I had not so much as a Pot to boil any Thing, except a great Kettle.
1783 E. Burke Speech Fox's E. India Bill in Wks. (1815) IV. 129 Henry the Fourth [of France] wished that he might live to see a fowl in the pot of every peasant.
1858 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia II. ix. vi. 462 An ever-boiling pot of mutiny.
1871 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues II. 33 Boiled meats which involve an apparatus of pots and pans.
1913 J. Muir Story of my Boyhood ii. 60 He gladly added to his burden a big cast-iron stove with pots and pans, provisions [etc.].
1949 E. Coxhead Wind in West vi. 162 Poached game is never sold, it goes into the pot.
1987 E. Feinstein Captive Lion iv. 83 There in her kitchen, surrounded by pots and pans, they became friends.
c. A vessel used for holding drink; spec. (a) a vessel used for drinking an alcoholic beverage (esp. beer), a tankard; (b) a vessel (as a teapot or coffee pot) from which a hot drink is poured into smaller vessels.See also sense 2b.
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the world > food and drink > drink > containers for drink > [noun]
canOE
quart?c1335
pota1382
jug1538
Jack1567
noggin pot1663
gotch1691
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) Judges vii. 16 He ȝaf trumpis in þe handis of hem & voyde wynpottis [L. lagenasque vacuas] & lawmpis in þe myddis of þe pottis.
a1425 (?c1350) Ywain & Gawain (1964) 759 (MED) A capon rosted broght sho sone..And a pot with riche wine And a pece to fil it yne.
c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1905) II. 497 Þis abbot axked hym whither he went, and he said he went to giff his brethir a drynk. So he axkid hym wharto he bare so many pottis.
c1500 King & Hermit in M. M. Furrow Ten 15th-cent. Comic Poems (1985) 260 I haue a pote of galons foure Standing in a wro.
1550 R. Crowley One & Thyrtye Epigrammes sig. Biiiv Go fyll me thys quarte pot, full to the brynke, The tonge muste haue bastynge it wyll the better wagge, To pull a goddes penye out of a churles bagge.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary iii. 179 The Germans drink in peuter or stone pots, hauing little or no plate.
1754 E. Burt Lett. N. Scotl. I. viii. 189 Their capacious pint pot, which they call a stoup.
1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) xxiii. 237 Shaking up the ale, by describing small circles with the pot, preparatory to drinking.
1891 Morning Post 25 Dec. 6/5 If people buy strong Indian tea and put the same quantity into the pot as they do of China tea..the liquor draws too strong.
1931 V. Woolf Waves 93 Byron never made tea as you do, who fill the pot so that when you put the lid on the tea spills over.
1995 Arena Dec. 84/2 He spent too long moping about staring into an empty pint pot after the Mondays went pear-shaped.
d. Any of various pot-shaped vessels or receptacles used in specific manufacturing or other industrial processes.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > receptacle or container > [noun]
receivera1398
resetc1400
receipta1425
receptaclec1425
repository1485
receptorya1500
pot1503
container?1504
hold1517
containing?1541
continent?1541
receptable1566
nest1589
conceptacle1611
keep1617
house1625
reception1646
inholder1660
conceptaculum1691
penholder1815
holder1833
carrier1855
compactum1907
1503 in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1900) II. 393 For pottis of lame..for the furnesses in Strivelin.
1542 in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1908) VIII. 131 Ane pott to seithe the tar in.
1636 in R. W. Cochran-Patrick Rec. Coinage Scotl. (1876) II. 106 [The bringing of bullion to the correct fineness] is done be melting of it in a grit pott.
1676 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 11 680 The Air which has been compressed in the Pot [in a fire-engine].
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Glass Take of this Crystal Frit..set it in Pots in the Furnace, adding to it a due Quantity of Manganese.
1799 Rep. Distilleries Scotl. (House of Commons) App. 383 The Still they used was a large Pot, globular, that..it might be capacious.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 576 The materials of every kind of glass are vitrified in pots made of a pure refractory clay.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 1775/1 Pot, 1. (Sugar.) A perforated hogshead in which crude sugar is placed for drainage of the molasses... 3. (Founding.) A brass-founder's name for a crucible. Graphite pots are most generally in use.
1905 H. H. P. Powles Steam Boilers xv. 176 The boilers..were vertical, with internal fire-box, from the crown of which a copper spherical ‘pot’ was suspended; the pot was surrounded by a number of Field tubes.
1966 P. Wright Lang. Brit. Industry (1974) xix. 185 Enormous crane-ladles called simply pots.
2005 Aluminium Internat.Today (Nexis) 1 May 16 In the smelting process, alumina..undergoes electrolysis in electric reduction furnaces, commonly called pots or cells.
e. A chamber pot; (in later use also) a toilet.
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the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > privy or latrine > [noun] > chamber-pot, etc.
jordan1402
pissing vessel1440
pisspot1440
urinalc1475
pissing basin1481
piss bowlc1527
chamber vessel?1529
chamber pot1540
pot1568
jordan-pot1577
night-tub1616
looking-glassa1627
water-pot1629
chamber utensil1699
member-mug1699
utensil1699
pot de chambre1777
chanty1788
pig1810
piss bucket1819
chamber1829
jerry1859
po1880
thunder-mug1890
article1922
potty1937
honeypotc1947
totty-pot1966
piss-tin1974
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > privy or latrine > [noun] > close-stool or commode > pan of
pot1568
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > privy or latrine > [noun] > water-closet or lavatory > W.C. appliances > pan
pan1586
pot1706
toilet bowl1850
lavatory bowl1915
1568 in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS f. 158 He will nocht rys to the pott bot pischis amang the strais.
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Pitale,..the pan or pot of a close stoole.
1706 W. Oliver in Philos. Trans. 1704–05 (Royal Soc.) 24 2181 He..did his necessary occasions always in the Pot.
1752 D. Garrick Let. 28 Aug. in Lett. David Garrick (1983) 1 187 My Stomach falls a heaving as Yowe would do, if You were to sit with Your Nose over a Pot with a Stale Turd in it, & that turd not yr own.
1823 Lancet 5 Oct. 23/1 No change in the nature of the stools; but he has used the pot since the morning.
1898 P. Manson Trop. Dis. xviii. 290 There was very little in the pot except mucus tinged..with blood.
1915 Dial. Notes 4 228 Pot,..very common for chamber.
1958 J. Cannan And be a Villain iii. 62 How could he be so rude, she asked, when he said ‘pot’ instead of ‘bedroom article’.
1990 City Tribune (Galway) 13 July 10/5 Now that the electric light is here and the flush toilet has replaced the pot it may be too soon to record the change from the all night dance to the disco to the pub scene.
2000 Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph (Nexis) 5 Sept. 26 A shopkeeper was blown up while sat on the pot when he inadvertently inadvisably discarded a lighted match into the bowl.
f. A relatively deep round vessel, usually of earthenware or (now) plastic, in which a plant is grown in compost or earth; = flowerpot n. 1.
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the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > equipment and buildings > [noun] > flower-pot or tub
garden pot1592
flowerpot1598
pot1615
forty-eight1808
jardinière1841
thumb-pot1851
flower-box1876
window box1895
planter1948
1615 G. Markham Eng. Hus-wife in Countrey Contentments ii. 42 If you will set forth yellow flowers, take the pots of Primroses and Cowslops.
1786 G. White Jrnl. 1 June (1970) xix. 277 Potted..balsams, & put the potts in a sunk bed.
1819 Amer. Farmer 14 May 55 Such plants as you have in pots, should be treated as directed for those of the greenhouse department.
1886 J. Ruskin Præterita II. iv. 141 My mother did like arranging the rows of pots in the big greenhouse.
1921 V. Woolf Society in Monday or Tuesday 20 Dozens of them, ugly, squat, bristly little plants each in a separate pot.
1988 M. Seymour Ring of Conspirators ii. 53 Could fuchsias be safely transplanted from the drawing room pots to garden beds?
g. In plural. Chiefly English regional (midlands and northern). Articles of crockery and cutlery which require washing; washing-up.
ΚΠ
1847 A. Brontë Agnes Grey xi. 168 I'd no heart to sweeping an' fettling, an' washing pots.
a1903 G. H. Hankinson in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1903) IV. 592/2 [Cheshire] Eh! look at the pots! who's done that?
1913 D. H. Lawrence Sons & Lovers vii. 177 Mrs. Morel always washed the pots in the kitchen and made the beds.
1951 Times 5 Jan. 2/5 ‘That’, he said for the benefit of those who wash the pots, ‘is why your glass breaks in hot water.’
1993 Daily Tel. 27 Nov. 3/4 Police are hunting a mother-to-be..who disappeared..from her home at Wakefield, West Yorks, after washing the pots.
h. colloquial. A prize in a sporting contest, esp. a silver cup; a trophy. Cf. pot-hunter n. 2b.
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society > leisure > sport > winning, losing, or scoring > [noun] > winning or win > awards and prizes
garland?a1513
plate1639
cupc1640
dog plate1686
gold medal1694
gold cup1718
sweepstake1773
trophy1822
bronze medal1852
shield1868
statuette1875
pot1885
team honours1895
letter1897
silver medal1908
school colour1913
gold1945
bronze1960
silver1960
Fed Cup1965
1885 Cyclist 19 Aug. 1083/2 Imagine..a three miles handicap for which the first ‘pot’ is a 95 guineas piano.
1897 in Windsor Mag. Jan. 266/1 A few pots won upon playing-fields.
1999 Regatta Feb. 19/4 The story of the first ‘business house’ crew to win a Henley pot (1949) is recounted, along with a wealth of tales about regattas, commentating and secrets from the rowing press box.
2005 Toronto Star (Nexis) 19 July e5 If there was a training track and pots to be won, the Kitchener native seemed to have a string there and he travelled between each locale day to day.
i. slang. A carburettor. Also: a cylinder of an internal combustion aero-engine.
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society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > aeroplane > parts of aircraft > means of propulsion > [noun] > aircraft engine > cylinder
pot1941
society > occupation and work > equipment > machine > machines which impart power > engine > internal-combustion engine > [noun] > petrol > carburettor
carburettor1896
pot1941
carb1942
percolator1942
carby1956
twin carb1967
twin carburettor1973
1941 Amer. Speech 16 240 Pot, carburetor.
1945 S. J. Baker Austral. Lang. viii. 160 Here is a brief list of indigenous Air Force language:..pot, a cylinder.
1961 E. Partridge Dict. Slang (ed. 5) II. 1230/1 Pot, n., a cylinder, esp. in one of the old rotary engines: R.F.C.–R.A.F.: 1914–18. They tended to split or to fly off. Hence, any aeroplane-engine cylinder.
1966 ‘L. Lane’ ABZ of Scouse 83 A pot is also a carburettor. To tickle ther pot: To prime a carburettor.
1989 Buses Year Bk. 1990 66/1 By contemporary PSV standards it was a fast-revving unit and this fact combined with two more pots than the norm meant it was a surprisingly smooth and refined unit.
2. A vessel with its contents; (hence) the quantity that fills or would fill a vessel; a potful. See also sense 1b.
a. With of and distinguishing word.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > receptacle or container > vessel > [noun] > rounded vessel or pot > with contents
pot1258
1258 in L. F. Salzman Building in Eng. (1992) ix. 152 (MED) [At Winchester..40] pottes [of red sand cost 10s. 1½d.].
1391 in L. T. Smith Exped. Prussia & Holy Land Earl Derby (1894) 57 (MED) Clerico Buterie..pro iij pottes de methe.
c1429 Mirour Mans Saluacioune (1986) l. 820 In a fulle potte of mans blode scho it laide.
c1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer House of Fame 1686 It smelde As men a pot of bawme helde Among a basket ful of roses.
1472 J. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 448 I sende yow..ij pottys off oyle for saladys.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Bel & Dragon i. A Sixe greate pottes of wine.
1587 in 3rd Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1872) 420/1 I have sent..a pott of gelly which my servante made.
c1600 Return: 1st Pt. v. ii, in Three Parnassus Plays (1949) 208 Noe pennie, noe pott of ale.
1632 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy (ed. 4) ii. iii. iii. 336 O that I could but finde a pot of mony now.
1684 I. Mather Providences (1856) i. 21 They were forced..to betake themselves to their boat, taking with them a good supply of bread and a pot of butter.
a1745 J. Swift On Bill for Clergy in Misc. Pieces (1789) 137 No entertainment..beyond a pot of ale, and a piece of cheese.
1773 Life N. Frowde 33 The good Woman had also kept a Pot of Tea warm for me.
1833 H. Martineau Manch. Strike (new ed.) i. 9 A pipe and pot of porter [were] called for.
1886 Daily News 9 Dec. 5/2 When a pot of coins is found by some old Roman way.
1915 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Island xi. 108 Mother sent you this little pot of rhubarb jelly... She made it to-day and thought you might like some.
1966 A. E. Lindop I start Counting xxi. 266 Matron makes a pot of tea quite late at night and lets me go and have a cup with her.
1988 W. M. Clarke Secret Life Wilkie Collins ii. 17 He was said to have met William Blake in the Strand with a pot of porter in his hand and deliberately ignored him.
b. A glass or tankard of beer, etc.; (in extended use) †liquor, drinking (obsolete). Also: a pot of tea, coffee, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > [noun]
drencha800
drunka800
drinkc888
wetec897
liquor1340
beveragec1400
bever?1453
pitcher-meat1551
bum1570
pot1583
nin1611
sorbition1623
potablesa1625
potion1634
refreshment1639
potulent1656
sorbicle1657
pote1694
drinkable1708
potation1742
rinfresco1745
sup1782
bouvragea1815
potatory1834
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > [noun] > amount of drink > in vessel
pot1583
wassail-bowl1606
pottle1632
gyle-ker1775
yard of ale1872
yard-glass1882
1583 G. Babington Very Fruitfull Expos. Commaundem. iv. 205 He might with great right haue destroyed vs either amongst our pottes, or in our daunces.
1593 G. Peele Famous Chron. King Edward the First sig. C Then..pluck out thy spigot, And draw vs a fresh pot.
1617 R. Brathwait Smoaking Age in tr. ‘B. Multibibus’ Solemne Ioviall Disputation O ij b As if no Poets Genius could be ripe Without the influence of Pot and Pipe.
1720 D. Defoe Life Capt. Singleton 2 He carries her into a Publick-House, to give her a Pot and a Cake.
1742 H. Fielding Joseph Andrews ii. xvi What say you, Master, shall we have t'other Pot before we part?
1797 R. Southey Botany Bay Eclogues in Poems 93 I'll wager a pot I have suffer'd more evils than fell to your lot.
1831 E. J. Trelawny Adventures Younger Son III. xxiii. 152 My wife always turned in three spoonsful,—one for I, one for her, and t'other for the pot.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. viii. 338 The hedge alehouse, where he had been accustomed to take his pot on the bench before the door in summer.
1937 H. Jennings et al. May 12th Mass-observ. Day-surv. i. iii. 224 Proprietress offers me a cup of tea..new pot just brewed, and some cakes.
1963 G. Casey in C. Hadgraft & R. Wilson Cent. Austral. Short Stories 156 A pair of twelve-ounce pots tasted all right after the hard half-shift, but insufficient.
1989 W. Deverell Mindfield 3 There's a fresh pot on the stove. You still, ah, do coffee?
c. figurative and allusively. pot of gold n. a fortune; a jackpot; a source (esp. illusory or unattainable) of enormous wealth (see quot. 1895).
ΚΠ
1847 Times 16 Feb. 5/3 The scheme comes under the category of Irish panaceas... It is the barbarous old legend of the ‘pot of gold’ repeated in ten thousand new forms.
1895 E. C. Brewer Dict. Phrase & Fable (rev. ed.) 1036/2 Rainbow chasers, problematical politicians and reformers, who chase rainbows, which cannot possibly be caught, to ‘find the pot of gold at the foot thereof’. This alludes to an old joke, that a pot of gold can be dug up where the rainbow touches the earth.
1938 Mansfield (Ohio) News-Jrnl. 29 July 6 Rainbows..arching from dream to dream; and far below, struggling through the dust of drab reality we follow their winged flame..seeking, always, that ‘pot of gold’.
1971 Cape Herald 15 May 14/1 Francis Lee, the Manchester City and England striker has hit the ‘pot-of-gold’ in more ways than one.
1978 Observer 26 Mar. 11/7 The tendency has been to look at the North Sea in terms of its immediate isolated wealth, as a pot of gold.
2003 Nation (N.Y.) 9 June 27/2 The drug industry's higher-than-average profits—the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow—has fueled increasing investments in R & D.
3.
a. Earthenware, stoneware (frequently attributive). Also: a potsherd or fragment of earthenware, etc.; (British regional and U.S.) a marble of baked clay, as used in hopscotch and other children's games (cf. sense 3c). Cf. pig n.2 4.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > clay compositions > baked clay > [noun]
tilea1325
potc1384
tilestonec1425
cloam1659
earthenware1670
pig1808
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) Dan. ii. 35 Thanne the yren, pott, or mater maad of erthe [a1425 L.V. tijl stoon ether erthene vessel; L. testa], brasse, syluer, and gold, ben broken to gidre.
a1400 Psalter (Vesp.) xxi. 15 in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1896) II. 154 (MED) Dried als a pot might be Alle mi might with-innen me.
a1500 (c1340) R. Rolle Psalter (Univ. Oxf. 64) (1884) xxi. 15 My vertu dried as a pot, and my tonge droghe til my chekis.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 466 A suitable thin tool or utensil of pot, of the profile of the inside, is applied.
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour II. 396/2 The use of earthenware, clay, or pot pipes for the conveyance of liquids is very ancient.
1864 B. Brierley Layrock of Langley-side iii. 40 Lookin'-glasses, an' pot dolls.
1896 Yorks. Weekly Post 1 Feb. Tha's goane an brokken that pot cat an' dog.
1920 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Pot.., a piece of pottery or earthenware, as a marble or piece for playing hop scotch.
1972 Country Life 20 Jan. 136/2 A cat ornament..has been in our family's possession for at least 70 years. It is hollow and made of pot.
1985 E. Metcalfe in Lakeland Dial. Sept. 12 See that pot coo, Ah've clagged coo's hworns on 'cos the'v got broken off!
b. An earthenware figurine or ornament; a piece of decorative pottery.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > types of ornamentation > [noun] > chimney-piece ornaments
chimney-piecea1616
pot1851
frigger1923
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 333/2 A street-seller who accompanied me called them merely ‘pots’ (the trade term), but they were all pot ornaments. Among them were great store of shepherdesses, of greyhounds [etc.].
1884 Daily News 13 Oct. 5/1 Those who kicked against ceramic art, and protested vehemently against what they called ‘decoration by pot’.
1996 M. C. Smith Rose (1997) ii. 31 The cabinet displayed ornamental pots: a ceramic duke of Wellington, with his hooknose.
c. regional (chiefly Scottish). The game of hopscotch; also (U.S.) in plural. Also: the last division of the playing area of the game, which the player aims to reach.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > children's game > other children's games > [noun] > hopscotch > stone or piece of pottery
peever1856
pot1866
pick1898
potsy1905
ghoen1913
1866 W. Gregor Dial. Banffshire (Philol. Soc.) 132 Pot,..the last division in the game of hippin'-beds [sc. hopscotch].
1894 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words Pot, the heading written at the top of the game called ‘beds’, or, locally, ‘hitchey dabber’... To achieve it is to get ‘pot’.
1895 I. K. Funk et al. Standard Dict. Eng. Lang. II. Pot..pl. (Local, U.S.) (1) The game of hop-scotch.
1936 Glasgow Herald 10 Nov. ‘Hopscotch’, however is an English name. We Scots called it ‘peever’,..or ‘pot’, or ‘the beds’... In some parts of Scotland beds 7 and 8 were called ‘the kail pats’, and this may be one reason why the game is sometimes called ‘pot’. Another explanation is that a piece of broken pot or earthenware was often used as a peever.
4. A pot as a conventional measure of various commodities (by weight or volume), varying according to locality and the commodity measured; (Australian) spec. a measure of beer of approx. half a pint.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > the scientific measurement of volume > measure(s) of capacity > [noun] > specific liquid or dry units > pot as unit
pot1530
the world > relative properties > measurement > the scientific measurement of volume > measure(s) of capacity > amount defined by capacity > [noun] > amount that fills a receptacle > pot or pan
panfula1325
potfulc1390
pot1530
pigful1590
pan1762
saucepanful1825
billyful1866
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 257/1 Potte, a gallon measure, pot.
1545 Rates Custome House sig. cjv Oyle called baume oyle the potte. vi.s. viii.d.
1662 Act 14 Chas. II c. 26 §1 The Pott of Butter ought to weigh Twenty pounds viz. Fourteen pounds of good and Merchantable Butter Neat and the Pott Six pounds.
1681 in Court Leet Rec. Manch. (1888) VI. 123 Richard Barlow for buying twoe potts of Apples by way of forestallinge.
1775 Ann. Reg. 143/1 A pot of sugar weighs about 70 pounds.
1825 in W. Hone Every-day Bk. (1826) I. 1344 Apples,..from twenty to thirty pots, (baskets containing five pecks each).
1862 D. T. Ansted & R. G. Latham Channel Islands App. B. 576 The smaller divisions are into pots (half-gallon), quarts, pints, gills (quarter of a pint), and noggins (an eighth of a pint).
1915 A. T. M. Johnson Austral. Life 55 ‘Oh! Colonial Beer. Well give me a glass’... ‘Ain't got no glasses; sell it by the pot’.
1943 J. A. W. Bennett in Amer. Speech 18 89 [In New Zealand] beer is dispensed in handles (in Australia, pots) or half-handles.
1966 G. W. Turner Eng. Lang. in Austral. & N.Z. viii. 163 In addition Sydney has a pony of five ounces.., Melbourne a pot of ten ounces (but a pot is eleven ounces in Brisbane), Adelaide a butcher (six ounces) and Perth a big pot (fifteen ounces, which would be a schooner in Sydney or a pint in Adelaide).
1992 Times 22 Feb. 11/1 Bigger than a pint, bigger still than a ‘pot’, the juggies of ice-cold Castlemaine..were causing faces to redden.
II. Something shaped like a pot, and other extended uses.
5.
a. English regional. Either of a pair of baskets or tubs used with a packsaddle for carrying manure, sand, etc., by horse or other pack animal. Now rare.Recorded earliest in dung pot n.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > conveyance carried by person or animal > [noun] > baskets borne by persons or beasts of burden
dosserc1384
pot1388
hota1400
creelc1425
panniera1656
dossel1755
1388–9 in R. E. G. Kirk Acct. Abingdon Abbey (1892) 58 Ij wylpottis..j dungpot.
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Dunge potte made of wickers.
1610 R. Loder Farm Accts. (1936) 1 Item how many landes I yearely dounge with the potte.
1796 W. Marshall Rural Econ. W. Eng. I. 122 Dung, sand, materials of buildings, roads, &c. &c. are carried in ‘potts’; or strong coarse panniers... The bottom of each pot is a falling door, on a strong and simple construction.
1813 T. Davis Agric. Dung was commonly carried in two tubs or pots slung across a horse's back—hence the term got transferred to a cart when used for the same purpose.
1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. Pots, small D-shaped boxes, placed bow side outwards on either side of a pack-saddle for carrying heavy articles.
b. A wicker basket used as a trap for fish or crustaceans; a fishpot, lobster pot, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > fish-trap > [noun] > basket
bow-neta1000
leapc1000
weel1256
willow1385
pichea1398
cruive14..
creel1457
coop1469
butt1533
hive1533
wilger1542
fish-pota1555
pota1555
loup1581
leap weel1601
willy1602
putt1610
leap-head1611
weir1611
putcher1781
fish-coop1803
fishing box1861
crib1873
a1555 J. Philpot tr. C. S. Curione Def. Authority Christ's Church in R. Eden Exam. & Writings J. Philpot (1842) (modernized text) 336 That fish-pot or net in the which both good and naughty fishes be contained.
1675 J. Worlidge Systema Agriculturæ (ed. 2) 251 In several great Rivers.., many have set large Pots made of Osier, with bars in them, that when the Fish are in them,..they could not get out again.
1736 W. Nelson Laws of Eng. conc. Game (ed. 3) 91 But hath lately taken and destroyed several Salmons in Pots, and by other Means in the said River.
1746 P. Collinson in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 44 70 The Crab will live confined in the Pot or Basket some Months.
1867 F. Francis Bk. Angling iii. 72 Eels are principally caught in traps..they are also taken in smaller baskets, called pots.
1911 Rep. Comm. U.S. Bureau Fisheries 1908 308 Crabs..are caught with scrap nets, dip nets, pots, seines [etc.].
1974 J. V. Wills Agric. & Fisheries (Bahamas) 40 These vessels would fish on the banks for crawfish and scale fish, using pots and handlines.
2010 Dunoon Observer & Argyllshire Standard 30 July 4/2 We work with pots. They do catch other species but when they are lifted we tip them over the side alive—we just take what we need.
c. U.S. Fishing. The pound or second enclosure of a pound net.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > net > [noun] > pound net > part of
pot1865
tunnel1873
1865 Michigan Laws 717 The size of the meshes of all the pot of said nets, shall not be less than two and a half inches in extension.
a1884 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Suppl. 714/1 Pot, the bow, pound, or crib of a pound-net.
1975 Post-Crescent (Appleton, Wisconsin) 20 July (View Mag.) 7/4 The ‘pot’ holds the fish until the fishermen lift the net.
†6.
a. pot of the head n. the skull. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > structural parts > bone or bones > skull > [noun]
head boneeOE
head paneOE
panOE
brainpanOE
skull?c1225
harn-pan1340
brain skulla1400
calvairc1420
pot of the head?a1425
pan-bone1545
cranew1555
pannicle1590
pericranium1590
cranion1611
poll1721
braincase1726
brain-box1789
pericrane1804
cobbra1832
cranium1842
neurocranium1907
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 10 Þe pot of þe heued [?c1425 Paris potte of þe heed; L. olla capitis], after þe philosophre, is seid þat hery part in which þe animate membres be contened.
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (Hunterian) f. 42 (MED) Þe first chapiter is of þe anothomie of þe potte of þe heued, oþer þe braine panne.
1577 Vicary's Profitable Treat. Anat. sig. C.iv The Bone of the Pot of the head keeping in the Braynes.
b. The socket of a joint. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > structural parts > bone or bones > parts of bones > [noun] > socket or cavity
pita1275
bosom1578
socket1601
pot1610
glenoid surface1712
lacuna1845
1610 G. Markham Maister-peece ii. clvii. 463 As the one end of the marrow-bone [goes] into the pot of the spade-bone, and the other end into the pot of the elbow.
7. A sausage; a black pudding. Now rare (English regional (south-western)).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > sausage > [noun]
pudding1287
saucister1347
sausage14..
sauserling1475
pota1500
gigot1553
isingc1560
gut-pudding1697
small goods1716
jegget1736
German duck1785
pud1828
dog1891
Zepp1915
Zeppelin1915
wors1923
snag1941
a1500 Nominale (Harl. 1002) f. 147 Hilla, a white pott or sawsege.
1777–8 R. Wight Horæ Subsecivæ (MS Bodl. Eng. lang. d.66) 337 [Devon] The Pot is a Hogs Black Pudding..stuff'd into Pigs Gutts or Chitterlings.
1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. Pots and puddings, sausages made of pig's blood and fat. Same as black-puddings.
8. Usually in form pott. In full pott-paper. A size of printing or writing paper, usually 151/ 2 × 121/ 2 inches (394 × 318 mm), originally watermarked with a representation of a pot. Also attributive, as pott-folio, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > paper > [noun] > sizes of
royal paper1497
small paper1497
sheet1510
demy1546
imperial1572
pot1579
quarto1580
grape1611
crown paper1620
foolscap1660
bastard1711
copy1712
crown1712
vigesimo-quarto1864
columbier1875
society > communication > writing > writing materials > material to write on > paper > [noun] > paper of specific size
paper royal1497
paper rial1501
sheet1510
demy1546
imperial1572
pot1579
lily-pot1593
grape1611
cap1620
crown paper1620
post1648
foolscap1660
bastard1711
copy1712
crown1712
Kentish cap1766
vessel of paper1790
antiquarian1815
quartern1819
quatrain1819
Albert note1846
cap-paper1854
sermon paper1855
Albert1859
columbier1875
Albert notepaper1881
cuatro1904
duchess1923
half-imperial-
1579 in T. Wright Churchwardens' Accts. Ludlow (1869) 165 iiijor quiers of pott paper.
a1627 J. Fletcher & T. Middleton Nice Valour iv. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Uuu4v/2 He prints my Blows upon pot-paper too, the rogue, Which had been proper for some drunken Pamphlet.
1671 Inventory 11 Dec. in J. A. Johnston Probate Inventories Lincoln Citizens 1661–1714 (1991) 35 18 quire of pott and piller paper.
1712 London Gaz. No. 5018/3 For all Paper called... Superfine Pot 2s. Second fine Pot 1s. 6d... per Ream.
1759 Newport (Rhode Island) Mercury 14 Aug. 4/2 Superfine super Royal, superfine Demy, superfine medium, superfine Post, thick Gilt, fine Fools Cap and Pot, and several Sorts of Common Paper.
1882 Daily Tel. 17 Jan. 5 Only four copies of the first edition, in ‘pot’ folio, are known to be in existence.
1894 J. C. Jeaffreson Bk. Recoll. II. xxv. 229 Legal drafts on pot-paper.
1911 Encycl. Brit. XX. 735/1 Writing papers. Pott..12½ × 15.
1962 F. T. Day Introd. to Paper vii. 69 Sizes of paper in the United Kingdom centre round fifteen designs: Foolscap, Demy, Medium,..Pott, Elephant,..Eagle and Columbier.
9. A helmet or protective cap; originally esp. †a small steel helmet of a type worn by cavalrymen (obsolete). Now colloquial: a soldier's or policeman's helmet.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > armour > helmet > [noun] > metal skullcap
basinetc1300
coifc1380
capeline1488
skull1522
hat piece1598
pan1638
pot1639
skull-cap1820
bassinet-
1639 Sir E. Verney in J. Bruce Verney Papers (1853) 227 If I had a pott for the hedd that were pistoll proofe, it may be I would use it, if it were light.
1666 London Gaz. No. 66/3 4000 Land~men..with their Officers, all compleatly armed with Back, Brest, and Pot.
1676 T. Hobbes tr. Homer Iliads x. 143 To defend his Head A leather Cap without crest, call'd a Pot.
a1734 R. North Examen (1740) iii. vii. §87. 572 There were abundance of those silken Back, Breast, and Potts made and sold, that were pretended to be Pistol Proof.
1834 A. E. Bray Warleigh II. x. 204 Steel morions, or pots, as they were very commonly called, guarded their skulls.
1962 W. E. Butterworth Court-martial 21 Everybody was dressed up in Stateside uniforms and nobody could find his pot and pistol.
1987 New Breed Sept. 45/2 Israeli troops..found the old pot to be an awkward fit, although it offered better protection than the British helmet which some units had used since 1948.
10. Applied to various objects resembling or suggesting of a pot.
†a. A projecting band on the stem of a key, close to the handle. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > fastenings > [noun] > key > parts of key > shaft or stem > parts of
bow-ward1678
pot1678
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. ii. 22 H the Shank, I the Pot or Bead,..L the Bow.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 301/1 Pot or Bead, is the round under the Bow, at the top of the Shank [of a Key].
b. = chimney-pot n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > heating or making hot > that which or one who heats > [noun] > a device for heating or warming > devices for heating buildings, rooms, etc. > chimney > chimney-pot
pig1683
pot1785
can1805
chimney-can1805
old wife1823
old woman1829
chimney-pot1830
chimney cap1847
tallboy1884
1785 J. Hanway Sentimental Hist. Chimney Sweepers xviii It is vain to talk of the age being enlightened, while the chimnies are darkened by their narrowness, and their tops so covered with earthen pots.
a1845 T. Hood Town & Country iii He sinks behind no purple hill, But down a chimney's pot!
1990 Do it Yourself Apr. 23/3 If the flues are no longer used, the pots can be fitted with ventilator caps.
†c. The head of a rocket. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [noun] > rocket > parts of
maroon1859
pot1873
1873 E. Spon Workshop Receipts 1st Ser. 126/2 The rocket being then charged, the head or pot must be fixed.
11.
†a. Gambling slang. A large sum of money staked or bet on a horse race, at cards, etc. Esp. in to put on the pot: see to put on the pot at put v. Phrasal verbs 1. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > games of chance > [noun] > stake > type of stake
double or quit(sa1586
à cheval1609
chicken stake1785
pot1823
1823 ‘J. Bee’ Slang (at cited word) ‘I shall put on the pot at the July meeting’, signifies that the speaker will bet very high (at races), or up to thousands... Lord Abingdon once declared ‘I will put on the pot to-day’, and he did so with a vengeance—his groom, Jack Oakly, put him in the pot.
1840 Sporting Rev. Aug. 119 It needed only to lay against all, to insure a prize proportioned to the ‘pot’ put on.
1859 C. J. Lever Davenport Dunn xiv. 124 The [horse] you have backed with a heavy pot.
1880 J. Payn Confid. Agent I. 214 He had solaced himself..by ‘putting the pot’ on at cards.
b. Cards (originally U.S.). The betting pool in poker and other gambling games. Also: (in Faro) the six, seven, and eight cards in the layout. Also figurative.Cf. jackpot n. 1a.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > [noun] > actions or tactics > bidding or staking > pool
pool1710
pot1847
kitty1887
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > games of chance > games of chance played with cards > [noun] > faro > spots in layout
pot1847
1847 J. H. Greene Gambling Unmasked (rev. ed.) 196 He won the first twenty ‘pots’, that is to say, the stake [in poker].
1856 G. W. Bagby Old Virginia Gentleman (1910) 228 He has no great faith in ‘cases’, but believes in betting on three cards at a time, and has a special hankering for ‘the pot’ [in faro].
1878 F. H. Hart Sazerac Lying Club 151 ‘Here's four bullets,’ said Brown, as he reached for the pot.
1892 W. J. Florence Gentleman's Handbk. Poker 158 Every time my callow friend won a pot he put the silver and bills in his pocket and would chip in the stuff as he needed it.
1935 Encycl. Sports, Games & Pastimes 466/2 If no player opens there is a fresh deal, each player once more contributing to the pot, and so on until the pot is opened.
1963 Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch 16 Dec. 19/2 When a poker player has absolute confidence in his hand he shoves into the pot every chip he has.
1977 I. Shaw Beggarman, Thief ii. i. 118 ‘And if you succeed, then what?’ he said. ‘Russia takes the whole pot.’
1999 J. May Shut Up & Deal i. 23 I turn over my ace-jack and he turns over two pockets kings with a relieved smile and takes the pot.
c. colloquial. A large sum of money. More fully pot(s) of money (cf. sense 2a).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > sum of money > [noun] > large sum
pounda1225
ransom?a1300
fother14..
gob1542
mint1579
king's ransomc1590
abomination1604
coda1680
a pretty (also fine, fair, etc.) penny1710
plunk1767
big money1824
pot1856
big one?1863
a small fortune1874
four figures1893
poultice1902
parcel1903
bundle1905
pretty1909
real money1918
stack1919
packet1922
heavy sugar1926
motza1936
big bucks1941
bomb1958
wedge1977
megadollars1980
squillion1986
bank1995
1856 Knickerbocker 48 619 They had hauled down a big pot and intended henceforth to live as jolly as clams.
1871 Mrs. H. Wood Dene Hollow II. x. 198 A grandfather, who must possess pots of money laid by.
1876 F. E. Trollope Charming Fellow I. xvi. 219 He went to India..and came back..with a pot of money.
1897 ‘Ouida’ Massarenes v You'll make a pot by it, as Barnum did.
1915 C. J. Dennis Songs of Sentimental Bloke (1936) 108 Come 'round an' try yer luck at Steeny's school... ‘No,’ sez me conscience. Then I thinks, ‘Why not? An' buy 'er presents if I wins a pot?’
1990 L. Ngcobo And they didn't Die iii. 27 You have to have pots of money to live here.
†d. Horse Racing slang. A horse on which a large sum is staked; the favourite in a race. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > horse racing > [noun] > horse by performance
lightweight1773
sticker1779
maiden1807
favourite1813
mile-horse1829
outsider1836
heavyweight1857
stayer1862
stoner1862
rank outsider1869
pick1872
pot1874
timer1881
resurrectionist1883
short head1883
pea1888
cert1889
stiffa1890
wrong 'un1889
on the mark1890
place horse1890
top-weight1892
miler1894
also-ran1895
selection1901
loser1902
hotpot1904
roughie1908
co-favourite1922
readier1922
springer1922
fav1935
scratch1938
no-hoper1943
shoo-in1950
scorer1974
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by purpose used for > [noun] > racehorse > favourite > heavily backed
pot1874
hotpot1904
1823 ‘J. Bee’ Slang (at cited word) ‘Pot 8 O's’, the name of a race-horse, meaning 80,000 l. or guineas.]
1874 Hotten's Slang Dict. (rev. ed.) 258 Pot, a favourite in the betting for a race. Probably so called because it is usual to say that a heavily-backed horse carries ‘a pot of money’. When a favourite is beaten the pot is said to be upset.
1883 Graphic 17 Nov. 494/2 Medicus, the great Cambridgeshire ‘pot’, and Thebais, who showed well in that race, were among the runners.
1892 J. Kent Racing Life Ld. G. C. Bentinck ix. 201 Horses trained at Goodwood in 1842 beat great pots from Danebury.
e. colloquial. An important person. Chiefly in big pot.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [noun] > one who is important
persona1425
personagec1460
colossus1605
satrapon1650
bigwig1772
big man1789
butt-cut1806
tallboy1820
buzz-wig1854
great or high shot1861
celestial1874
pot1880
big stuff1883
importance1886
big wheel1893
mandarin1907
the (also a) big noise1909
hotty1910
big boy1918
biggie1926
hotshot1933
wheel1933
eminence1935
top hat1936
big or great white chief1937
Mr Big1940
big kahuna1966
1880 T. Hardy Trumpet-major I. viii. 135 When Festus put on the big pot, as it is classically called, he was quite blinded ipso facto to the diverting effect of that mood and manner upon others.
1885 Punch 12 Sept. 131/2 Oh, Yorkshire and Lancashire both are big pots. But Cricket's top honours again go to Notts.
1899 R. Whiteing No. 5 John St. xiv The father's some tremendous pot in the financial way.
1909 J. R. Ware Passing Eng. Victorian Era 28 Big pot (Music-hall 1878–82)... This phrase is probably one of the few that filter down in the world from Oxford, where, in the 50's it was the abbreviation of potentate. It referred to a college don, or a social magnate.
1947 ‘A. P. Gaskell’ Big Game 24 I don't feel at home with these big pots.
1992 D. Pannick Advocates iii. 87 The moral of the story—‘Wait till you're a big pot’—is a sound one.
f. old pot: see old pot n. at old adj. Compounds 5a(b).
†12. In plural. Pot ashes (potash n. 1a). Frequently in pots and pearls. Obsolete (chiefly U.S. in later use).
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > elements and compounds > metals > specific elements > potassium > [noun] > compounds > others
hepar sulphuris or hepar sulphur1694
white flux1741
Russia ashes1753
pots1837
potash-lime1856
sinigrin1876
1837 Fraser's Mag. 16 690 Manufacturies for reducing common ashes into pots and pearls are sometimes erected on a pretty large scale.
1849 J. G. Saxe Proud Miss MacBride xvii For John had worked in his early day, In ‘Pots and Pearls’ the legends say.
1870 Punchinello 9 July 237/1 A heavy deposit of bullion, mostly gold bars; and Ashes in inspection ware-house, both pots and pearls.
1875 A. W. Young Hist. Chautauqua County, N.Y. 96 From 1837 to 1850, inclusive, the amount was 648 barrels, nearly all pots made of house ashes.
13. The stomach; (now esp.) a protuberant stomach, a paunch; = pot belly n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > trunk > front > belly or abdomen > [noun] > types of
just wombc1400
paunch?a1425
gorbelly1519
barrel-belly1561
grand paunch1569
pack paunch1582
swag-paunch1611
swag bellya1616
bottle belly1655
paunch-gut1683
pot belly1696
gundy-gut1699
tun-bellya1704
panter1706
corporation1753
pancheon1804
poda1825
bow window1840
pot1868
pus-gut1935
beer belly1942
pussy-gut1949
pot-gut1951
Molson muscle1967
beer gut1976
1868 in Devonshire Verbal Provincialisms 132 Oh, I be bad in my pot.
1928 ‘Brent of Bin Bin’ Up Country ii. 40 Mazere..was happy that he could turn to manual work again himself, and felt the better for it. ‘It's taking a little of the pot off me,’ he would exclaim.
1952 in H. Wentworth & S. B. Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang (1960) 236 When I get all gussied up, somebody says, ‘Pull in your pot!’
1965 G. McInnes Road to Gundagai xiii. 222 The door opened carefully and revealed a tall man with a florid face, a large Roman nose,..and a big pot.
1995 Daily Tel. 17 Jan. 18/4 It is a macho status thing. Men pat their pots proudly and talk of how they must have got through a few skinfuls.
14. Billiards, Snooker, and Pool. A shot intended to strike a ball into a pocket. Cf. pot v.4 7.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > billiards, pool, or snooker > [noun] > actions or types of play > type of stroke
hazard1674
carambole1775
carom1779
cannon1802
screw1825
sidestroke1834
following stroke1837
cannonade1844
five-stroke1847
follow1850
scratch1850
fluke1857
jenny1857
bank shot1859
angle shot1860
draw shot1860
six-stroke1861
run-through1862
spot1868
quill1869
dead-stroke1873
loser1873
push1873
push stroke1873
stab1873
stab screw1873
draw1881
force1881
plant1884
anchor cannon1893
massé1901
angle1902
cradle-cannon1907
pot1907
jump shot1909
carry-along1913
snooker1924
1907 R. Levi Billiards i. 11 By playing a four shot..the red is in good position for a pot from baulk.
1930 W. Lindrum Billiards viii. 60 It is by no means easy to predict just where you want red to be for your positional pot.
1959 Chambers's Encycl. II. 314/1 The Americans added a fourth ball and in their game cannons and pots counted to the striker and in-offs (or losing hazards) against him.
1995 Snooker Scene May 7/1 He won the fourth on the pink when O'Sullivan miscued after putting together a 36 clearance to blue which was full of difficult pots.

Phrases

P1. In various proverbs and proverbial phrases.
ΚΠ
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1965) Ecclus. xiii. 3 What shal comune þe cawdroun to þe pot?
c1460 (?c1400) Tale of Beryn 3366 (MED) Ful soth is þat byword, ‘to pot who comyth last, He worst is servid’.
?a1500 in T. Wright & J. O. Halliwell Reliquiæ Antiquæ (1845) II. 40 (MED) Tho smallere pese, tho mo to the pott.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. x. sig. Liii v He that cometh last to the pot, is soonest wrothe.
1561 J. Lok Let. 11 Dec. in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (1599) II. ii. 53 And I would not gladly so spend my time and trauell,..and after,..to lose both pot and water, as the prouerbe is.
1682 N. O. tr. N. Boileau-Despréaux Lutrin iv. Argt. 30 Yet so, the Fancy's richer, To end in Pot, commence in Pitcher!
1687 M. Prior & Earl of Halifax Hind & Panther Transvers'd 12 And understanding grown, misunderstood, Burn'd Him to th' Pot, and sour'd his curdled Blood.
1732 T. Fuller Gnomologia 14 No. 360 A Pot that belongs to many, is ill stirr'd and worse boil'd.
1850 C. Kingsley Alton Locke I. x. 149 ‘If a poor man's prayer can bring God's curse down.’..‘If ifs and ans were pots and pans.’
1893 R. L. Stevenson Catriona iii. 26 While we were all in the pot together, James had shown no such particular anxiety whether for Alan or me.
1902 Our Naval Apprentice Apr. 15 One of our boatswain's mates went on shore at this place..and got his ‘pots on’, or became as you might say, ‘three sheets in the wind’.
1917 H. L. Wilson Ruggles of Red Gap (1936) xvii. 206 The conviction ran..that we had another pot of broth on the fire.
1926 in J. F. Dobie Rainbow in Morning 87 We'll put the big pot in the little one; also, put the big pot in the little one and fry the skillet. (Celebrate, have a regular blow-out).
1973 Black Panther 20 Oct. 7/2 Reagan's ‘cost-saving’ measures will effectively shove the poor, elderly, blind and crippled citizens of California out of the pot and into the fire.
1980 Knoxville (Tennessee) News-Sentinel 6 Apr. c4/4 She's heard, ‘Put the big pot in the little-un,’ meaning to go all out and cook up a big meal for company... I've always heard, ‘Put on the big pot an' the little-un.’ People certainly did ‘put the big pot in the little one,’ once.
P2. †the pot goes so long (also often) to the water that it is broken at last: an action or approach which is successful at first may fail if repeated too often. Cf. the pitcher goes often to the well, but is broken at last at pitcher n.1 Phrases 2.
ΚΠ
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 206 (MED) Me couþe zigge, ‘zuo longe geþ þet pot to þe wetere þet hit comþ to-broke hom.’
?c1450 tr. Bk. Knight of La Tour Landry (1906) 82 It is a trew prouerbe þat ‘the pott may goo so longe to water that atte the laste it is broken’.
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1897–1973) 126 (MED) ‘Bot so long goys the pott to the water,’ men says, ‘At last Comys it home broken.’
1645 J. Howell Epistolæ Ho-elianæ i. v. 11 That the Pot which goes often to the Water, comes home crack'd at last.
1865 F. Lockwe-Lampson Russet Pitcher in Select. Wks 83 The pot goeth so long to the water til at length it commeth broken home.
P3. to go to (†the) pot: (originally) †to be cooked or eaten, to be cut in pieces like meat for the pot (obsolete); (now figurative and colloquial) to be ruined or destroyed, to deteriorate, to go to pieces. So †to bring (also send) to (the) pot (obsolete), †put in the pot (obsolete), etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (intransitive)] > be destroyed, ruined, or come to an end
losec888
fallOE
forlesea1225
perishc1275
spilla1300
to go to wreche13..
to go to the gatec1330
to go to lostc1374
miscarryc1387
quenchc1390
to bring unto, to fall into, to go, put, or work to wrakea1400
mischieve?a1400
tinea1400
to go to the devilc1405
bursta1450
untwindc1460
to make shipwreck1526
to go to (the) pot1531
to go to wreck (and ruin)a1547
wrake1570
wracka1586
to hop (also tip, pitch over, drop off, etc.) the perch1587
to lie in the dusta1591
mischief1598
to go (etc.) to rack (and ruin)1599
shipwreck1607
suffera1616
unravel1643
to fall off1684
tip (over) the perch1699
to do away with1769
to go to the dickens1833
collapse1838
to come (also go) a mucker1851
mucker1862
to go up1864
to go to squash1889
to go (to) stramash1910
to go for a burton1941
to meet one's Makera1978
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > bring to ruin or put an end to
undoc950
shendOE
forfarea1000
endc1000
to do awayOE
aquenchc1175
slayc1175
slayc1175
stathea1200
tinea1300
to-spilla1300
batec1300
bleschea1325
honisha1325
leesea1325
wastec1325
stanch1338
corrumpa1340
destroy1340
to put awayc1350
dissolvec1374
supplanta1382
to-shend1382
aneantizec1384
avoidc1384
to put outa1398
beshenda1400
swelta1400
amortizec1405
distract1413
consumec1425
shelfc1425
abroge1427
downthringc1430
kill1435
poisonc1450
defeat1474
perish1509
to blow away1523
abrogatea1529
to prick (also turn, pitch) over the perka1529
dash?1529
to bring (also send) to (the) pot1531
put in the pot1531
wipea1538
extermine1539
fatec1540
peppera1550
disappoint1563
to put (also set) beside the saddle1563
to cut the throat of1565
to throw (also turn, etc.) over the perch1568
to make a hand of (also on, with)1569
demolish1570
to break the neck of1576
to make shipwreck of1577
spoil1578
to knock on (in) the head (also rarely at head)1579
cipher1589
ruinate1590
to cut off by the shins1592
shipwreck1599
exterminate1605
finish1611
damnify1612
ravel1614
braina1616
stagger1629
unrivet1630
consummate1634
pulverizea1640
baffle1649
devil1652
to blow up1660
feague1668
shatter1683
cook1708
to die away1748
to prove fatal (to)1759
to knock up1764
to knock (or kick) the hindsight out or off1834
to put the kibosh on1834
to cook (rarely do) one's goose1835
kibosh1841
to chaw up1843
cooper1851
to jack up1870
scuttle1888
to bugger up1891
jigger1895
torpedo1895
on the fritz1900
to put paid to1901
rot1908
down and out1916
scuppera1918
to put the skids under1918
stonker1919
liquidate1924
to screw up1933
cruel1934
to dig the grave of1934
pox1935
blow1936
to hit for six1937
to piss up1937
to dust off1938
zap1976
1531 W. Tyndale Answere Mores Dialoge f. lxvijv Then goeth a parte of litle flocke to potte and the rest scather.
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes f. 116 The riche & welthie of his subjectes went dayly to the potte, & wer chopped up.
1562 Certayn Serm. preached in Lincs. in H. Latimer 27 Serm. ii. f. 66 They that pertayne to God,..they must goe to the potte, they muste suffer here accordying to that scripture.
1609 W. M. Man in Moone sig. B3v All that hee can get or borrow goeth to the pot.
1657 R. Ligon True Hist. Barbados 120 The Sea-men..resolv'd, the Passengers should be drest and eaten, before any of them should goe to the Pot.
c1680 E. Hickeringill Hist. Whiggism in Wks. (1716) I. ii. 158 Poor Thorp, Lord Chief Justice, went to Pot, in plain English, he was Hang'd.
1699 R. Bentley Diss. Epist. Phalaris (new ed.) 506 For if the Agrigentines had met with them, they [sc. the letters of Phalaris] had certainly gone to pot.
1708 W. King Art of Cookery 12 Every thing that every Soldier got, Fowl, Bacon, Cabbage, Mutton, and what not, Was all thrown into Bank, and went to Pot.
1789 ‘P. Pindar’ Expostulatory Odes xii. 41 Thousands will smile to see him go to pot.
1823 ‘J. Bee’ Slang (at cited word) ‘Put in the pot’, said of a man who is let into a certain loss—of a wager, of his liberty or life.
1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 16 Feb. 4/2 If it were to save the whole empire from going to pot, nobody would stay at home.
1889 Cornhill Mag. July 46 For the potato is really going to pot... Constitutional disease and the Colorado beetle have preyed too long upon its delicate organism.
1910 E. M. Forster Howards End xxv. 205 Evie heard of her father's engagement when she was in for a tennis tournament, and her play went simply to pot.
1953 E. Simon Past Masters ii. 81 Discipline's gone all to pot at the camp.
1979 Truck & Bus Transportation (Austral.) Apr. 65/2 It's [sc. the brake is] there to do its job, but it can throw a spanner in the works if the adjustment setting goes to pot.
2002 C. Slaughter Before Knife v. 95 There seemed no reason why we should give up our overseas possessions: why pull out when it would all go to pot without us?
P4. a little pot is soon hot and variants: a small person is easily roused to anger.
ΚΠ
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. xi. sig. Dii And Christ wot, It is wood at a woorde, little pot soone whot.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) iv. i. 5 Now were not I a little pot, & soone hot. View more context for this quotation
1838 J. H. Ingraham Sieges I. I. vi. 98 Youth is ever more hasty than wise, and a little pot is soon hot.
1848 W. Irving Hist. N.Y. (rev. ed.) iv. ix. 238 It is an old saying that ‘a little pot is soon hot’, which was the case with William the Testy. Being a little man he was soon in a passion, and once in a passion he soon boiled over.
1930 R. K. Weekes Mignonette xxiii ‘Oh well,’ she quite obviously swallowed down her grievance, still simmering, ‘I suppose you'll say little pots are soon hot.’
P5.
†a. the pot walks and variants: said of a drinking bout in which the pot of liquor is passed from one person to another. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > providing or serving drink > [phrase] > circulate the cup
the pot walks1567
1567 T. Harman Caueat for Commen Cursetors (new ed.) sig. Biii How the pottes walke about, their talkig tounges talke at large.
1596 W. Raleigh Discoverie Guiana (new ed.) 85 Wee found them all as drunke as beggers, and the pottes walking from one to another without rest.
1622 R. Hawkins Observ. Voiage South Sea lxi. 150 The pott continually walking, infused desperate and foolish hardinesse in many.
1691 A. Wood Athenæ Oxonienses II. 157 Author..of other little trivial matters meerly to get bread, and make the pot walk.
1706 Cerealia 125 Whilst black pots walk the round with laughing Ale Surcharg'd.
b. in one's (or the) pots: (while) drunk. Cf. in one's cups at cup n. 10.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [adjective] > drunk
fordrunkenc897
drunkena1050
cup-shottenc1330
drunka1400
inebriate1497
overseenc1500
liquor1509
fou1535
nase?1536
full1554
intoxicate1554
tippled1564
intoxicated1576
pepst1577
overflown1579
whip-cat1582
pottical1586
cup-shota1593
fox-drunk1592
lion-drunk1592
nappy1592
sack-sopped1593
in drink1598
disguiseda1600
drink-drowned1600
daggeda1605
pot-shotten1604
tap-shackled1604
high1607
bumpsy1611
foxed1611
in one's cups1611
liquored1611
love-pot1611
pot-sick1611
whift1611
owl-eyed1613
fapa1616
hota1616
inebriated1615
reeling ripea1616
in one's (or the) pots1618
scratched1622
high-flown?1624
pot-shot1627
temulentive1628
ebrious1629
temulent1629
jug-bitten1630
pot-shaken1630
toxed1635
bene-bowsiea1637
swilled1637
paid1638
soaken1651
temulentious1652
flagonal1653
fuddled1656
cut1673
nazzy1673
concerned1678
whittled1694
suckey1699
well-oiled1701
tippeda1708
tow-row1709
wet1709
swash1711
strut1718
cocked1737
cockeyed1737
jagged1737
moon-eyed1737
rocky1737
soaked1737
soft1737
stewed1737
stiff1737
muckibus1756
groggy1770
muzzeda1788
muzzya1795
slewed1801
lumpy1810
lushy1811
pissed1812
blue1813
lush1819
malty1819
sprung1821
three sheets in the wind1821
obfuscated1822
moppy1823
ripe1823
mixed1825
queer1826
rosined1828
shot in the neck1830
tight1830
rummy1834
inebrious1837
mizzled1840
obflisticated1840
grogged1842
pickled1842
swizzled1843
hit under the wing1844
obfusticatedc1844
ebriate1847
pixilated1848
boozed1850
ploughed1853
squiffy?1855
buffy1858
elephant trunk1859
scammered1859
gassed1863
fly-blown1864
rotten1864
shot1864
ebriose1871
shicker1872
parlatic1877
miraculous1879
under the influence1879
ginned1881
shickered1883
boiled1886
mosy1887
to be loaded for bear(s)1888
squiffeda1890
loaded1890
oversparred1890
sozzled1892
tanked1893
orey-eyed1895
up the (also a) pole1897
woozy1897
toxic1899
polluted1900
lit-up1902
on (also upon) one's ear1903
pie-eyed1903
pifflicated1905
piped1906
spiflicated1906
jingled1908
skimished1908
tin hat1909
canned1910
pipped1911
lit1912
peloothered1914
molo1916
shick1916
zigzag1916
blotto1917
oiled-up1918
stung1919
stunned1919
bottled1922
potted1922
rotto1922
puggled1923
puggle1925
fried1926
crocked1927
fluthered1927
lubricated1927
whiffled1927
liquefied1928
steamed1929
mirackc1930
overshot1931
swacked1932
looped1934
stocious1937
whistled1938
sauced1939
mashed1942
plonked1943
stone1945
juiced1946
buzzed1952
jazzed1955
schnockered1955
honkers1957
skunked1958
bombed1959
zonked1959
bevvied1960
mokus1960
snockered1961
plotzed1962
over the limit1966
the worse for wear1966
wasted1968
wired1970
zoned1971
blasted1972
Brahms and Liszt?1972
funked up1976
trousered1977
motherless1980
tired and emotional1981
ratted1982
rat-arsed1984
wazzed1990
mullered1993
twatted1993
bollocksed1994
lashed1996
1618 W. Hornby Scourge Drunkennes 20 There euery vpstart, base-condition'd slaue,..A gentleman vnto his teeth will braue, And in his pots most malapertly bragge.
a1630 F. Moryson in Shakespeare's Europe (1903) iv. i. 340 In theire Potts [they] will promise any thinge, and make all bargaynes.
1870 W. H. Dixon Free Russia 206 The whisky-shops—we have two in our village for the comfort of eighty or ninety souls—are loud and busy, pouring out nips and nippets of their liquid death. Fat, bearded men are hugging and kissing each other in their pots.
1964 L. Nkosi Rhythm of Violence ii. iii. 53 Come on, Jo, the only time your racialism shows is when you're in the pots!
†c. to have a pot in the pate: to be the worse for alcohol. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [verb (intransitive)] > be drunk
bewetc1400
to be in beer1532
to have one's cap set1546
to have a pot in the pate1655
to be bit by a barn weasel1673
to have been in the sun1770
to have been in the sunshine1818
to have (also get) the sun in one's eyes1841
to have a brick in one's hat1847
stimulate1882
to beer up1892
to be (the) worse for liquor1893
to have a few1903
to have a heat on1912
1655 F. Osborne Advice to Son 32 Especially when they have got a pot in their pate.
1740 H. Bracken Farriery Improv'd (ed. 2) II. ii. 77 An Ox or a Cow would serve them to ride well enough, if they had only a Pot in the Pate.
P6. to boil the pot (also to make the pot boil): to provide one's livelihood (cf. potboiler n. 1, potwaller n.). Similarly to keep the pot boiling; (also figurative) to keep something going briskly. Also (figurative) to start the pot boiling: to start something going briskly.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > management of money > income, revenue, or profit > getting or making money > get or make money [verb (intransitive)] > provide one's livelihood
to keep the pot boiling1661
to boil the pot1808
1661 P. Heylyn Ecclesia Restaurata i. 100 So poor, that it is hardly able to keep the Pot boiling for a Parsons Dinner.
1796 F. Burney Camilla III. 100 As learning, though I have the proper respect for it, won't serve to make the pot boil, you must needs be glad of more substantial fuel.
1811 W. Combe Schoolmaster's Tour in Poet. Mag. Mar. 185 No fav'ring patrons have I got, But just enough to boil the pot.
1825 J. T. Brockett Gloss. North Country Words Keep-the-pot-boiling, a common expression among young people, when they are anxious to carry on their gambols with spirit.
1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xxxix. 313 ‘Keep the pot a bilin, Sir,’ said Sam.
1864 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia IV. xvi. ii. 266 A feeling that glory is excellent, but will not make the national pot boil.
1887 Times (Weekly ed.) 7 Oct. 15/1 His lieutenants keep the rebellion pot boiling in..Ireland.
1905 J. K. Jerome in Daily Chron. 14 July 4/4 Every barrister who accepts a brief is pot-boiling. Every clergyman who preaches a sermon is pot-boiling. The pot has got to be boiled.
1926 Amer. Mercury Mar. 273/1 I have yet to meet one who is averse to the little woman doing her share to keep the pot boiling.
1985 ‘J. Higgins’ Confessional (1986) ii. 49 A ceasefire..Broken because someone started firing on the Lenadon estate..and that's all it took to start the pot boiling again.
†P7. to make the pot with the two ears: to put or stand with one's arms akimbo. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > posture > position of specific body parts > position specific body part [verb (intransitive)] > arms
to make the pot with the two ears1675
fold1732
1675 C. Cotton Burlesque upon Burlesque 117 See what a goodly port she bears, Making the pot with the two Ears!
P8. the pot calls the kettle black and variants: used to convey that the criticisms a person is aiming at someone else could equally well apply to themselves; hence in allusive phrases as to call each other pot and kettle, etc.
ΚΠ
1620 T. Shelton tr. M. de Cervantes 2nd Pt. Don Quixote lxvii. iv. 227 You are like what is said that the frying-pan said to the kettle, ‘Avant, black-browes’.]
1639 J. Clarke Paroemiologia 8 The pot calls the pan burnt-arse.
1693 W. Penn Some Fruits of Solitude §386. 107 For a Covetous Man to inveigh against Prodigality..is for the Pot to call the Kettle black.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew (at cited word) ‘The Pot calls the kettle black A——’, when one accuses another of what he is as Deep in himself.
1773 R. Graves Spiritual Quixote IV. i. 201 ‘Hey! what the devil!’ (says the Tinker) the Pot calls the Kettle Black a-se! why I suppose thou art a Pedlar, as well as myself.
1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple II. xiii. 217 Do you know what the pot called the kettle?
1843 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) xxiv. 292 I've been as good a son as ever you were a brother. It's the pot and the kettle, if you come to that.
1900 Westm. Gaz. 6 Mar. 10/1 There has been a good deal of ‘pot and kettle’ in the stories from the British and Boer camps since the war began.
1945 R. Hargreaves Enemy at Gate 280 The Nazi pot temporarily ceased calling the Russian kettle black.
1994 Analog Sci. Fiction & Fact Jan. 53/2 I chuckled at the pot calling the kettle black.
P9. a watched pot never boils and variants: time feels longer when you're waiting for something to happen.
ΚΠ
c1778 B. Franklin Paris vii. 926 Another Breakfast is ordered... I was very Hungry; it was so late; ‘a watched pot is slow to boil,’ as Poor Richard says.
1848 E. C. Gaskell Mary Barton II. xiv. 184 What's the use of watching? A watched pot never boils.
1880 M. E. Braddon Cloven Foot xxxviii Don't you know that vulgar old proverb that says that ‘a watched pot never boils’?
1940 C. Boothe Europe in Spring x ‘He [sc. Mussolini] is waiting to see how the next battle turns out,’ they said... ‘A watched pot never boils,’ they said—only this one finally did.
2005 Chicago Tribune (Nexis) 25 Apr. 1 It was like the watched pot that never boils. You were waiting and waiting for them to do something right.
P10. Australian and New Zealand slang. to put a person's pot on (also to put the pot on a person): to inform or tell tales against a person; to destroy a person's prospects. Also occasionally to put the pot on. Cf. pot v.4 8.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > failure or lack of success > fail in [verb (transitive)] > cause to fail
bringc1175
abort?1548
foil1548
ruin1593
to throw out1821
to put a person's pot on1864
mucker1869
collapse1883
to fix (someone's) wagon1951
1864 Bell's Life in Sydney 4 June 2/6 The police are..severely censured..for ‘neglect of duty’, and they, in turn, ‘put the pot on’ magistrates for the mischievous leniency they show.
1899 Truth (Sydney) 24 Sept. 7/1 P. M. Caswell ‘Puts the Pot on’ the In Camera process.
1908 ‘G. Seagram’ Bushmen All 18 ‘You fool,’ rejoined Dick pleasantly. ‘That temper of yours will hang you yet. As it is, you've put the pot on fairly well.’
1935 F. D. Davison & B. Nicholls Blue Coast Caravan 178 He saw some blacks..standing on the platform under guard of a policeman. ‘Hullo, what's up?’ One of them replied, ‘Aw, somebody's been putting our pot on.’
1957 V. Palmer Seedtime 119 There's an election coming on, and there's a chance I'll be dumped... This afternoon's work has probably put my pot on.
1985 B. Mitcalfe Hey Hey Hey 121 The cheek of them! I didn't ‘put their pot on’.
P11. slang (originally U.S.). not to have a pot to piss in: to be penniless, to have no money or resources. In early use more fully not to have a pot to piss in nor a window to throw it from and variants.
ΚΠ
1934 D. Barnes (typescript) in Nightwood: Orig. Version & Related Drafts (1995) 265 My heart aches for all poor creatures putting on dog, and not a pot to piss in or a window to throw it from.
1954 V. Randolph Pissing in Snow (1976) xlv. 70 A woman must be crazy to..take up with a loafer that ain't got a pot to piss in nor a window to throw it out.
1958 H. R. Cantz People of Coal Town x. 219 Some don't even have a pot to piss in but nevertheless they think that they are a lot better than you are.
1977 Times 8 Jan. 6/2 Ireland where he had come from was where they did not have a pot to piss in.
1998 Boxing Monthly June 37/2 I was 39, hadn't got a pot to piss in, nil prospects.
P12. English regional (Lancashire). pots for rags: crazy, mad. Cf. potty adj. 2a. [With reference to the traditional cry of a rag-and-bone man. Compare, for example:
1922 M. Phillips Young Industr. Worker i. 23 On Saturday morning you will hear the rag and bone merchants shout, ‘Come along! pots for rags and bones.’
]
ΚΠ
1935 Manch. Guardian 28 Dec. 18/1 Them books'll turn thee pots for rags.
1982 P. Tinniswood Home Front (1983) xvii. 173 What did I tell you? He's gone doodle alley pip. He's pots for rags.
2012 @Hop3y 31 Jan. in twitter.com (O.E.D. Archive) Think that lad at Everton is a bit pots for rags.
P13. coarse slang (chiefly North American). to (shit or) get off the pot and variants: to take action or make a decision, or else allow another person to do so; frequently in imperative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > completing > complete or conclude action [verb (intransitive)] > or abandon it
to (shit or) get off the pot1938
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > games of chance > dice-playing > play at dice [verb (intransitive)] > play craps > order to player
to (shit or) get off the pot1938
1938 J. Weidman What's in it for Me? 257 It's crap or get off the pot.
1939 A. Bessie Men in Battle vii. 198 They could say, ‘See, we sent home our volunteers,’ to Franco, ‘now shit or get off the pot.’
1950 B. Schulberg Disenchanted xvi. 298 This is our last chance. Absolutely our last. We've got to do it now or get off the pot.
1961 E. Partridge Dict. Slang (ed. 5) II. 1269/2 Shit or get off the pot! A Canadian Army c.p. (1939–45), directed at a dice-player unable to ‘crap out’.
1966 ‘A. Hall’ 9th Directive x. 90 Get some definite information for me. Tell the Ambassador to get off the bloody pot.
1972 Dict. Contemp. & Colloq. Usage (Eng.-Lang. Inst. Amer.) 26/2 Shit or get off the pot, vulgar. A command that someone either complete an action in process or abandon the attempt and give someone else the opportunity to try.
1977 ‘J. le Carré’ Honourable Schoolboy xii. 275 You better tell some of those limousine liberals back in Langley Virginia it's time for them to shit or get off the pot.
1996 Guardian 6 Feb. ii. 9/3 The response from her gay friends, Maggie says, has been: ‘Piss or get off the pot. It's ironic that they should be less accepting than my straight friends of what I see as just another degree of queerness.’

Compounds

C1.
a. General attributive, instrumental, and objective.
pot-grown adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > management of plants > [adjective] > potted
potteda1678
pot-grown1880
1880 Scribner's Monthly Jan. 338/2 Pot-grown plants are readily obtained by sinking two and a half or three inch pots up to their rims in the propagating beds, and filling them with rich earth mingled with old thoroughly rotted compost.
1946 G. A. R. Phillips Rock Garden iv. 64 Pot grown plants may be planted with comparative safety at any time of the year.
1999 BBC Gardeners' World Apr. 131/1 One stratagem was to display auriculas in miniature lamplit theatres with backgrounds of black velvet or even mirrors to show the pot-grown plants off to perfection.
pot seller n.
ΚΠ
1772 E. Raffald Manch. Directory 3 Bancroft John, Pot-seller.
1818 Times 24 Mar. 3/5 He appeared very illiterate, had been a boatman, a carter, and a potseller.
1996 K. Pyne Art & Higher Life iii. 88 By focusing on an unprivileged domain, the artist raised the peasant or pot seller to the level of the aristocratic precinct of high art.
pot-shaped adj.
ΚΠ
1851 J. F. W. Johnston Notes N. Amer. II. 80 Round knolls, and equally round pot-shaped hollows, perpetually occur.
1893 A. C. Gunter Miss Dividends 195 All coming out of pot-shaped domes.
2000 S. Broughton et al. World Music: Rough Guide II. i. 134/1 Gugum..replaced the ketuk with the bonang (a large set of pot-shaped gongs) and other instruments from the gamelan.
b. In the sense ‘grown or cultivated in a pot’ (sense 1f).
pot flower n.
ΚΠ
1854 Amer. Farmer's New & Universal Handbk. 383 Crocus.—A bulbous-rooted plant, hardy, early; colors, blue, yellow, white, purple, amp&c. It is grown by the bulbs. A pretty pot-flower.
1919 E. Dyson Hello Soldier! 103 The purple pot-flowers swell and glow, and o'er the walls and eaves Prinked creeper steals caressing hands, the poplar drips its leaves.
1988 Washington Post (Nexis) 29 Aug. b1 ‘They brought me a little blue pot flower,’ Ardie says.
pot rose n.
ΚΠ
1854 Amer. Farmer's New & Universal Handbk. 396 Pot roses, Persian lilac, and the different sorts of American shrubs, and other plants proper for forcing.
1891 Daily News 21 May 3/5 Across the centre of the floor there is a highly attractive display of cut and pot roses.
2004 Sun (Nexis) 6 Nov. Produced under glass, this generation of pot roses also shows potential for bedding out in summer.
C2.
Pot Act n. rare (now historical) an Act of Parliament relating to the sale of liquor.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > types of laws > [noun] > commercial or revenue
sizea1300
assizea1330
indiction1586
poll bill1641
frumentarian law1652
statute of the staple1657
statute of frauds1678
Gin Act1730
Pot Act1733
Stamp Act1765
Stamp-Bill1765
corn law1766
Bumboat Act1796
Maine law1852
permissive bill1864
lemon law1981
1733 Burlesque Poem on Petition Rejected in Projector's Looking-glass 13 Remember the Pot-Act, what Clamour it made, What Injustice was said to be done to the Trade?
1737 Chamberlayne's Magnæ Britanniæ Notitia (ed. 33) ii. 87 Register of the Victuallers..on Account of the Pot-Act.
1913 Jrnl. Royal Statist. Soc. 77 92 So the Pot Act and the vagaries of the case decisions on the Window Tax are relentlessly excluded.
pot ale n. Distilling the liquid residue left in a pot still after the first distillation (esp. in the making of whisky), and frequently processed into cattle feed or fertilizer.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > distilling > [noun] > wort
wash1699
malt wash1729
pot ale1812
1697 Aesop Naturaliz'd cxvi. 93 Ah Husband, says she, will nothing prevail To cure the unquenchable Love of Pot-Ale?
1787 Daily Universal Reg. 8 May 4/1 Mr. Wm. B. Swan, Surveyor of Excise,..assisted by a party of the 8th Light Dragoons, seized a large private still..and spilled upwards of five thousand gallons of Pot-ale, and two hundred gallons of Singlings.
1812 Sporting Mag. 40 86 Indicted for using an unlicensed still, and for having in his possession vessels containing pot ale.
1995 Farmer's Weekly 31 Mar. 54/3 The cows calve from late February. Out on the marsh they subsist on ad lib straw and pot ale syrup.
† pot-ally n. Obsolete rare a drinking companion.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [noun] > one who drinks to excess > companion
pot-companion1549
potpanionc1580
cup-mate?1592
pot-mate1603
pot-allya1625
compotator1731
a1625 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Knight of Malta ii. i, in Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Kkkkk2v/2 What can all this doe? Get me some dozen surfeits... And twenty pot-alleys.
pot anneal v. (transitive) to anneal (metal) by box-annealing.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with metal > work with metal [verb (transitive)] > harden, temper, or anneal > in specific way
case-harden1665
chill1831
box-annealc1887
pot anneal1928
work-harden1928
quench-harden1934
solution-treat1940
shot-peen1944
marquench1947
martemper1947
marage1962
cyanide1966
1928 H. M. Boylston Introd. Metall. Iron & Steel xv. 519 Tool steels are sometimes annealed in open-type furnaces of fairly small size, but in many cases are pot annealed.
1938 C. G. Johnson Forging Pract. 111 The steel is cooled very slowly either with the furnace..or cooled in a pot surrounded by heat insulating material (pot annealed).
pot annealing n. = box annealing n. at box n.2 Compounds 6.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with metal > [noun] > hardening, tempering, or annealing > types of annealing
box annealing1884
Réaumur process1898
pot annealing1925
subcritical annealing1930
process annealing1936
1925 Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. 112 453 A newly designed installation for the drying of wire bundles..is..described, in which the chambers are heated with the waste gases from pot annealing furnaces.
1934 Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. 129 519 (heading) The heat conditions for the pot-annealing of steel hoops.
1985 L. C. Love Princ. Metall. Gloss. 309 In box annealing a ferrous alloy the charge is usually heated slowly to a temperature below the transformation range, but sometimes above or within it, and is then cooled slowly; this process is also called close annealing or pot annealing.
pot arch n. Glass-making an arch in a glass-making furnace, in which pots are annealed.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > furnace or kiln > furnace > [noun] > glass-making furnaces > specific areas
fine-arch1816
pot arch1819
bank1828
siege1839
glass-oven1875
1819 Times 4 Oct. 1/5 To be disposed of,..a pot arch, a bottoming-furnace, flashing-furnace, and four annealing-arches.
1848 Sci. Amer. 15 Apr. 233/2 While the glass is yet in a fluid state, the carriage is removed a moment from the furnace to receive the melting pot which is brought in a white heat from the pot arch.
1936 Suppl. Jrnl. Royal Statist. Soc. 3 138 When required for use the pot is transferred to a cold furnace known as the pot arch, and here its temperature is raised over some 10 to 14 days to about 800° C.
2004 Glass Internat. (Nexis) 1 Sept. 46 It offers..glass level indicators; pot furnaces and glory holes;..bending furnaces; pot arches [etc.].
† pot-baked adj. Obsolete rare baked as pottery.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > clay compositions > baked clay > [adjective]
annealeda1382
burnt1387
bakena1425
baked1545
pot-baked1545
nealed1576
sunburnt1634
hard-burnt?a1656
sunbakedc1660
1545 G. Joye Expos. Daniel (ii.) f. 28v Thou didste see the yerne mixt with pot bakt erthe.
pot-baker n. now rare a person who bakes clay into pots, etc.; a potter.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > potter > [noun]
pottera1225
crockerc1315
pot-makera1399
turner1601
pot-baker1621
pot-founder1631
cloamer1659
thrower1744
ceramist1855
throwster1894
ceramicist1930
1621 H. Ainsworth Annot. Five Bks. Moses & Bk. Psalmes Leviticus xi. 33 Vessels of Pot-bakers earth.
1788 N.Y. Daily Advertiser (Electronic text) 1 Apr. A fire broke out in the building of Mr. Campbell, pot-baker in Broadway.
1823 J. K. Paulding Koningsmarke I. v. 101 Wolfgang Langfanger..spent his money, and neglected his business, till at length he had not a rix-dollar left, and his reputation, as a pot-baker, was ruined for ever.
1995 Dayton (Ohio) Daily News (Nexis) 10 Mar. 3 Artisans will include jewelry maker Doug Wunder and pot baker Greg Seigel.
pot-ball n. now English regional a dumpling.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > puddings > [noun] > dumplings
dumpling1600
Norfolk dumpling1600
macaroni1616
doughboy1685
pot-ball1688
potato dumpling1765
fungee1789
hop-about1820
knödel1827
johnnycake1831
dough ball1836
Salzburger nockerl1855
pierogi1863
gnocchi1891
cob1898
matzo ball1902
knaidel1903
pizzelle1912
knish1916
mandlen1944
shumai1951
nockerl1954
potsticker1963
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 293/2 A Dumpling, or Pot-Ball, is made..with ordinary flour and suet minced small, and mixed up with Milk or Water.
1860 J. P. Kay-Shuttleworth Scarsdale I. 149 Oi mun ha' moor milk, an' moor male, an potboes.
1896 G. F. Northall Warwickshire Word-bk. 181 Pot-ball, a small dough-dumpling, usually eaten with treacle.
pot-bank n. English regional a pottery; cf. bank n.2 10.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > workplace > place where specific things are made > [noun] > pottery
pottery1480
pothouse1673
potwork1681
piggery1818
mug-house1841
bank1843
pot-bank1888
1888 Sat. Rev. 66 11/1 Countless generations worked at the ‘potbank’.
1967 Past & Present 82 Lacking the aid of machinery to regulate the pace of work on the pot-bank, that supposedly-formidable disciplinarian, Josiah Wedgwood, was reduced to enforcing discipline upon the potters in surprisingly muted terms.
1994 Times 29 June 17/2 Johnson, like so many youngsters living in Stoke-on-Trent in the 1920s,..went to work in the local ‘potbank’—the name given to a collection of bottle-shaped kilns and warehouses making up one factory unit.
pot barley n. barley from which the outer husk has been removed.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > corn, cereals, or grain > [noun] > prepared grains
polentaOE
groats?a1100
tisanea1425
oat groatsa1475
grist?1567
polent1577
French barley1596
pearl barley1639
shelled corn1676
pot barley1761
burghul1764
semolina1784
yokeag1824
burgoo1825
Scotch barley1825
pearl sago1828
semoletta1844
semola1853
manna croup1864
manna groats1864
corn chip1868
rolled oats1870
flake-manna1886
flake-tapioca1886
grape-nuts1898
kibble1902
stamped mealies1911
stamp1923
bulgur1934
freekeh1940
stamp mealies1952
1761 in P. Murray et al. Decisions Court of Session (1772) 15 The mill was constructed solely for the purpose of manufacturing bear into pot-barley.
1812 J. Sinclair Acct. Syst. Husbandry Scotl. ii. App. 50 The expence of making pot barley..is..2s. 6d. per boll.
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) II. 1398 As a nutritious foodstuff the grain is used as pot-barley, or when the husk is removed, pearl-barley, for soups and puddings.
2005 Spectator (Hamilton, Ont.) (Nexis) 24 Feb. 16 There are two types of barley, pot and pearl. Pot barley has had the husk removed and requires very long cooking. Pearl barley has both husk and germ removed, and cooks more quickly.
† pot birds n. Obsolete rare a theatrical imitation of the notes of birds, perhaps produced by blowing through a pipe in a pot or similar vessel of water.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > sound of instruments > [noun] > imitation of birds
pot birdsa1625
a1625 J. Fletcher Pilgrim v. iv (stage direct.) in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Iiiiiv/2 Musick afar off. Pot Birds.
pot-board n. now rare a board upon which pots are placed or carried; esp. a shelf for pots and pans in a dresser, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > support > [noun] > that which supports > a stand or support to raise from the ground > others spec.
joistc1503
standing quoin1626
pot-board1696
urn-stand1862
check-stand1886
1696 Inventory 22 May in D. P. Dymond & A. Betterton Lavenham: 700 Years of Textile Making (1982) 88 Tow shelves an A poot bord.
1841 S. Warren Ten Thousand a-Year I. vii. 220 ‘It's a fine thing to be gentlefolk’, said the boy, taking up his pot-board.
1881 F. Young Every Man his own Mechanic §898 A ‘pot-board’ on which saucepans, kettles, etc., are placed when not in use.
1940 B. Leach Potter's Bk. iv. 92 An air-tight cupboard, wide enough to take standard pot-boards on ledges, is indispensable in any workshop for preventing half finished pots from drying too quickly.
1996 Home Oct. 63/1 Dressers were made all over western England as well as in Wales, but the English dresser tended to be low and without a pot board.
† pot-boul n. Scottish Obsolete rare (in plural) a two-part movable handle for a pot; see boul n. 2.
ΚΠ
1561 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1844) I. 336 Ane pair of pot bulis.
pot brass n. a metal or alloy from which pots are made.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > types of metal generally > [noun] > metal of which pots and pans were made
pot brass1422
pan-metal1552
potin1601
1422–7 in S. Rose Navy of Lancastrian Kings (1982) 192 [200 lb. of] belbrass [and 900 lb. of] potbras [and] panbras.
1519–20 in H. Littlehales Medieval Rec. London City Church (1905) 307 Ress'..of hym for xxix ll of olde potbras, the ll j d ob.
1628 Brechin Test. IV. in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue f. 309 v Of pot brais pewtar & copper.
1913 Times 25 June 26/3 Recently..it had been possible to reduce the gas consumption in 160lb. pot brass melting furnaces by 15%.
1991 Music Trades (Nexis) Oct. 86 Metallurgists were called in to determine the type of alloy used in the Mastertone banjo from the '20s. Based on the findings, Gibson reformulated a special type of pot brass that had gone out of common usage 50 years ago.
† pot-builder n. Obsolete rare a worker who constructs the large pots used in glassworks.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > potter > [noun] > maker of specific type of pottery
pot-maker1548
red potter1756
presser1769
porcelainist1868
pot-builder1890
studio potter1910
1890 W. J. Gordon Foundry 136 Three times has the whole mass to pass under his feet before it goes on to the pot-builder.
pot bunker n. Golf an artificially constructed small deep bunker.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > golf > golf course > [noun] > hazards
hazard1744
blind hazard1816
bunker1824
sand-bunker1824
sand1842
break-club1857
water hazard1889
trap1890
casual water1899
pot bunker1899
sand-trap1922
1899 Times 26 June 9/5 Mr. Wanklyn half topped his second in pressing for a long carry to the left of the pot bunker.
1907 H. H. Hilton My Golfing Reminisc. 46 From the tee I found a pot bunker.
1986 Golf World July 42/1 The 5th has been lengthened to bring the two pot-bunkers on the fairway into play.
pot burial n. Archaeology a prehistoric form of burial in which the body is interred in a pot.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > disposal of corpse > burial > types of burial or entombment > [noun] > burial in specific container
urn-burial1658
urn-buryinga1682
urn sepulture1857
pot burial1899
1899 Jrnl. Anthropol. Inst. 29 287 In Mysore, jars of the same kind have been found in the Kistvaens, and in South Arcot there are cases of pot burial in stone chambers, the jars containing bones and fragments of iron.
1932 Man 138 138 Among the Achifawa, Makangara, Kamuku and Ngwoi pot-burial is accorded to all members of the community except those who have died of leprosy or small-pox.
1999 Archaeol. Rep. for 1998–9 (Soc. for Promotion Hellenic Stud.) No. 45. 18/1 The presence of a child pot burial in the NE corner of the peribolos suggests that it did not include a sacred temenos, although religious activities did take place there.
pot-butter n. British regional (now rare) butter salted and put into pots for storage; potted or salted butter.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dairy produce > butter > [noun] > types of butter
May-butter?a1425
clarified butter1562
pot-butter1616
manteca1622
grass butter1648
green butter1654
drawn butter1661
cacao butter1662
ghee1665
rowen1673
ruskin1679
orange butter1696
whey-buttera1722
rowen butter1725
fairy butter1747
grease1788
Cambridge butter1830
stubble-butter1856
black jack1858
maître d'hôtel butter1861
Normandy butter1868
creamery butter1881
pound butter1888
renovated butter1888
samn1888
process butter1898
pool butter1940
garlic butter1942
yak butter1962
Normandy1973
cannabutter1994
1616 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Scornful Ladie i. sig. C2 One that..rose by hony and pot-butter.
1785 Hist. & Antiq. York II. 109 This Market is only for Firkin or Pot-Butter.
1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. Pot-butter,..in order to keep it, larger quantities of salt are needed. Hence salt and pot applied to butter are synonymous terms.
† pot-cannon n. Obsolete rare = potgun n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > small-arm > [noun] > small, inefficient, or antiquated gun
potgun1562
pot-cannon1653
popgun1719
gas pipe1867
plinker1960
1653 T. Urquhart tr. F. Rabelais 2nd Bk. Wks. xix. 139 When little boyes shoot pellets out of the pot-canons made of the hollow sticks of..an aulder tree.
pot-celt n. Archaeology rare an axe or celt (celt n.2) with a vertical socket into which a handle is inserted.
ΚΠ
1907 N.E.D. at Pot sb.1 Pot-celt, a celt with a comparatively large opening.
pot-claw n. rare a pot-hook or similar device for suspending a cooking pot or cauldron over a fire.
ΚΠ
1907 N.E.D. at Pot sb.1 Pot-claw.
pot clay n. (a) clay that is free from iron and therefore suitable for making earthenware; (b) (also Pot Clay) a bed of this kind of clay near the base of the English coal measures.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > clay > [noun] > for making pottery
eartha1350
potter's clay?a1425
potter's earth1440
pot earth?a1450
argil1530
pot clay1674
throwing clay1686
figuline1859
pottery clay1869
1674 C. Reynell True Eng. Interest 38 Many Clays also are very profitable, as ordinary pot Clay.., crucible Clay, and such that will endure the fire.
1702 London Gaz. No. 3821/8 A quantity of Pot-Clay, and Working Tools for Bottles or Flint.
1860 E. Hull Geol. Leicestershire Coalfield (Mem. Geol. Surv.) vi. 35 (caption) A. Loose breccia... B. Purple marl forming base of New Red Sandstone. C. Sandy shale. D. Coal 3 feet thick. E. Pot-clay, with rootlets stretching from the coal.
1913 Geol. Derbyshire Coalfield (Mem. Geol. Surv.) viii. 124 Pot-clay suitable for the manufacture of stoneware occurs below a thin coal above the Alton seam.
1968 M. A. Calver in D. Murchison & T. S. Westoll Coal viii. 173 The Pot Clay fauna lacks the typical benthonic assemblage exhibited by the other kinds of marine band.
2000 Glass Internat. (Nexis) 1 May 4 We have records detailing sales of fireclay to local glass factories in the early 1800s and by the 1870s there were sales of firebricks and prepared potclay.
† pot courage n. Obsolete rare colloquial courage or bravado induced by inebriation; = Dutch courage at courage n. 4d.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > courage > Dutch courage > [noun]
pot-valour?1623
pot courage1806
Dutch courage1826
bottle bravery1830
pot-valiantry1845
pot-valiance1872
pot valiancy1876
1806 C. Wilmot Let. 14 Oct. in M. Wilmot & C. Wilmot Russ. Jrnls. (1934) ii. 231 In a fit of Pot Courage no doubt he stroked his paunch & felt himself a Hero!
1881 A. Trollope Ayala's Angel III. lxi. 228 He had thought to soar high by challenging his rival to a duel, and had then been tempted by pot courage to strike him in the streets.
pot-crook n. now British regional = pot-hook n.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > public or popular punishments > [noun] > iron collar worn round neck
pot-crookc1530
carcana1533
pot-hooks1679
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > equipment for food preparation > cooking vessel or pot > [noun] > bar or chain for hanging
rack1391
reckon1400
hake1402
kilp1425
pot-clip1459
pothangles1468
reckon-crook1469
kettle-hook1485
rax1519
pot hangings1521
pot hangerc1525
pot-crookc1530
pot-hook1530
trammel1537
pot-kilp1542
gallow-balk1583
hale1589
hanger1599
pot-keep1611
pot rack1619
reckon hook1645
ratten crook1665
winter1668
rantle1671
cotterel1674
rantle-tree1685
rannel-balk1781
sway1825
rannel-perch1855
society > communication > writing > handwriting or style of > formation of letters > [noun] > stroke
linea1382
tittlec1384
stroke1567
minim1587
pot-hook1611
dash1615
hair-stroke1634
hook1668
foot stroke1676
stem1676
duct1699
hanger1738
downstroke?1760
hairline1846
up-stroke1848
skit1860
pot-crook1882
ligature1883
coupling-stroke1906
bow1914
ductus1922
ascender1934
c1530 A. Barclay Egloges ii. sig. Jij Platters and dysshes, morter and pot crokys.
1802 ‘P. Pindar’ Middlesex Election iii. 56 E'en let'n suffer vor a rogue, A potcrook let'n veel.
1882 F. W. P. Jago Anc. Lang. & Dial. Cornwall Pot-crooks, the second form in learning to write.
1956 S. H. Bell Erin's Orange Lily ix. 138 And that bit of skin was put in the pot-crook at the hearth and kept there till the following New Year coming on–for to bring luck to the house.
1996 J. Robertson Sc. Ghost Stories (1998) x. 136 On the Sunday the pot-crook and pot-clips went missing, and were only found four days later by two neighbours in a loft.
pot cultivation n. the cultivation of plants in pots.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > management of plants > [noun] > stocking with plants > planting in pots
pottinga1626
repotting1818
pot cultivation1845
pot culture1845
over-potting1866
pot garden1872
1845 Florist's Jrnl. 6 17 This species requires pot cultivation.
1913 New Phytologist 12 56 Not only arboreal plants, but also various other evergreen plants such as Acorus gramineus, Rhodea japonica, and even Psilotum triquetrum became material for pot cultivation.
1995 Garden (Royal Hort. Soc.) Nov. 687/1 Species with elongated tubers or stolons are not suited to pot cultivation, as they require deep beds in which to roam; they dislike confinement.
pot culture n. = pot cultivation n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > management of plants > [noun] > stocking with plants > planting in pots
pottinga1626
repotting1818
pot cultivation1845
pot culture1845
over-potting1866
pot garden1872
1845 Times 10 Oct. 9/3 He has a thorough knowledge of..all branches of pot culture.
1903 Science New Ser. 11 Dec. 759/1 He calmly discards..the elaborate and conclusive experiments made by the best observers in pot culture.
1990 Plants & Gardens Autumn 83/2 In warmer countries it can grow into a medium-sized tree but it has adapted well to pot culture and will flower well.
pot-cupboard n. now historical a bedside cupboard designed to hold a chamber pot.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > cupboard or cabinet > [noun] > other cupboards or cabinets
Flanders chest1400
warestall1508
livery cupboard1571
boy1656
by-closet1696
corner-cupboard1711
India cabinet1721
pot-cupboard1789
housemaid's cupboard1843
monocleid1885
vargueño1911
console1925
cocktail cabinet1928
storage unit1951
1789 A. Hepplewhite Cabinet-Maker & Upholsterer's Guide 16 Pot-Cupboards. Three designs are here shewn for pot-cupboards; an article of much use in bed-chambers, country-houses, offices.
1803 T. Sheraton Cabinet Dict. 316 Tambour doors are often introduced, in small pieces of work, where no great strength or security is requisite, as in night tables, and pot cupboards.
1973 Country Life 26 Apr. (Suppl.) 59/4 Late 18th century mahogany pot-cupboard.
† pot dropsy n. Medicine Obsolete diabetes; cf. sense 1e.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > metabolic disorders > [noun] > diabetes
diabetes?a1425
pissing evil1565
pot dropsy1625
diabetic1660
diabetes mellitus1788
sugar-disease1849
saccharine diabetes1874
1625 J. Hart Anat. Urines i. ii. 23 Another..dangerous disease..called Diabete or Potdropsy.
1625 J. Hart Anat. Urines ii. ii. 58 The Diabeticall disease, called by some a Pot-dropsie.
1713 tr. F. de la Calmette Riverius Reformatus (new ed.) iii. 162 It has also other Names; as the Chamber-pot Dropsy, because those that are troubled with this Distemper, by continually making Water, fill the Chamber-Pots.]
pot drum n. a drum having an earthenware body in the form of a pot.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > percussion instrument > drum > [noun] > other drums
taborinc1500
swash1533
war-drum1593
wolf-drum1605
saddle drum1617
tombak1662
tom-tom1693
goombay1790
rommelpot1790
rommelpot?1798
water drum1824
pahu1829
tabl1831
tambourin1832
dholuck1837
nagara1839
tree-drum1850
ngoma1860
talking drum1897
pot drum1907
friction drum1909
trap-drum1924
ghoema1934
tamboo1942
tassa1948
steel drum1952
conga drum1955
roto-tom1968
conga1969
Isukuti1972
steel pan1973
syndrum1979
1907 Jrnl. Royal Anthropol. Inst. 37 84 A very peculiar instrument..is the Pulluvan ‘pot-drum’, pulluva kudam, used at the Pámbantullel (‘snake-jumping’) ceremony in Malabar.
1944 Jrnl. Royal Anthropol. Inst. 74 95/1 They were accompanied in the dancing by a man beating a pot drum called aran-ile.
2002 Trav. Afr. Winter 67/1 Laughter led to music provided by a karonga (a small gut string bow), a dongo (a metal-keyed thumb piano), a reed pipe and a small skin-covered pot drum.
pot-dung n. English regional (southern) the dung of farm animals used as manure, so called because it is carried to the field in pots; cf. sense 5a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > preparation of land or soil > fertilizing or manuring > [noun] > dunging > dung
dungOE
muckc1268
dunging?1440
fimea1475
fulyiec1480
tath1492
soil1607
street soil1607
dung-water1608
soiling1610
mucking1611
short dung, manure, muck1618
folding1626
muck water1626
stable manure1629
long dung1658
spit-dunga1671
stercoration1694
street dirt1694
horse-litter1721
pot-dunga1722
sock1790
street manure1793
police manure1825
fold-manure1829
slurry1965
a1722 E. Lisle Observ. Husb. 46 They have had 12 d. per night for lending a hundred sheep to fold, which is looked on of as good a value as a good load of pot-dung.
1794 T. Davis Gen. View Agric. Wilts. 107 The home arable should be manured with pot-dung.
1811 T. Davis Gen. View Agric. Wilts. (new ed.) vii South Wiltshire farmers have no great quantity of yard or pot dung.
1911 Times 14 Jan. 15/7 Do you know what pot-dung is?
† pot-dung v. Obsolete (transitive) to manure (land) with dung.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > preparation of land or soil > fertilizing or manuring > fertilize or manure [verb (transitive)] > dung
dungOE
muck1440
stercorate1623
pot-dunga1722
a1722 E. Lisle Observ. Husb. (1757) I. 159 Such land as was hard ploughed,..or was pot-dung'd,..he chose to sow about Michaelmass.
1848 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 9 ii. 524 The land..is then pot-dunged, and sowed with white mustard.
pot egg n. British an artificial egg, usually made of earthenware, used esp. to encourage a hen to lay; cf. nest-egg n. 1b.
ΚΠ
1908 Daily News 10 Aug. 4/6 The keeper of an upland [golf] links is a poultry breeder as well, and he utilises the worst of the balls he finds as ‘pot eggs’ to test the ‘broody’ propensities of his hens.
2000 Hull Daily Mail (Nexis) 30 Sept. 33 Their highly-fancied ring special Herman hen [sc. a pigeon] raced home to her pot eggs.
pot fair n. a fair at which pots and other crockery are sold.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trading place > market > [noun] > for specific type of goods
horse-fair1369
pot market1580
pig market1647
horn-fair1669
Rag Fair1704
pot fair1738
beast market1779
Michael fair1813
pantechnicon1830
slave market1835
foal fair1880
1738 T. Gray Let. 30 June in Corr. (1971) I. 88 Pot-fair is at its height; there's old raffleing.
1834 J. Herbert Let. 28 Mar. in C. Darwin Corr. (1985) I. 374 Henslow has of course told you all about the meeting of the British Association, how the Philosophers talked & ate & talked again; how many of them were to be found at Pot-Fair instead of the Evening Meeting at the Senate House.
1997 Northern Echo (Nexis) 21 July 16 The Mayor..is launching the celebrations..by opening a pot fair offering bargain china.
pot-founder n. now historical a maker of iron or metalware pots.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > potter > [noun]
pottera1225
crockerc1315
pot-makera1399
turner1601
pot-baker1621
pot-founder1631
cloamer1659
thrower1744
ceramist1855
throwster1894
ceramicist1930
1631 MS Canterbury Marriage Licences John Tiler of Hawkhurst, pot-founder.
2007 N. Hybel & B. Poulen Danish Resources 286 In 1510,..a pot founder received five shillings for repairing kettles.
† pot-fowler n. Falconry Obsolete rare a hawk used for catching other birds intended to be eaten.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fowling > fowler > [noun] > for the pot
pot-fowler1834
1834 R. Mudie Feathered Tribes Brit. Islands I. 97 [The Goshawk] is nowise inferior as a pot-fowler, if the ground for it be judiciously chosen.
pot furnace n. a furnace containing pots for glassmaking, or in which crucibles are heated.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > furnace or kiln > furnace > [noun] > glass-making furnaces
glass-furnace1632
calcar1662
leer1662
pot furnace1839
blowing-furnace1875
tank furnace1879
1834 T. F. Gordon Gazetteer New Jersey 180/2 Extensive glass works belonging to Messrs. Burgin and Pearsall; consisting of 2 factories, 1 containing an 8, and other a 7 pot furnace, employed chiefly in the manufacture of bottles, demijohns, carboys.]
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 577 The flame that escapes from the founding or pot-furnace is thus economically brought to reverberate on the raw materials of the bottle glass.
1905 W. Macfarlane Lab. Notes Pract. Metall. ii. (heading) Exercises in a crucible or ‘pot’ furnace.
1984 E. P. DeGarmo et al. Materials & Processes in Manuf. (ed. 6) iv. 88 Almost every type of apparatus suitable for the purpose has been adapted, including pot furnaces.
† pot-fury n. Obsolete fury or excitement brought on by inebriation.Apparently an isolated use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [noun] > effects of excessive drinking > fury caused by excessive drinking
pot-fury1597
1597 Bp. J. Hall Virgidemiarum: 1st 3 Bks. i. iii. 6 With some Pot-fury rauisht from their wit.
pot-girl n. now rare and historical a barmaid; cf. pot-boy n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > providing or serving drink > [noun] > serving liquor > tapster or barmaid
tapsterc1000
drawer1379
wine-drawer1415
birlerc1440
shenkerc1440
trayer1473
tranter1500
skinker1575
lick-spigot1599
shot-shark1600
runner1601
skink1603
Hebe1606
Ganymede1608
squire of the gimlet1611
skinkard1615
bombard-man1616
bar-boy1631
faucet1631
tapstress1631
potman1652
barmaida1658
pot-boyc1662
tavern-drawer1709
tavern-boy1796
pot-girl1797
tap-boy1801
knight of the spigot1821
pewter-carrier1834
bartender1836
tap-waiter1836
barman1837
beer-boy1841
mixologist1856
bar-girl1857
mixer1858
gin slinger1871
swamper1907
tap-man1907
pot-woman1918
bar-staff1965
bar-person1976
1797 C. Lamb Let. 5 Feb. in Lett. C & M. A. Lamb (1975) I. 94 You cannot surely mean to degrade the Joan of Arc into a pot girl.
1862 H. Mayhew & J. Binny Criminal Prisons of London 184 The prisoners..seized the tray..and went off with it, as if they were so many pot-girls carrying round the beer.
1909 P. Collier England & English 54 Mr. Hyde afterward became Lord Chancellor,..and his wife, the former pot-girl, bore him a daughter.
1999 Sentinel (Stoke-on-Trent) (Nexis) 7 Apr. 23 Silly season topic of debate for 1902 was: ‘Should the pot-girls walk in the parks in summer dresses of crushed strawberry?’
pot green n. rare a leafy vegetable for boiling in a pot; = pot-herb n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > wild and cultivated plants > food plant or vegetable > [noun] > pot-herb(s)
pottage-warea1398
pot-wortc1400
pot-herb1538
olitory1696
pot green1742
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > herb > [noun]
worteOE
herbc1290
pottage-warea1398
pot-wortc1400
green meatc1450
pot-herb1538
pot green1742
1742 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman July iii. 36 They proved..sweet Eating, when no other Pot Greens could be hardly got.
1972 Sci. Amer. Nov. 130/3 She studied our Southern cookbooks, too,..coming to the conclusion that ‘distinctive features of Southern cooking are African in origin’: gumbos and burgoo, hush puppies and pot greens, to begin with.
pot-gut n. (also pot-guts) colloquial (a) a protuberant stomach (in quot. 1725 appositive); = pot belly n. 1; (b) a pot-bellied person or animal.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > body and limbs > [noun] > belly > pot-belly
pot-gut1725
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > trunk > front > belly or abdomen > [noun] > types of > person having
gorrel1398
dregbaly1483
gorbelly1530
swag belly1611
quake-belly1622
pot-gut1725
pot belly1847
pus-gut1935
beer belly1942
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > trunk > front > belly or abdomen > [noun] > types of
just wombc1400
paunch?a1425
gorbelly1519
barrel-belly1561
grand paunch1569
pack paunch1582
swag-paunch1611
swag bellya1616
bottle belly1655
paunch-gut1683
pot belly1696
gundy-gut1699
tun-bellya1704
panter1706
corporation1753
pancheon1804
poda1825
bow window1840
pot1868
pus-gut1935
beer belly1942
pussy-gut1949
pot-gut1951
Molson muscle1967
beer gut1976
1725 ‘Pillo-Tisanus’ Epist. G--ge Ch--ne M.D. F.R.S. 27 I wou'd fain learn, if Bag-Pipe Cheeks, a Double-Tripe Chin, or Pot-gut Belly, are the Consequences of this regulated Diet?
1839 Crockett's Comic Almanac Obsarve that 'are Jonny Bull, jist sot down to fodder, rat a tat goes the horn, and poor potgut must leave or be left.
1926 G. Frankau My Unsentimental Journey xiv. 182 Those little squirrels they call ‘pot-guts’ scuttle fatly across the well-made road.
c1926 ‘Mixer’ Transport Workers' Song Bk. 72 She's seated in a motor With some ‘pot-gut’ by her side.
1951 R. Campbell Light on Dark Horse 75 Then his old pot-guts would shake like a jelly.
1991 D. R. Koontz Cold Fire i. iii. 120 Per capita, Orange County had a lot fewer jowls, love handles, spare tires, pot guts, and pear-shaped bottoms than Portland.
pot-gutted adj. pot-bellied.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > trunk > front > belly or abdomen > [adjective] > types of
great-wombedc1325
wombedc1325
big-bellied?c1475
gorbellieda1529
tunnisha1529
bellieda1533
gorbelly1532
tun-bellied1551
out-bellied1570
paunch-bellied1586
paunchyc1586
big-bellied1592
round-bellied1606
gutty1607
tun-gutted1607
ventripotent1611
swag-bellieda1616
tun-grown1628
bottle-bellied1646
pot-bellied1647
belly-mountained1654
pauncheda1657
sag-bellied1665
barrel-bellied1694
ventricous1702
poke pudding1705
paunch-gutted1726
pot-gutted1731
paunchfula1763
pottle-bellied1777
tunnified1806
tun-likea1813
shad-bellied1832
ventricose1843
bow-windowed1849
bloated-bellied1871
barrel-stomached1884
stomachy1888
well-stomached1896
jelly-bellied1899
narrow-gutted1903
pus-gutted1915
great-stomached1944
1731 H. Fielding Welsh Opera ii. ii. 26 Making your Master brew more Beer than he needed, and then giving it away to your own Family—especially to feed that great swollen Belly of that pot-gutted Brother of your's.
1845 Spirit of Times 2 Aug. 267/1 Ar you a goin to tumtum all nite on that pot-gutted old pine box of a fiddle, say?
1912 Dial. Notes 586 Look at that pot-gutted beer fly, will you.
1998 Newsday (N.Y.) (Nexis) 13 June b1 The convention offered plenty of material for sneering at stereotypes—women with too much blue in their white hair, pot-gutted men trying to act half their age, [etc.].
† pot-hardy adj. Obsolete emboldened as a result of inebriation; cf. pot-valiant adj.Apparently an isolated use.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > courage > Dutch courage > [adjective]
pot-hardy1615
pot-valiant1647
pot-sure1648
pot-valorous1837
1615 R. Brathwait Strappado 3 That garland..From th' Temples sure of some pot hardy Poet.
† pot-harness n. Obsolete alcoholic drink as a source of courage.Apparently an isolated use.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > courage > Dutch courage > [noun] > defence supplied by drinking
pot-harness1622
pot-proof-armour1653
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [noun] > defence supplied by being drunk
pot-harness1622
pot-proof-armour1653
1622 S. Ward Woe to Drunkards 36 To whet their wits with wine; or arme their courage with Pot-harnesse.
pot hat n. colloquial a hat resembling a pot in shape; spec. a low-crowned stiff felt hat, a bowler.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > hat > made of specific material > felt > bowler hat
pot hat1580
hard hat1845
plug hat1860
bowler1861
billycock1862
boxer1863
bullycock1865
Christy1869
Christy stiff1882
hard hitter1883
pea-dodgera1914
blocker1934
dut1939
bun hat1941
1580 Edinb. Test. IX. f. 53, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue (at cited word) Sevin pot hattis at x s. the pece.
1798 J. Austen Let. 25 Nov. (1995) 21 She looks much as she used to do,..and wears what Mrs Birch would call a pot-hat.
1898 Westm. Gaz. 16 Dec. 3/2 Dressed like an ordinary tourist in a tweed suit, a blue overcoat, and a pot-hat.
1969 Listener 6 Mar. 296/2 Shades of..Brunel throwing down his pot hat to mark where Swindon would be built.
2004 Jrnl. & Courier (Lafayette, Indiana) (Nexis) 26 Apr. 12 c (caption) Oakland student Tabitha..receives a pot hat from Johnny Appleseed.
pot-hatted adj. of a person, wearing a pot hat.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > wearing clothing > [adjective] > wearing headgear > wearing a hat > types of
flat-headed1667
straw-hattedc1730
beavered1742
cocked-hatted1821
slouch-hatted1826
high-hatted1858
plug-hatted1869
sun-helmeted1886
pot-hatted1888
sou'-westered1891
cowboy-hatted1896
sombreroed1899
top hat1902
picture-hatted1906
bowler-hatted1909
sailor-hatted1909
tile-hatted1924
Stetsoned1935
trilbied1966
trilby-hatted1975
1888 Scribner's Mag. May 618/2 The other members of the party were a maiden with a gold ornament at her neck and a pot-hatted and paunchy personage with a black coat and tie—both quite impossible.
1899 Daily News 25 Sept. 7/3 A band of pot-hatted young men linked arms, and..marched along, followed by an enthusiastic crowd.
1982 Christian Sci. Monitor (Nexis) 18 May 15 These sensibly shod and uniformly pot-hatted ladies paid reverent attention to their surroundings.
pot helmet n. now historical a protective helmet of a kind worn by cavalrymen or other soldiers; = sense 9.
ΚΠ
1824 S. R. Meyrick Crit. Inq. into Antient Armour I. 31 His helmet is of the pot kind, such as became more general under King John.]
1841 U.S. Mag. & Democratic Rev. Sept. 229 He brought out a strong pot-helmet of black iron.
1871 Scribner's Monthly Oct. 637/1 Sir—put spurs to his charger, rode at the trooper, and dealt him a downright blow on the pot-helmet with his sheathed weapon.
1994 Guardian 16 Nov. i. 11 (caption) Elin Jones, of Sotheby's, tries a Cromwellian harquebusier's lobster-tailed pot helmet, much in vogue in the 1640s.
pot holder n. originally U.S. a protective pad, typically of thick or quilted fabric, used to handle hot cooking implements.
ΚΠ
1888 Harper's Mag. Mar. 550/2 The protuberance of his stomach, where the grimy apron was stuffed out with the dish-towel, pot-holder, red handkerchief, etc.
1938 Amer. Home Oct. 46/2 You can have..table coverings of several sizes, chair seats, pot holder sets—all in the same pattern and color.
2004 D. M. Davidson Double Shot vii. 68 A pot holder had slipped, and I'd inadvertently grabbed the copper side of a hot tarte tatin mold.
† pot-keep n. Obsolete rare = pot-kilp n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > equipment for food preparation > cooking vessel or pot > [noun] > bar or chain for hanging
rack1391
reckon1400
hake1402
kilp1425
pot-clip1459
pothangles1468
reckon-crook1469
kettle-hook1485
rax1519
pot hangings1521
pot hangerc1525
pot-crookc1530
pot-hook1530
trammel1537
pot-kilp1542
gallow-balk1583
hale1589
hanger1599
pot-keep1611
pot rack1619
reckon hook1645
ratten crook1665
winter1668
rantle1671
cotterel1674
rantle-tree1685
rannel-balk1781
sway1825
rannel-perch1855
1611 in R. W. Ambler et al. Farmers & Fishermen (1987) 116 Gallowbaukes and pot keepes.
pot kiln n. a small kiln, esp. a small limekiln.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > furnace or kiln > kiln > [noun] > lime-kilns
lime-kiln1296
lime-pot1596
pot kiln1599
flame-kiln1808
tunnel-kiln1828
1599 in F. G. Emmison Essex Wills (1990) (modernized text) VII. 15 To my son William all my boards with the pot ‘kell’ [kiln] and other outwards things about the ‘kell’ house or workhouse.
1635 G. Wither Coll. Emblemes 223 Some from the pot-kilne, from the sheep cote some Hee raised hath.
1834 Brit. Husbandry (Libr. Useful Knowl.) I. 304 They appear to pay dearly at present for lime, and the sorry pot-kilns by which it is manufactured are so badly managed.
1957 E. E. Evans Irish Folk Ways ix. 123 As with corn-kilns—and lime-kilns—they were of two kinds, which may be termed pot-kilns and pipe-kilns.
2003 Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch (Nexis) 2 Mar. j1 He figured out how to make lime putty by using traditional pot kilns.
† potknight n. Obsolete rare a habitual hard drinker.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > courage > Dutch courage > [noun] > one who is courageous through drink
potknight1587
pot-valiant1903
1587 W. Harrison Hist. Descr. Iland Brit. (new ed.) ii. vi. 170/1 in Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) I The beere..is cleere and..yellow as the gold noble, as our potknights call it.
pot lace n. lace having the figure of a pot or vase (often containing flowers) in the pattern.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [noun] > consisting of loops or looped stitches > lace > other types of
masclea1425
pomet1582
loop-lace1632
colbertinea1685
coxcomb1693
trolly-lolly1693
trolly1699
piece lace1702
mignonette1751
web lace1795
guard-lace1804
Antwerp lace1811
warp-lace1812
cardinal lace1842
guipure1843
run lace1843
Shetland lace1848
lacis1865
pot lace1865
reticella1865
tape guipure1865
quadrille1884
reticello1895
tambour-lace1899
rosaline1900
ring net1901
tracing-lace1901
shadow lace1914
1865 F. B. Palliser Hist. Lace vii. 116 Antwerp lace would have disappeared from the scene had it not been for the attachment evinced by the old people for one pattern,..generally known by the name of ‘pot lace’.
1960 H. Hayward Connoisseur's Handbk. Antique Collecting 15/2 The style of pattern has given this [sc. Antwerp lace] the name of pot lace..from the substantial two-handled vase usually prominent in it.
pot-ladle n. a ladle for lifting food, etc., out of a pot; (also English regional (Norfolk)) a tadpole.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > equipment for food preparation > [noun] > ladle
ladlea1000
pot-spoon1440
pot-ladle1534
cresser1656
skipper1688
chamcha1832
1534 (?a1500) Shearmen & Taylors' Pageant 864 in H. Craig Two Coventry Corpus Christi Plays (1931) 30 Here with my pott-ladull With hym woll I fyght.
a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) Pot-ladles, tad-poles; from their shape.
1873 G. Droz Around a Spring 6 Imagine a noisy child striking a Dutch oven with a pot ladle.
1955 Amer. Anthropologist 57 931 The ‘Binego’ who is in possession of the grandfather takes the leaves in his mouth, chews them, and spits the pulp onto the navel of the still prostrate novice, then lightly touches the spot with the heated pot ladle.
1999 R. Malster Mardler's Compan. 58/2 Pot-ladles, a Norfolk name for tadpoles, derived from their shape.
pot-layering n. Horticulture air layering in which the rooting medium is enclosed in a container (pot, box, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > management of plants > propagation of plants > [noun] > by layering > pot-layering
pot-layering1912
1912 A. F. Broun Sylviculture in Tropics ii. iv. 146 ‘Pot-layering’ is employed for branches which are either too high up a tree or too brittle to be bent into the ground.
1961 Amateur Gardening 30 Sept. (Suppl.) 2/3 Air-layering. Also known as pot-layering... A means of rooting branches or shoots.
† pot-leech n. Obsolete rare an insatiable drinker; a drunkard.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [noun] > one who drinks to excess
houndOE
drinkerc1200
keach-cup?c1225
gulchcupa1250
bollerc1320
taverner1340
ale stake?1515
wine-bibber1535
bibber1536
swill-bowl1542
malt-wormc1550
rinse-pitcher1552
bibblera1556
ale knight1556
tosspot1568
ring-pigger1570
troll-the-bowl1575
malt-bug1577
gossip-pint-pot1580
black pot1582
alehouse knight1583
worrier1584
suck-spigot1585
bezzle1592
bezzlera1593
cup-leech1593
soaker1593
carouser1596
barley-cap1598
swiller1598
rob-pot1599
Philistine1600
sponge1600
wine-knight1601
fill-knaga1605
reel-pot1604
faithful1609
fill-pot1609
bouser1611
spigot-sucker1611
suck-pint1611
whip-can1611
bib-all-night1612
afternoon man1615
potling1616
Bacchanalian1617
bombard1617
pot-shot1617
potisuge1620
trougha1625
tumbrila1625
borachioa1627
pot-leech1630
kill-pota1637
biberon1637
bang-pitcher1639
son of Bacchusc1640
shuffler1642
suck-bottlea1652
swill-pot1653
poter1657
potatora1660
old soaker1665
fuddle cap1666
old toast1668
bubber1669
toper1673
ale-toast1691
Bacchant1699
fuddler1699
swill-belly1699
tickle-pitcher1699
whetter1709
draughtsmanc1720
bender1728
drammer1740
dram-drinker1744
drammist1756
rum-bud1805
siper1805
Bacchanal1812
boozera1819
rum-sucker1819
soak1820
imp of the spigot1821
polyposist1821
wineskin1821
sack-guzzler1823
sitfast1828
swill-flagon1829
cup-man1834
swiper1836
Lushington1851
lushing-man1859
bloat1860
pottle pot1860
tipsificator1873
tipsifier1873
pegger1874
swizzler1876
bibulant1883
toss-cup1883
lusher1895
stew-bum1902
shicker1906
stiff1907
souse1915
booze-hound1926
stumblebum1932
tanker1932
lush-hound1935
lushy1944
lush-head1945
binge drinker1946
pisshead1946
hophead1948
1630 J. Taylor Water-cormorant in Wks. iii. 5/1 This valiant pot-leach, that vpon his knees Has drunke a thousand pottles vp se freese.
potlicker n. North American and Caribbean a mongrel dog; (also North American, now rare) a contemptible person.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > dog > [noun] > mongrel
mongrelc1460
limer1538
potlicker1830
kuri1838
mutt1900
mong1903
pooch1908
goorie1937
1830 A. Royall Southern Tour I. 78 This was said like a man, and never came into the heads of pot-lickers and scrubs.
1904 E. Hough Law of Land 114 Why, he says he'd make Hec look like a pot-licker if he ever got mixed up with his dog.
1947 Clarke County Democrat (Grove Hill, Alabama) 30 Oct. 4/3 A hound is a hound, regardless of whether he is July, Red Bone, Walker, potlicker or just plain hush-puppy.
1984 T. McGuane Something to be Desired (1985) vii. 67 Am I to understand that I have to get a gold star from every pot-licker who cares to evaluate me or I don't see him?
1990 J. McGill That Rubens Guy (1991) 11 A pint in each hand, young Jessica stopped a yard before the bottom step where Sparky the potlicker lay growling through a dream of rats.
pot-licking adj. and n. (a) adj. obsequious; (b) n. obsequiousness, toadying.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > commendation or praise > flattery or flattering > servile flattery or currying favour > [noun]
fawninga1350
adulationc1400
papelardya1425
papelardrya1500
captation1523
clawing1548
insinuation1553
curry-favour1581
man-pleasing1588
courting1607
men-pleasing1615
supparasitation1620
sycophantizing1640
assiduity1641
ingratiating1642
licking1648
man-pleasance1656
sycophancy1657
fawnery1661
sycophantrya1677
nutting1789
tuft-hunting1789
cultivation1793
huggery1804
ingratiation1815
sycophantism1821
lickspittling1839
toadyship1839
toadyism1840
bootlicking1849
toadying1863
arse-licking1912
lickspittle1914
apple-polishing1926
pot-licking1929
brown-nosing1934
ass-kissing1936
arse-kissing1937
ass-licking1946
sucking-up1946
bum-sucking1949
love bomb1975
love-bombing1976
1929 W. Faulkner Sartoris iv. 282 Hole up here, you potlickin' fool.
1968 Current Slang (Univ. S. Dakota) 3 ii. 38 Pot-licking, oversolicitous behavior... He made his way to the top only by pot-licking.
pot life n. the length of time that a glue, resin, etc., remains usable after preparation.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > [noun] > length of material's use after preparation
pot life1945
the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > [noun] > repeated or continuous use > ability to last in use
useful life1848
use-life1937
pot life1945
1945 H. Barron Mod. Plastics viii. 199 When the hardener is mixed into the resin then the mixture has a very limited pot life.
1969 T. C. Thorstensen Pract. Leather Technol. xiv. 226 In this kind of finish the reactive components are usually mixed shortly before application, due to the limited pot life of the components.
1992 RS Components: Electronic & Electr. Products July 332/2 The epoxy features a long pot life of 4 hours and undergoes a colour change to indicate curing.
pot light n. Canadian an interior light encased in a cylindrical mounting recessed into a ceiling.
ΚΠ
1981 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 21 Aug. bl1 The room settings have been criticized..for being..too ultra-chic with wild colors, pot lights and beds that sat just inches above floor level.
2004 Leader-Post (Regina, Sask.) (Nexis) 15 May f1 Mood was created with pot lights and lights with alabaster shades.
pot lighting n. Canadian interior lighting using pot lights.
ΚΠ
1983 City & Country Home Fall 80/1 Dropped perimeter..provides pot lighting as well as reflected light.
2004 Edmonton (Alberta) Jrnl. (Nexis) 1 May i6 Kitchen: includes..pot lighting, beige-toned ceramic tile back-splash.
potline n. a line of retorts used for the electrolytic production of aluminium.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > furnace or kiln > furnace > parts of furnace > [noun] > vessels > for producing gas > set of
setting1872
potline1951
1936 Industr. & Engin. Chem. Feb. 148/1 Shutting down a ‘line’ of aluminum cells or ‘pots’..is not a difficult or lengthy operation if properly performed.]
1951 Economist 29 Sept. 748/1 The drought had forced the huge hydro-electric installations on the Columbia River to reduce..power to the plants that provide aluminium. Already three ‘potlines’ have been closed down.
2004 Metals Week (Nexis) 22 Nov. 2 Supervisory personnel would continue operating three of the smelter's six active potlines and the mill in the event of a strike.
pot-lug n. chiefly English regional (northern) the handle of a pot or jug; cf. pot ear n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > equipment for food preparation > cooking vessel or pot > [noun] > handle
pot eara1425
kilp1425
hankc1530
pot-lug1855
1855 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Yorks. Words 133 Pot-lug, the handle of a jug; the two loops at the sides of the iron porridge-pot.
1909 Amer. Anthropologist 11 63 Other items of interest are large and small ‘hoes’ formed from the scapulæ of bison, elk, and smaller animals;..pot-lugs; paint-pots and rims.
pot marigold n. the marigold Calendula officinalis, a common garden plant with large orange-yellow daisy-like flowers whose petals may be used for culinary or medicinal purposes; cf. marigold n. 1a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > additive > colouring agents > [noun]
saffronc1450
crocus1659
pot marigold1760
browning1769
parsley green1845
butter colour1877
food colouring1887
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > composite flowers > marigold
goldOE
rudc1300
gold flowera1325
solseclea1350
rodeworta1398
marigolda1400
yellow-bottlea1400
yellow goldc1405
soussiea1425
solsequium1540
soucyc1550
sun's flower1568
solsequya1680
pot marigold1760
tagetes1792
calendula1871
1760 J. Webb Catal. Seeds & Hardy Plants 2 Calendula, Pot marigold.
1771 G. White Jrnl. 15 Dec. (1970) iv. 46 Daisey, wallflower, hapatic, meserean, pot-marigold, spring flower blow.
1814 J. Green Addr. Bot. U.S. 41/2 Calendula officinalis. Pot Marygold, Common.
1910 Daily Chron. 19 Feb. 9/6 Among the best annuals for town gardens are the..French and African marigolds..and the calendula or pot marigold.
1992 Down East Feb. 42/2 Chassé includes a mere handful of dependable annuals, such as alyssum, snapdragons, and calendulas (pot marigolds) to fill in the odd pocket.
pot marjoram n. a small aromatic shrub, Origanum onites, used as a culinary herb.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > herb > [noun] > oregano or marjoram
organOE
marjorama1393
origanuma1398
organuma1450
marjoram gentle1538
orgament1552
english marjoram1578
pot marjoram1578
fine marjoram1597
winter marjoram1597
orgamy1609
winter sweet marjoram1640
origany1728
oregano1959
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > culinary herbs > sweet or pot marjoram
marjorama1393
origanuma1398
organuma1450
marjoram gentle1538
orgament1552
english marjoram1578
pot marjoram1578
fine marjoram1597
winter marjoram1597
orgamy1609
winter sweet marjoram1640
origany1728
wintersweet1846
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball ii. i. 474 Maiorana latifolia, sine maior Anglica, Winter, or Pot Maierome.
1637 T. Morton New Eng. Canaan ii. iii. 66 The Country there naturally affordeth very good potherbes and sallet herbes..as Potmarioram, Tyme, [etc.].
1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry 464 Of Marjoram, there are several sorts..; the vulgar sort and Pot Marjoram is raised by slips.
1863 F. Burr Field & Garden Veg. 428 Pot marjoram... The crop in all respects should be treated, as directed for Common Marjoram.
1936 E. S. Rohde Herbs & Herb Gardening vii. 73 Pot Marjoram..is a larger and more branching plant than Sweet Marjoram.
2002 Horticulture July 53/2 A Greek friend of mine prefers O. onites, or pot marjoram. Known in Greek as rigani..grazing sheep won't touch it because of its strong thymelike aroma.
pot market n. a market where pottery is sold.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > trading place > market > [noun] > for specific type of goods
horse-fair1369
pot market1580
pig market1647
horn-fair1669
Rag Fair1704
pot fair1738
beast market1779
Michael fair1813
pantechnicon1830
slave market1835
foal fair1880
1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong Vne poterie, a potte market, the place where pots are made.
1911 Amer. Anthropologist 13 647/2 Notes on the so-called ‘pot-market’ in front of the church of St. Anthony, during the feast of St. Apollonius at Louvain.
2004 Buxton Advertiser (Nexis) 1 Apr. Mobile [police] stations have been set up at Whaley Bridge Railway Station and the Pot Market in Tideswell.
pot-mate n. now rare = pot-companion n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [noun] > drinker > fellow drinker
companion?1505
bowl-fellow1509
pot-companion1549
potpanionc1580
pot-mate1603
compotanta1624
dear heart1669
bottle companiona1689
bottle frienda1689
compotator1731
tavern-fellow1899
pub-friend1959
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [noun] > one who drinks to excess > companion
pot-companion1549
potpanionc1580
cup-mate?1592
pot-mate1603
pot-allya1625
compotator1731
1603 H. Crosse Vertues Common-wealth sig. T1 Powring it into the bosome of his pot-mate.
1846 A. Rodger Devil's Visit to Islands of Japan in Poems & Songs 226 And your pot-mates shall be like yourself, men of weight, Belshazzar, and Heliogabulus great.
1975 Hist. Jrnl. 18 305 In one mood he gives you the impression of being surrounded by Nyms and Bardolphs and Pistols, with a dark hint of a Mistress Quickly, yet somehow that these pot-mates nauseated his belly.
† potmeal n. Obsolete rare a drinking bout.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [noun] > drinking-bout
cups1406
drinking?1518
banquet1535
Bacchanal1536
pot-revel1577
compotation1593
rouse1604
Bacchanalia1633
potmealc1639
bout1670
drinking-bout1673
carouse1690
carousal1765
drunk1779
bouse1786
toot1790
set-to1808
spree1811
fuddlea1813
screed1815
bust1834
lush1841
bender1846
bat1848
buster1848
burst1849
soak1851
binge1854
bumming1860
bust-out1861
bum1863
booze1864
drink1865
ran-tan1866
cupping1868
crawl1877
hellbender1877
break-away1885
periodical1886
jag1894
booze-up1897
slopping-up1899
souse1903
pub crawl1915
blind1917
beer-up1919
periodic1920
scoot1924
brannigan1927
rumba1934
boozeroo1943
sesh1943
session1943
piss-up1950
pink-eye1958
binge drinking1964
c1639 T. Dekker & J. Ford Sun's-darling (1656) i. 4 I will..Swagger in my Potmeals.
pot mess n. Nautical slang (a) a stew, esp. one made from scraps; (b) figurative a state of confusion or disorder.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > dish of many ingredients > [noun]
rapé1381
jussel?c1390
hodgepotc1430
composta1475
olla1535
olla podrida1590
gallimaufry1591
pot-pourri1611
hodge-podge1622
olio1642
potrido1651
salmagundi1674
oil1706
Solomon-gundy1752
chow-chow1795
powsowdie1816
make-up1841
poor do1870
scramble1893
mulligan1898
pot mess1914
chow1926
katogo1940
panaché1961
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > confusion or disorder > [noun] > a state of confused disorder
feery-fary1535
puddle1587
bauchle1600
vertigo1702
whemmel1817
mull1821
mix-up1841
scrimmage1852
embroilment1856
hash-up1860
brangle1865
mucker1867
unplight1876
car wreck1877
mix1882
mess-up1902
stirabout1905
pot mess1914
boorach1928
balls-up1929
muck-up1930
balls1938
box1941
Chinese fire drill1943
snafu1943
foul-up1944
screw-up1950
snarl-up1960
tiswas1960
bumble-bath1965
clusterfuck1969
headfuck1983
car crash1992
katogo1994
dumpster fire2008
1914 ‘Bartimeus’ Naval Occasions xxiv. 238 What an awful pot-mess my cabin is in.
1926 Blackwood's Mag. Dec. 835/2 The resulting pot-mess vanished all too soon.
1945 ‘Tackline’ Holiday Sailor v. 55 Everything went into a pot-mess—meat, spuds, peas, beans, rice, oxo, ‘red-lead’ (tinned tomatoes)—and the result was invariably good.
1974 Times 5 Sept. 9/4 A Vindication of the Rights of Woman..is a fine potmess of a book, written in six weeks flat.
2001 Independent (Nexis) 30 June 45 I still remember pot mess from my days of fishery protection duty on an Icelandic trawler.
† pot-miser n. Obsolete rare a kind of boring tool (see miser n.3) in which earth is forced up a continuous spiral lip running round the inside of a cylinder and discharged at the top.
ΚΠ
1890 Cent. Dict. at Miser In the so-called ‘pot-miser’, used in pebbly clay there is no valve, but the soil is forced upward by a worm on the outside of the pot.
† pot parliament n. Obsolete rare (probably) an assembly of drinkers.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [noun] > one who drinks to excess > company of
drunkship1486
pot parliament1529
blacklist1875
toperdom1891
1529 T. More Dialogue Heresyes iii, in Wks. 246/1 Among other such as himselfe to kepe a quotlibet and a pot parlament vpon.
pot-plate n. rare a plate decorated with a representation of a pot, vase, etc.
ΚΠ
1907 N.E.D. at Pot sb.1 Pot-plate, a porcelain plate bearing the figure of a pot, vase, or other vessel.
† pot-proof-armour n. Obsolete liquor as a source of bravery or courage.Apparently an isolated use.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > courage > Dutch courage > [noun] > defence supplied by drinking
pot-harness1622
pot-proof-armour1653
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [noun] > defence supplied by being drunk
pot-harness1622
pot-proof-armour1653
1653 T. Urquhart tr. F. Rabelais 1st Bk. Wks. xl. 182 It [sc. my nose] is well antidoted with pot-proof-armour.
† pot-punishment n. Obsolete the punishment of being forced to drink alcohol.Apparently an isolated use.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > public or popular punishments > [noun] > forcing to drink
pot-punishment1598
1598 R. Haydocke in tr. G. P. Lomazzo Tracte Artes Paintinge T. Rdr. ⁋v b These base fellowes I leaue in their Ale-houses, to take pot-punishment of each other.
† pot-quarrel n. Obsolete a drunken brawl; cf. Phrases 5b.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > quarrel or quarrelling > [noun] > drunken quarrel
pot-quarrel1599
1599 H. Porter Pleasant Hist. Two Angrie Women of Abington sig. B3v Forsooth they'l call it a pot quarrell straight.
1639 W. Cartwright Royall Slave v. iv Faith Landlord Molops, I'd have sworne thou hadst beene of a better Nature, than to remember Pot-quarrels.
pot-quern n. a pot-shaped quern.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation of grain > milling or grinding > [noun] > corn-mill > hand-mill
quernOE
hand mill1523
quern mill1590
kibbling-mill1826
pot-quern1851
mano1901
1851 D. Wilson Archæol. & Prehistoric Ann. Scotl. i. vii. 152 A more artificial, though very ancient form of hand-mill, is what is called the Pot Querne.
1894 Nottingham. & Derbys. Notes & Queries Aug. 109 A portion of a pot-quern,..found at Breaston.
1987 Mod. Philol. 84 245 (note) The more usual Germanic type of quern may have been the pot-quern, ‘one in which the upper stone revolves inside a hollow cylindrical lower stone’.
† pot-revel n. Obsolete rare a drunken revel; a drinking bout.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [noun] > drinking-bout
cups1406
drinking?1518
banquet1535
Bacchanal1536
pot-revel1577
compotation1593
rouse1604
Bacchanalia1633
potmealc1639
bout1670
drinking-bout1673
carouse1690
carousal1765
drunk1779
bouse1786
toot1790
set-to1808
spree1811
fuddlea1813
screed1815
bust1834
lush1841
bender1846
bat1848
buster1848
burst1849
soak1851
binge1854
bumming1860
bust-out1861
bum1863
booze1864
drink1865
ran-tan1866
cupping1868
crawl1877
hellbender1877
break-away1885
periodical1886
jag1894
booze-up1897
slopping-up1899
souse1903
pub crawl1915
blind1917
beer-up1919
periodic1920
scoot1924
brannigan1927
rumba1934
boozeroo1943
sesh1943
session1943
piss-up1950
pink-eye1958
binge drinking1964
1577 R. Stanyhurst Hist. Irelande iii.97/2 in R. Holinshed Chron. I They kept such pot reuels, and triumphant carousing, as none of them coulde discerne his beddes head, from the beddes feete.
pot-seine n. Fishing rare a seine net with a pound; cf. sense 5c.
ΚΠ
1903 Sci. Amer. 28 Feb. 160/3 The purpose of this contrivance is to provide a pot-seine to be used with or without scows and adapted to fish only with the tide.
pot-setting n. Glass-making the action of placing the glass-pots in the furnaces.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > glass-making > [noun] > specific processes
fritting1816
fire polishing1829
pot-setting1839
wetting1888
mould-blowing1948
float process1959
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 577 The pot-setting is a desperate service.
1969 Waterford Crystal f. 12v Illustrated here..is the operation known as Pot Setting... A small furnace known as a Pot Arch.
† pot-shaken adj. Obsolete drunk, intoxicated.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [adjective] > drunk
fordrunkenc897
drunkena1050
cup-shottenc1330
drunka1400
inebriate1497
overseenc1500
liquor1509
fou1535
nase?1536
full1554
intoxicate1554
tippled1564
intoxicated1576
pepst1577
overflown1579
whip-cat1582
pottical1586
cup-shota1593
fox-drunk1592
lion-drunk1592
nappy1592
sack-sopped1593
in drink1598
disguiseda1600
drink-drowned1600
daggeda1605
pot-shotten1604
tap-shackled1604
high1607
bumpsy1611
foxed1611
in one's cups1611
liquored1611
love-pot1611
pot-sick1611
whift1611
owl-eyed1613
fapa1616
hota1616
inebriated1615
reeling ripea1616
in one's (or the) pots1618
scratched1622
high-flown?1624
pot-shot1627
temulentive1628
ebrious1629
temulent1629
jug-bitten1630
pot-shaken1630
toxed1635
bene-bowsiea1637
swilled1637
paid1638
soaken1651
temulentious1652
flagonal1653
fuddled1656
cut1673
nazzy1673
concerned1678
whittled1694
suckey1699
well-oiled1701
tippeda1708
tow-row1709
wet1709
swash1711
strut1718
cocked1737
cockeyed1737
jagged1737
moon-eyed1737
rocky1737
soaked1737
soft1737
stewed1737
stiff1737
muckibus1756
groggy1770
muzzeda1788
muzzya1795
slewed1801
lumpy1810
lushy1811
pissed1812
blue1813
lush1819
malty1819
sprung1821
three sheets in the wind1821
obfuscated1822
moppy1823
ripe1823
mixed1825
queer1826
rosined1828
shot in the neck1830
tight1830
rummy1834
inebrious1837
mizzled1840
obflisticated1840
grogged1842
pickled1842
swizzled1843
hit under the wing1844
obfusticatedc1844
ebriate1847
pixilated1848
boozed1850
ploughed1853
squiffy?1855
buffy1858
elephant trunk1859
scammered1859
gassed1863
fly-blown1864
rotten1864
shot1864
ebriose1871
shicker1872
parlatic1877
miraculous1879
under the influence1879
ginned1881
shickered1883
boiled1886
mosy1887
to be loaded for bear(s)1888
squiffeda1890
loaded1890
oversparred1890
sozzled1892
tanked1893
orey-eyed1895
up the (also a) pole1897
woozy1897
toxic1899
polluted1900
lit-up1902
on (also upon) one's ear1903
pie-eyed1903
pifflicated1905
piped1906
spiflicated1906
jingled1908
skimished1908
tin hat1909
canned1910
pipped1911
lit1912
peloothered1914
molo1916
shick1916
zigzag1916
blotto1917
oiled-up1918
stung1919
stunned1919
bottled1922
potted1922
rotto1922
puggled1923
puggle1925
fried1926
crocked1927
fluthered1927
lubricated1927
whiffled1927
liquefied1928
steamed1929
mirackc1930
overshot1931
swacked1932
looped1934
stocious1937
whistled1938
sauced1939
mashed1942
plonked1943
stone1945
juiced1946
buzzed1952
jazzed1955
schnockered1955
honkers1957
skunked1958
bombed1959
zonked1959
bevvied1960
mokus1960
snockered1961
plotzed1962
over the limit1966
the worse for wear1966
wasted1968
wired1970
zoned1971
blasted1972
Brahms and Liszt?1972
funked up1976
trousered1977
motherless1980
tired and emotional1981
ratted1982
rat-arsed1984
wazzed1990
mullered1993
twatted1993
bollocksed1994
lashed1996
1630 J. Taylor Water-cormorant in Wks. iii. 5/1 Hee's pot-shaken, or out, two and thirty.
1671 R. Head & F. Kirkman Eng. Rogue III. ii. 24 My Sweet-heart being with me, and desirous to gain my esteem, and being resolved not to be out-vapoured, and being somewhat Pot-shaken, makes no more ado, but likewise takes hold of one of the wings of the Wind-mill.
pot shelf n. a shelf for holding pots; a piece of furniture for storing pots, a sideboard.
ΚΠ
1619 Inventory 22 May in F. G. Emmison Jacobean Househ. Inventories (1938) 135 A poote shelfe.
1900 Anaconda (Montana) Standard 28 Nov. 9/4 (advt.) This famous steel range has..high shelf, special pot shelves, draw-out grate,..nickel wherever it can go.
1983 Winterthur Portfolio 18 242 The richly carved sideboard, or pot shelf, now in the hall is but one of numerous furnishings the Paines purchased from Besarel Frères.
† pot-sick adj. Obsolete (a) drunk, intoxicated; (b) (of a plant) pot-bound; cramped or starved of nutrient.Sense (b) apparently represents an isolated use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [adjective] > drunk
fordrunkenc897
drunkena1050
cup-shottenc1330
drunka1400
inebriate1497
overseenc1500
liquor1509
fou1535
nase?1536
full1554
intoxicate1554
tippled1564
intoxicated1576
pepst1577
overflown1579
whip-cat1582
pottical1586
cup-shota1593
fox-drunk1592
lion-drunk1592
nappy1592
sack-sopped1593
in drink1598
disguiseda1600
drink-drowned1600
daggeda1605
pot-shotten1604
tap-shackled1604
high1607
bumpsy1611
foxed1611
in one's cups1611
liquored1611
love-pot1611
pot-sick1611
whift1611
owl-eyed1613
fapa1616
hota1616
inebriated1615
reeling ripea1616
in one's (or the) pots1618
scratched1622
high-flown?1624
pot-shot1627
temulentive1628
ebrious1629
temulent1629
jug-bitten1630
pot-shaken1630
toxed1635
bene-bowsiea1637
swilled1637
paid1638
soaken1651
temulentious1652
flagonal1653
fuddled1656
cut1673
nazzy1673
concerned1678
whittled1694
suckey1699
well-oiled1701
tippeda1708
tow-row1709
wet1709
swash1711
strut1718
cocked1737
cockeyed1737
jagged1737
moon-eyed1737
rocky1737
soaked1737
soft1737
stewed1737
stiff1737
muckibus1756
groggy1770
muzzeda1788
muzzya1795
slewed1801
lumpy1810
lushy1811
pissed1812
blue1813
lush1819
malty1819
sprung1821
three sheets in the wind1821
obfuscated1822
moppy1823
ripe1823
mixed1825
queer1826
rosined1828
shot in the neck1830
tight1830
rummy1834
inebrious1837
mizzled1840
obflisticated1840
grogged1842
pickled1842
swizzled1843
hit under the wing1844
obfusticatedc1844
ebriate1847
pixilated1848
boozed1850
ploughed1853
squiffy?1855
buffy1858
elephant trunk1859
scammered1859
gassed1863
fly-blown1864
rotten1864
shot1864
ebriose1871
shicker1872
parlatic1877
miraculous1879
under the influence1879
ginned1881
shickered1883
boiled1886
mosy1887
to be loaded for bear(s)1888
squiffeda1890
loaded1890
oversparred1890
sozzled1892
tanked1893
orey-eyed1895
up the (also a) pole1897
woozy1897
toxic1899
polluted1900
lit-up1902
on (also upon) one's ear1903
pie-eyed1903
pifflicated1905
piped1906
spiflicated1906
jingled1908
skimished1908
tin hat1909
canned1910
pipped1911
lit1912
peloothered1914
molo1916
shick1916
zigzag1916
blotto1917
oiled-up1918
stung1919
stunned1919
bottled1922
potted1922
rotto1922
puggled1923
puggle1925
fried1926
crocked1927
fluthered1927
lubricated1927
whiffled1927
liquefied1928
steamed1929
mirackc1930
overshot1931
swacked1932
looped1934
stocious1937
whistled1938
sauced1939
mashed1942
plonked1943
stone1945
juiced1946
buzzed1952
jazzed1955
schnockered1955
honkers1957
skunked1958
bombed1959
zonked1959
bevvied1960
mokus1960
snockered1961
plotzed1962
over the limit1966
the worse for wear1966
wasted1968
wired1970
zoned1971
blasted1972
Brahms and Liszt?1972
funked up1976
trousered1977
motherless1980
tired and emotional1981
ratted1982
rat-arsed1984
wazzed1990
mullered1993
twatted1993
bollocksed1994
lashed1996
the world > plants > wild and cultivated plants > [adjective] > cultivated or planted > growing in pot or garden > pot-bound
root-bound1637
pot-bound1835
pot-sick1872
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > management of plants > [adjective] > potted > pot-bound
root-bound1637
pot-bound1835
pot-sick1872
1611 J. Florio Queen Anna's New World of Words at Brianzesco Tipsie, drunken, pot-sicke.
1872 T. Hardy Under Greenwood Tree I. ii. iii. 157 Every morning I see her eyes mooning out through the panes of glass like a pot-sick winder-flower.
pot sleeper n. Railways a circular metal support placed under a railway track (see quot. 1992).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > railway system or organization > [noun] > track > parts and fittings of rails > sleeper
cross-tie1813
sleeper1837
longitudinal1838
transom1838
cross-sleeper1841
railroad tie1847
stringer1848
tie1857
pot sleeper1869
waybeam1880
1869 Sci. Amer. 6 Nov. 292/2 The cast-iron pot sleeper introduced on the Alexandria, Cairo, and Suez Railway, by Mr. R. Stephenson, in the year 1851, receives the unqualified approbation of the local engineers.
1891 R. Kipling Light that Failed xv. 320 Wastage of the Suakin-Berber line,..mounds of chairs and pot-sleepers.
1992 A. A. Jackson Railway Dict. s.v. Pot sleepers, circular iron supports like large inverted saucers used in some countries, without much success, as an alternative to transverse sleepers, to give track stability in sandy soil or to prevent destruction by termites.
† potsmitten adj. Obsolete (of an agreement) marked by the parties clinking their drinking vessels together.Apparently an isolated use.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > agreement > [adjective] > made in a specific way
potsmitten1596
1596 Bp. W. Barlow tr. L. Lavater Three Christian Serm. i. 117 Cup-shotten suertiships, and potsmitten bargaines.
† pot-song n. Obsolete rare a drinking song.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > vocal music > types of song > [noun] > drinking-song
drinking-song1597
wassail1607
Bacchic1676
Bacchanaliaa1680
epileny1708
tavern-song1823
wassail-song1829
pot-song1850
wassailing song1914
1850 P. Crook War of Hats 49 Pot-songs..bawl'd in every street and lane.
pot-spoon n. a large spoon for taking liquid, etc., out of a pot; a ladle.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > equipment for food preparation > [noun] > ladle
ladlea1000
pot-spoon1440
pot-ladle1534
cresser1656
skipper1688
chamcha1832
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 283 (MED) Ladylle, pot spone: Concus, coclear.
1670 in R. Machin Probate Inventories Chetnole, Leigh & Yetminster (1976) Inv. 55 Ffive shittles and one Pot Spone... Six Sleas and harnes.
1991 in Jrnl. Lat. Amer. Stud. (Nexis) 35 279 The women went there with sticks and kitchen utensils, potspoons and kitchen forks.
pot stand n. a stand designed to hold one or more pots or potted plants.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > stand > [noun] > other stands
boot-rack1837
umbrella-stand1837
watch-stand1858
pot stand1868
wig-stand1883
tie rack1916
patio stand1969
1868 Sci. Amer. 25 Apr. 266/3 I claim as an article of manufacture for gas cooking apparatus as described, consisting of an iron bracket, pot stand and gas burner combined, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
1947 D. M. Davin For Rest of Lives xliii. 215 Antimacassars, potstands complete with ferns, occasional tables, bric-a-brac.
1992 C. Hardyment Home Comfort viii. 113 Three-legged pot stands, known as trivets or brandises, could be pushed into the embers to keep pots simmering.
† pot-steel n. Obsolete = cast-steel n.
ΚΠ
1866 Sci. Amer. 23 June 425/3 Round Steel Shot.—... Pot-steel is the sole material used, and the steel spheres, about 9 inches in diameter, are swaged out in blocks under the steam hammer.
1875 R. F. Martin tr. J. Havrez On Recent Improvem. Winding Machinery 10 Steel tram wheels..made of a mild ‘pot steel’ and annealed carefully in an oven after they are cast.
1884 Times 4 Jan. 11/6 The pot-steel process has been almost wholly superseded.
pot-stilled adj. made in a pot still.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > whisky > [adjective] > distilled in pot-still
pot still1890
pot-stilled1891
1891 Times 1 May 12/3 Our present knowledge..is insufficient to justify your committee in recommending that all pot-stilled whiskies should be kept in bond for a definite period of time.
1934 J. I. Davis Beginner's Guide to Wines viii. 85 Irish Whisky is always ‘pot-stilled’... Some Scotch Whisky is so made, but most of it is manufactured in a patent still, which completes the distillation in one operation.
1997 B. McCrea et al. S. Afr.: Rough Guide 140 Try..the Pineau de Laborie, the world's first pot stilled eau de vie made entirely from Pinotage grapes.
† pot-sure adj. Obsolete rare bold or confident from the effects of alcohol; cf. pot-valiant adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > courage > Dutch courage > [adjective]
pot-hardy1615
pot-valiant1647
pot-sure1648
pot-valorous1837
1648 D. Lloyd Legend Capt. Iones Continued 3 Arm'd against them like a man pot-sure, They stint vaine stormes.
† pot-tipped adj. Obsolete of the nose, reddened at the tip by drinking.Apparently an isolated use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > skin > complexion > redness > [adjective] > of nose
red-nosed1498
red nose1589
pot-tipped1638
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > [adjective] > of face: swollen > disorders of nose > inflamed nose
pot-tipped1638
1638 R. Brathwait Barnabees Journall (new ed.) i. sig. C7 With his Nose pot-tipt, most bravely.
pot-train v. (transitive) = potty-train v.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > upbringing > [verb (transitive)] > toilet-train
pot1943
toilet train1951
potty-train1960
pot-train1961
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > privy or latrine > [verb (transitive)] > cause or train child to use
pot1943
potty-train1960
pot-train1961
1961 Times 11 Dec. 15/5 Single-handed mothers who cook and clean, breed dogs and sit on committees, and yet, miraculously, find time also to knit and sew, pot-train their children [etc.].
1972 J. Gathorne-Hardy Rise & Fall Brit. Nanny viii. 265 It is actually physiologically impossible to pot train a child before the age of about six months.
2001 Washington Times (Nexis) 18 June a2 We pot train our children so they don't mess themselves when they get older.
pot-trained adj. = potty-trained adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > upbringing > [adjective] > toilet-trained
toilet trained1940
potty-trained1953
pot-trained1958
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > privy or latrine > [adjective] > trained to use chamber-pot (child)
toilet trained1940
potty-trained1953
pot-trained1958
1958 Lancet 1 Feb. 244/2 She was pot-trained from the age of 11 days.
1961 Spectator 17 Feb. 218 One-year-olds are pot-trained.
2004 Guardian (Nexis) 27 Nov. 9 When you get to 16 you can cook, you have opinions and your provisional driving licence and may well be pot trained.
pot-training n. = potty training n.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > upbringing > [noun] > habit-training > toilet-training
toilet-training1926
potty training1946
potting1948
pot-training1960
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > privy or latrine > [noun] > close-stool or commode > for a child > causing or training to use
toilet-training1926
potty training1946
potting1948
pot-training1960
1960 L. Durrell Clea ii. ii. 126 Have you managed to annul your early pot-training?
1975 H. Jolly Bk. Child Care i. xv. 217 If as a mother you never respond to your toddler's signals when he is about to wet his pants, he may give up trying to take the initiative himself and will probably be less co-operative with your efforts at pot training.
1992 Times (Nexis) 3 Mar. Colic and pot-training are replaced by belligerence and solvent abuse as areas of parental concern.
pot trap n. †(a) a pot set in the ground as a trap for moles (obsolete); (b) a kind of trap used in drainage, (perhaps) a D trap.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > equipment > trap or snare > [noun] > trap for moles
pot trap1649
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > provision of sewers > [noun] > sewer > trap > types of
well trap1819
bell-trap1867
ball trap1873
siphon trapa1884
pot trap1884
1649 W. Blith Eng. Improver 151 There being so many Artists with the Moale-Staffe, Tines, and Traps of severall Sorts, of all which I commend the Pot-Trap set in a Banke, or Hedge-row.
?1787 W. F. Mavor New Dict. Nat. Hist. II. at Mole Some approve of the pot-trap, which..is most advantageously used about the beginning of March, when the Moles couple, or perhaps somewhat earlier.
1884 G. E. Waring in Cent. Mag. Dec. 259/2 An unventilated pot-trap eight inches in diameter.
1891 Manufacturer & Builder 23 p. xi/2 (advt.) Bath Traps to be Bennor or Pot Traps, all brass, with large cleaning screws placed to an accessible point.
1992 Chicago Sun-Times (Nexis) 11 Oct. 8 A snake fed down a fixture drain and into a drum or pot trap will twist itself into a tangle of knots that will become a permanent part of your plumbing.
† pot venison n. Obsolete rare (perhaps) potted venison; cf. potted adj.1 1.
ΚΠ
1660 S. Pepys Diary 23 Jan. (1970) I. 26 We had some rare pot venison and Ale to abundance.
† pot verdugo n. [probably < pot n.1 + verdugo, variant of vertigo n.] Obsolete giddiness induced by drinking alcohol.Apparently an isolated use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [noun] > effects of excessive drinking
ale passion1593
pot verdugo1616
barley-mood1790
katzenjammer1849
Monday head1892
swollen head1898
hangover1904
the morning after (the night before)1909
morning-after1937
whitey1993
1616 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Scornful Ladie ii. sig. D1 Haue you got the pot verdugo?
pot-ware n. now rare earthenware; crockery.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > clay compositions > baked clay > pottery or ceramics > [noun]
clay-work1612
earthenwarea1624
pottery ware1633
pot-ware1661
earthware1713
ware1741
pottery1771
vitrefacture1841
ceramic1880
briquetage1902
1661 in 2nd Bk. Rec. Southampton (N.Y.) (1877) 9 I give my children Sarah Mary and Josiah 18 parcels of pot ware.
1766 R. Whitworth Adv. Inland Navigations 42 Two, and sometimes three waggons go every week to Bridgenorth, and usually carry about eight tons of pot-ware, to be conveyed to Bristol by water.
1891 W. Morris News from Nowhere xvi. 112 The crockery being lead-glazed pot-ware, though beautifully ornamented.
1992 S. Nye Best of Men behaving Badly (2000) 2nd Ser. Episode 1. 28/2 The sink is piled high with pots and pans. Tony. Nice pots. Embarrassed, Gary tidies up as he goes. Gary. Yes, plenty of potware, for cooking and so on.
pot warmer n. any of various devices which heat up a cooking pot or keep a pot warm, (now) esp. a tea cosy; also figurative.
ΚΠ
1721 True Inventory Sir J. Fellowes 21 in Particulars Estates South-sea Company I In the Kitchen... Two Spits, two chopping Knives, a pot Warmer, a Copper-boiler fix'd, [etc.].
1935 Sheboygan (Wisconsin) Press 25 July 11/2 Other equipment demonstrated included lunchettes with pot warmers.
1945 Times 28 Apr. 5/6 The family..have supplied the rectors for this parish..since 1954 without a break except for two ‘pot-warmers’ who filled a few months' gap.
2002 Dominion Post (Wellington, N.Z.) (Nexis) 18 Oct. 11 Who would have thunk it, an exhibition of tea cosies? A look at the 100-plus pot-warmers.., and you'll see they are works of art.
pot-washings n. residual slops left after washing dirty cooking utensils, dishwater; also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food otherwise characterized > [noun] > left-over food
reliefc1300
ortc1325
broken meatc1384
scrapsa1387
reversionc1450
remissalsc1460
superfluities1483
levet1528
sheet-shaking1543
table crumb1566
relics1576
off-falling1607
analects1623
voiding1680
voidance1740
leftover1866
pot-washings1912
slarts1913
1912 C. N. Moody Saints of Formosa ix. 195 They threatened to..feed her on the pot-washings with which the pigs are nourished.
1931 Times 18 Apr. 11/6 No poisoner would be worthy the name whose incompetence in compounding his poison was equal to that of the blockheads and clumsy villains who make up the horrible pot-washings and diluted ‘extracts’ sold..as coffee.
1950 R. P. Warren World Enough & Time v. 172 ‘By God,’ he said, ‘this country will not be given over to the pot-washings and scum of mankind.’
pot-water n. now rare water for cooking purposes.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > water > [noun] > for cooking
pot-waterc1680
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > cooking > [noun] > water for cooking
waterOE
pot-waterc1680
c1680 in M. W. Barley Eng. Farmhouse & Cottage (1961) iv. v. 223 The potwater which doth arise in a little meadow adjoining the aforesaid Parsonage Meadows.
1796 W. Marshall Provincialisms W. Devonshire in Rural Econ. W. Eng. I. 329 Potwater, water for household purposes.
1898 Edinb. Rev. Apr. 449 Available as pot-water for domestic use.
1963 W. G. Hoskins Provinc. Eng. ii. 51 With streams and springs every few hundred yards, potwater for the house..presented no problem anywhere.
pot-wheel n. a wheel fitted with pots or buckets for raising water; a noria.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > lifting or hoisting equipment > [noun] > for raising water > wheel for raising water
waterwheel1591
Persian wheel1649
sakia1687
noria1696
Egyptian wheel1793
bucket-wheel1797
tabut1836
pot-wheel1852
tympan1858
irrigation-wheel1864
spider-wheel1868
tympanum1875
1852 J. Bennett tr. J. F. d'Aubuisson de Voisins Treat. Hydraulics 443 ‘From authentic experiments, they produced an effect superior to that of the best executed “pot wheels,”’ says Carnot, in the name of the commission of the Institute appointed to the examination of this machine (Journal des mines, 1813, tom. XXXIII).
a1877 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. II. 1780/2 Pot-wheel, a form of water-raising wheel.
1997 P. V. Adams in H. Roupp Teaching World Hist. ii. xx. 121 Each experienced the massive medieval economic revolution. In China its distinctive features were wet-rice cultivation, year-round multicropping, hydrological system——the dam, sluice gate, noria (peripheral pot-wheel), and treadle water pump.
† pot wit n. Obsolete a person who is witty while drinking, or who becomes witty when inebriated.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > intelligence, cleverness > wit, wittiness > [noun] > witty person > types of
pot wit1611
vernaculous1623
coffee-wit1667
sea-wit1695
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [noun] > drunkenness > one who is drunk > and witty
pot wit1611
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Envaisselé Vn bel esprit envaisselé, a good pot wit.
1676 T. Mace Musick's Monument 27 This Dean being known by this Bold-Confident-Dunce-Clark (who you must know took himself to be a kind of Pot-Wit) to have No Skill at all in the Art of Musick.
pot-woman n. (a) a woman who makes or sells pottery; (b) a barmaid.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > seller > sellers of specific things > [noun] > seller of dishes or pots > woman
disheressa1300
pig-wife1787
pot-woman1802
the world > food and drink > drink > providing or serving drink > [noun] > serving liquor > tapster or barmaid
tapsterc1000
drawer1379
wine-drawer1415
birlerc1440
shenkerc1440
trayer1473
tranter1500
skinker1575
lick-spigot1599
shot-shark1600
runner1601
skink1603
Hebe1606
Ganymede1608
squire of the gimlet1611
skinkard1615
bombard-man1616
bar-boy1631
faucet1631
tapstress1631
potman1652
barmaida1658
pot-boyc1662
tavern-drawer1709
tavern-boy1796
pot-girl1797
tap-boy1801
knight of the spigot1821
pewter-carrier1834
bartender1836
tap-waiter1836
barman1837
beer-boy1841
mixologist1856
bar-girl1857
mixer1858
gin slinger1871
swamper1907
tap-man1907
pot-woman1918
bar-staff1965
bar-person1976
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > potter > [noun] > woman
potteress1926
pot-woman1979
1802 D. Wordsworth Jrnl. (1941) I. 182 We then went to the Pot-woman's and bought 2 jugs and a dish.
1918 Pall Mall Gaz. 29 June 5/4 A ‘potwoman’ at a public house applied for a summons for wages in lieu of notice.
1979 Listener 20 Dec. 854/4 The Thistle..had a three-cornered taproom. I once saw a pot-woman dance an impromptu fertility dance there.
potwork n. (in singular and plural) an establishment where pottery or earthenware is made.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > workplace > place where specific things are made > [noun] > pottery
pottery1480
pothouse1673
potwork1681
piggery1818
mug-house1841
bank1843
pot-bank1888
1681 in Acts Assembly, Island Jamaica (1738) 37 No Negroes, Horses, or any Manner of Utensils, belonging to a Plantation, Brick, or Pot-work [etc.].
1744 Gentleman's Mag. Apr. 211/1 I afterwards took a View of it to the Town Side, from the Hill above the Jesuits Potworks on Terra Bomba.
1861 S. Smiles Lives Engineers I. v. ii. 322 The brothers Elers..erected a potwork of an improved kind near Burslem.
1902 A. Bennett Anna of Five Towns xii. 328 Behind it..was a small, disused potworks.
1990 A. Burton Cityscapes vii. 81/2 Gladstone was not one of the great potworks. It was an everyday place producing everyday ware, but it was as complex as the finest.
† pot-wort n. Obsolete rare (a) a kind of gourd; (b) = pot-herb n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > wild and cultivated plants > food plant or vegetable > [noun] > pot-herb(s)
pottage-warea1398
pot-wortc1400
pot-herb1538
olitory1696
pot green1742
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > herb > [noun]
worteOE
herbc1290
pottage-warea1398
pot-wortc1400
green meatc1450
pot-herb1538
pot green1742
c1400 in T. Hunt Plant Names Medieval Eng. (1989) 95 [Cucurbita] gowrde, potwort, þe grete snaylwort.
1605 R. Verstegan Restit. Decayed Intelligence iii. 59 The colewurt, the greatest pot-wurt in tyme long past that our anceters vsed.
1744 C. Owen Danger of Church & Kingdom from Foreigners viii. 114 During the 600 Years that Rome was without Physicians, nothing so much planted and us'd as this Pot-wort, which past for Meat and Medicine.
pot-wrestler n. (also pot-rassler, pot rastler, pot-wrassler) slang (chiefly U.S.) (a) a person employed to wash dishes, etc.; a kitchen-maid; (b) a chef, a cook.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > cooking > cook > [noun]
cookOE
trenchermana1586
kitchenist?1617
magirist1716
cooky1759
magirologist1814
pot-wrestler1831
cuisinier1859
home economist1891
poisoner1905
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing table utensils > [noun] > one who
pot-wrestler1831
washer-up1907
washer-upper1961
1831 W. C. Bryant Let. 21 Nov. (1975) I. 308 I hope you will..marry a person..who, along with a proper degree of industry and economy, possesses a love of reading and a desire of knowledge. A mere pot-wrestler will not do for you.
1879 Bucks County (Pa.) Gaz. 26 June 1/4 A Cleveland lady..always refers to her kitchen girl as her ‘fille de cuisine’. Her son will insist on referring to the worthy domestic as our ‘pot rassler’.
1902 J. S. Farmer Slang Pot-walloper..2. (common). A scullion; a kitchen-maid; and (nautical) a cook, esp. on board a whaler: also pot-wrestler.
1942 L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §460/15 Pot rassler or rastler, a dishwasher.
1947 N.Y. Jrnl. Amer. 18 Mar. 17/4 The off-center meatball has been endorsed by the chefs of the old world. No less a pot-wrassler than the King's own glorified the chuckwagon croquette as the ambrosia of the parked gulp.
1952 H. Ellson Golden Spike 83 He was nothing but a pot wrestler in a downtown restaurant.
1986 P. Matthiessen Men's Lives (1988) ii. ix. 121 There was..strong prejudice against Irish..‘pot-rasslers’.
pot wrestling n. (also pot-rassling, pot rastling) slang (chiefly U.S.) dishwashing; cooking.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > cooking > [noun]
pot?c1225
cooking1596
coction1605
cocture1662
concoction1680
kitchening1842
slow cooking1851
pancake-making1904
cook-up1911
pot wrestling1914
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing table utensils > [noun]
washing1858
pot wrestling1914
1914 Washington Post 30 May 6/6 A well-known suffragette..persuaded her husband that he should wash the dishes. Prentisscott for a long time demurred very strongly at the ‘pot-wrestling’ job.
1942 L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §819/1 Pot rassling, -rastling or wrestling,..dishwashing or cooking.
1989 N.Y. Times (Nexis) c12/3 Foy decided to exchange pot wrestling for wine writing.

Derivatives

ˈpotlike adj.
ΚΠ
1797 N. Imrie in Edinb. Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) (1798) 4 194 Pot-like holes..hollowed out of the solid rock.
1869 R. F. Burton Explor. Highlands Brazil I. xi. 120 The heavy pot-like fruit [of the Sapucaia].
1914 Science 24 July 145/2 The vessels all have a rounded pot-like bottom and if upset, will at once resume an upright position.
1995 Focus Aug. 62/1 The potter wasp builds her potlike nest out of clay attached to a heather stem.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

potn.2

Brit. /pɒt/, U.S. /pɑt/, Scottish English /pɔt/
Forms: late Middle English potte, 1800s– pot; Scottish pre-1700 pat, pre-1700 patt, pre-1700 poat, pre-1700 poit, pre-1700 poite, pre-1700 poot, pre-1700 pote, pre-1700 pott, pre-1700 potte, pre-1700 1700s– pot.
Origin: Of uncertain origin. Perhaps a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Perhaps a borrowing from early Scandinavian. Etymon: pot n.1
Etymology: Origin uncertain; perhaps the same word as pot n.1, or perhaps < early Scandinavian (compare Old Swedish potter hole, well, abyss (Swedish regional pott deep pool), apparently an unmutated variant of pytt pit n.1). The regional distribution of the word would appear to support the latter derivation. Compare post-classical Latin potta (13th cent. in British sources).The Older Scots forms pat , patt show unrounding of short ŏ in a labial environment (see further A. J. Aitken & C. Macafee Older Sc. Vowels (2002) §16.3). Attested earlier in several place names from Scotland and the north of England (apparently earliest in sense ‘hollow, depression’), as Potlack (1086; now Potlock Farm, Derbyshire), Blakepote (c1200; now Blackpotts, Berwickshire), Goldingpottes (1218; recorded in the lands of Kelso Abbey, Roxburghshire), Sandpot (1227; now Sandpot, North Riding, Yorkshire), Potwell (13th cent.; recorded in the lands of Dunfermline Abbey, Fife), Pozbek (1314; now Pott Beck, North Riding, Yorkshire), etc. Apparently also attested in a few field names (and surnames derived from them) from the south of England: la Potte (1248; Crondall, Hampshire, now lost; also in the name of Avicia de la Potte (1248)), la Potte (1392; now Potcommon, Sussex; earlier in the names of Margery atte Potte (1296), Robto. atte Potte (1327)); however, the original sense in these examples is unclear, and they may represent a different word, although in the former instance identification with pot n.2 is perhaps supported by the topography (the parish name Crondall itself reflecting Old English crundel quarry, pit, ravine). The first element in Potesgraue (1086; now Potsgrove, Bedfordshire) may perhaps show this word (there is a small lake in the vicinity), but it has been alternatively explained as either a shortening of poteres (see potter n.1) or an unattested Old English personal name (compare the place name Pottingtun (also Potintun, Potingdun; 12th cent. in late copies of several charters, one of which perhaps dates from c1075; now Porter's Plantation, Bengeworth, Worcestershire)).
Chiefly Scottish and English regional (northern).
1.
a. A deep hole or excavation; a pit dug in the ground; spec. †a mine shaft (obsolete); †a tan-pit (obsolete); a hole from which peat has been dug. See also peat pot n.1
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > low land > hole or pit > [noun] > excavation
pot1431
undermine1524
grave1526
digginga1552
undermining1572
groin1587
underbeiting1670
dene-hole1768
1431–2 Newbattle Coll. MSS (Edinb. Reg. House) 20 Mar. A part of my land commonly callyt the bark hous with fredom of the bark stok with the mell & of the pottis & of the welle.
c1450 tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Bodl. Add.) i. 442 The chenes, holes, pottes [?1440 Fitzw. pittis; L. puteos], poles, mende.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xi. 364 He [sc. Bruce] gert men mony pottis ma Of a fut breid round, and all tha Var deip vp till ane manis kne.
1567–8 in J. H. Burton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1877) 1st Ser. I. 612 To serche out..the saidis..myndis [= mines], and to brek the ground, mak sinkis and pottis thairin.
1601 Charter in G. Dallas Syst. Stiles (1697) 769 Sinks, Syers, Gutters, Eyes, levals, Pots, Airholls.
1653 in A. Laing Lindores Abbey (1876) xx. 231 He had drawn leather furth of ye pott upon ane Sabboth.
1723 S.C. Misc. (1935) I. 45 To fill up their pots, levell their lair behind them.
1794 J. Anderson Peat Moss 39 The moss is sometimes cut out into little pits called pots, each of which is of a size just as much as one or at most two men have cut out in a day.
1843 Prize-ess. & Trans. Highland & Agric. Soc. Scotl. 14 352 They [sc. bogs] were covered with old ‘moss pots’, in which stood green stagnant water.
1978 A. Fenton Northern Isles xxx. 237 Smiths had to work their iron with peat charcoal in earlier times... A pot..was dug in dry ground, and a layer of peats on their ends was placed in the bottom.
b. figurative. An abyss; the pit of hell. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > hell > [noun] > as pit or abyss
hell pitOE
pitOE
abysmc1350
hell-holec1400
abyssc1460
bisme1483
pota1500
barathrum?1510
bottomless pit1526
limbo-lake1558
a1500 Statutes Sc. Church (1907) 6 Swa be thar saules castyne..into the depast pot of hel.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid iv. v. 128 Deip in the sorofull grislie hellis pote.
1563 N. Winȝet Certain Tractates (1890) II. 63 The botumles potis of filthines.
a1586 Rowlis Cursing 151 in D. Laing Anc. Poet. Scotl. Thairfoir hy ȝow to the pott of hell.
1681 in Proc. Soc. Antiquaries Scotl. (1911) 45 241 It may be some of your warnings next will be in the howl pot of hell.
1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake I. i. 60 May he be thrust down with Korah, Balaam, and Iscariot, to the most Stygian pot of the sempiternal Tartarus.
1995 Arkansas Democrat-Gaz. (Nexis) 24 July 6 c. There are holes like that at venerable St. Andrews, places where he could boom his drives beyond the steep-sided, sand-filled pots of hell.
2. A deep hole in the bed of a river or stream; a pool in a river or stream.Frequently in place names.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > rivers and streams > system > [noun] > pool as part of
weelc897
poolOE
dub1535
linn1577
potc1650
waterhole1688
plumbc1780
swimming hole1867
black hole1869
water pit1881
swilly-hole1890
swim-hole1924
1470 in C. C. Harvey Cal. Writs Yester House (1930) 69 Behynd the myln pot.
1533 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1844) I. 148 Euery half net of the pott..xx s.
c1650 J. Spalding Memorialls Trubles Scotl. & Eng. (1850) I. 57 About this tyme ane pot of the water of Brechin, callit Southesk, becam suddantlie dry, and for ane short space contynewit dry, bot boltis wp agane.
1748 in W. Macfarlane Geogr. Coll. Scotl. (1906) I. 23 There is a new stone Bridge..over Don at a Place called the Pot of Pool d'oylie.
1762 R. Forbes Jrnls. Episcopal Visitations (1886) 164 You walk up the North-side of the Water..till you come to a deep Pool or Pot.
1802 in W. Scott Minstrelsy Sc. Border II. 46 The deepest pot in a' the linn, They fand Erl Richard in.
1834 J. J. Audubon Ornithol. Biogr. II. 136 While watching for their prey on the borders of the ‘pots’, they invariably lay flat on the rock.
1891 A. Gordon Folks o' Carglen iv. 95 Down I fell in the black waters of the Hag's Pot.
1943 W. S. Forsyth in Sc. National Dict. (1968) VII. 210/2 Noo, ilka time I smell see-waur I see a deep roun' pot, Wi' edges sharp.
1964 Weekly Scotsman 27 Aug. 4 A salmon leaps from the River Endrick, out of the ‘pot’ at Gartness.
1997 Sunday Times (Nexis) 4 May Many fish spurned the safety of the big lochs, preferring the larger pools in the streams. These really were not very big, mostly being deep peat pots of about 10 yards' diameter.
3. A natural deep hole or pit, esp. in limestone.Frequently in the names of particular holes of this kind, esp. in Yorkshire.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > low land > hole or pit > [noun] > pot-hole or swallow-hole
water sink1553
swallow1610
swallow-hole1660
estuary1665
swallet1668
cockpit1683
sinkhole1772
sink1791
pot1797
water-swallow1811
shake-hole1823
pothole1826
fleet-hole1839
spout hole1849
katavothron1869
ponor1890
sump1951
1797 N. Imrie in Edinb. Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) (1798) 4 195 This pot is 940 feet above the level of the sea.
1874 S. Baring-Gould Yorks. Oddities (1875) II. 110 I had examined several..of those curious pots which are peculiar to the Yorkshire limestone moors. These pots..are..hideous circular gaping holes opening perpendicularly into the bowels of the mountain.
1881 J. Fothergill Kith & Kin xvi He discovered some vast and awful-looking ‘pots’, crevasses of limestone, sinking for unknown depths into the ground.
1979 Guardian 12 Nov. 4/8 About 60 potholers searched..[for] Mr Jeremy Peterson..who had descended Stream Passage entrance pot intending to make a mile trip through to Bar Pot.
1986 Caves & Caving Nov. 5/3 A small rift near the entrance was explored to a natural pot about 12m deep.
4. Scottish. pot and gallows = pit and gallows at pit n.1 8. Now historical.
ΚΠ
1810 G. Robertson Agric. Surv. Kincardine iv. 200 It has however the honour of being a royal burgh, with full power of Pot and gallows.
1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xvii Sir Simon hasna the poo'er o' pot an' gallows noo.
1926 M. Argo Makkin' o' John (ed. 4) 4 In my young day the laird hid pooer o' pot an' gallows; bit noo he can hardly ca' a bawbee his ain.
†5. Scottish. A region of sandy soil in a field which absorbs a large amount of water. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
1812 J. Sinclair Acct. Syst. Husbandry Scotl. i. 48 In fields where the strata are not regular, there are often masses or pots of sandy soil, which absorb great quantities of water.

Compounds

† pot-peat n. Scottish Obsolete rare peat dug out of a pot or deep excavation.
ΚΠ
1866 W. Gregor Dial. Banffshire (Philol. Soc.) 132 Pot-peat, the peat cut from the bottom of the peat-bank.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

† potn.3

Forms: 1500s pot, 1500s potte.
Origin: Of uncertain origin.
Etymology: Origin uncertain. Perhaps compare French regional (chiefly Belgium, eastern and southern France, and Switzerland) potte, pote large lip, pouting expression, faire la potte (and variants) to pout, although it is hard to see a historical connection with the English word. French regional potte, pote is cognate with Old Occitan pot lip (12th cent.; Occitan pòt), of uncertain origin; perhaps ultimately a borrowing from a substratal language.
Obsolete.
A grimace. Also in to make a pot at: to pull a face at. In quot. 1553: a popping sound made by removing a finger rapidly from the corner of the mouth.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > sudden or violent sound > explosive sound > [verb (intransitive)] > pop
to make a pot at1532
pop1576
pap1791
plock1931
blip1946
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > mouth > [verb (transitive)] > grimace with
to make a pot at1532
wavel1654
mouth1827
1532 T. More Confut. Tyndale in Wks. 638/2 They call it but a parable, and almoste make a pot at it.
1533 T. More Answere Poysened Bk. iv. xxii. f. cclviiiv Mayster Maskar..mocketh and moweth in that glasse, and maketh as many straunge faces and as many pretye pottes therein, as yt were an olde ryeueled ape.
1553 J. Withals Shorte Dict. f. 68v/1 A potte made in the mouth, with one fynger, as children vse to doo, scloppus, vel stlopus.

Compounds

† pot-finger n. Obsolete rare (perhaps) a game involving making popping sounds by rapidly removing a finger from the corner of the mouth; cf. quot. 1553 at main sense.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > sudden or violent sound > explosive sound > [noun] > popping sound
pop1591
pot-finger1592
popping1652
plunk1822
pop-out1836
cloop1848
bop1937
1592 Arden of Feversham iv. iii. 9 Didst thou ever see better weather to run away with another man's wife, or play with a wench at pot-finger?
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online June 2021).

potn.4

Brit. /pɒt/, U.S. /pɑt/
Origin: Formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Etymon: pot-shot n.1
Etymology: Short for pot-shot n.1
colloquial.
1. A shot aimed at a person or animal; a pot-shot.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > [noun] > a shot > type of shot
hail-shot1569
random shot1598
long shot1767
snapshot1808
point-blanker1824
pot-shot1843
snap1851
hip shot1874
pop shot1880
sighter1897
pot1914
over1915
short1922
snipe1969
the world > food and drink > hunting > shooting > [noun] > a shot at game
snapshot1808
left1833
right and left1833
pot-shot1843
snap1851
body shot1857
left and right1886
pot1986
1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms xvi A tall man..took a cool pot at him with a revolver.
1914 R. Kipling Let. Aug. in Ld. Birkenhead Rudyard Kipling (1978) xvii. 259 Every available male in England scuttling into the ranks in order to get a gun to have a pot at the Germans.
1931 H. Walpole Above Dark iii. 58 I'll lean over the wall and look down into that damned circus and take a pot at one or two of them.
1986 Shooting Aug. 26/3 The next two hours were spent driving round at Sid's leisurely pace, with my two friends having a pot at the occasional rabbit.
2000 Clay Shooting Jan. 21/1 Over 300 shooters turned out at Arthur Williams' Mid-Wales ground to have a pot at it.
2. Australian and New Zealand. Rugby. A drop goal; a drop-kick at goal.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > rugby football > [noun] > scoring
touch1845
run-in1846
rouge1856
touchdown1856
touch-in-goal1869
try1870
minor1883
minor point1884
pot1888
major point1896
penalty try1922
conversion1927
pushover1940
1888 in Otago Univ. Rev. in College Rhymes (1923) 21 Cresswell attempted a pot, but somehow or other he missed it.
1908 R. A. Barr Brit. Rugby Team in Maoriland 33 In an even game with no tries on; he's certain to frighten the enemy with a ‘pot’ which..will skim the paint off the uprights.
1959 N.Z. Listener 24 July 6/4 Five potted goals—that was when a pot was worth four points.
1986 L. Knight Shield Fever 262 He had the happy sight of seeing his pot soar between the uprights for three of the game's most important points.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

potn.5

Brit. /pɒt/, U.S. /pɑt/
Origin: Of uncertain origin. Perhaps a borrowing from Spanish. Etymons: Spanish *potiguaya, *potaguaya; Spanish *potación de guaya.
Etymology: Origin uncertain and disputed. The most popular theory explains the word as being derived < the supposed Mexican Spanish words *potiguaya or *potaguaya cannabis leaves, or < *potación de guaya, lit. ‘drink of grief’, supposedly denoting a drink of wine or brandy in which marijuana buds were steeped; however, no corroborating evidence has been found to support the use of any of these terms in Spanish (although *potiguaya is recorded in an English glossary of drug terminology slightly earlier than the earliest example of the present word: see quot. 1936 in etymological note). Alternatively, perhaps connected with pot n.1 Perhaps compare also later pod n.1 9.For an early reference to Mexican Spanish *potiguaya compare:1936 Amer. Speech 11 125 Potiguaya, marajuana [sic] leaves after the pods have been removed; crude marajuana.
Originally U.S. slang.
= cannabis n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > an intoxicating drug > [noun] > a) narcotic drug(s) > marijuana or cannabis
bhang1598
hashish1598
cannabis1765
ganja1800
Indian hemp1803
sabzi1804
cannabin1843
deiamba1851
charas1860
liamba1861
hemp1870
cannabis resin1871
marijuana1874
kef1878
locoweed1898
weed1917
Mary Ann1925
mootah1926
muggle1926
Mary Jane1928
Mary Warner1933
Mary and Johnny1935
Indian hay1936
mu1936
mezz1937
moocah1937
grass1938
jive1938
pot1938
mary1940
reefer1944
rope1944
smoke1946
hash1948
pod1952
gear1954
green1957
smoking weed1957
boo1959
Acapulco1965
doobie1967
Mary J1967
cheeba1971
Maui Wowie1971
4201974
Maui1977
pakalolo1977
spliff1977
draw1979
kush1979
resin1980
bud1982
swag1986
puff1989
chronic1992
schwag1993
hydro1995
1938 C. Himes Black on Black (1973) 175 She made him smoke pot and when he got jagged..she put him out on the street.
1951 N.Y. Times 13 June 24/4 Progression from sneaky pete to pot to horse to banging.
1966 T. Pynchon Crying of Lot 49 iii. 63 ‘But we don't repeat what we hear,’ said another girl. ‘None of us smoke Beaconsfields anyway. We're all on pot.’
1973 E. Bullins Theme is Blackness 162 Not many of us smoked as much pot as before. And L.S.D. almost disappeared from our circle.
1984 D. Pinnock Brotherhoods 26 There were only a few who smoked pot.
1996 ikon Jan. 15/3 It was an eight-hour drive and in the middle of the car was a case of beer and about an ounce of pot, and we each took about four or five hits of acid.

Compounds

C1.
pot smoke n.
ΚΠ
1966 T. Pynchon Crying of Lot 49 iii. 64 Their rising coils and clouds of pot smoke.
1973 G. Beare Snake in Grave ix. 45 The place reeked of pot smoke.
1992 Ethics 103 157 I may fill my lungs with pot smoke.
pot smoker n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > [noun] > drug-user > user of marijuana
muggle-head1926
tea man1938
weedhead1939
reefer1940
tea-head1953
grasshopper1954
pothead1957
pot smoker1965
stoner1971
toker1975
1965 Valley Independent (Monessen, Pa.) 29 Apr. 22/1 Discipline with understanding, constant guidance and education can convert the restless ‘pot’ smoker to a happy human being.
1982 J. Hooper Mind Tripping in O. Davies Omni Bk. of Paranormal & Mind v. xxvi. 280 He asked pot smokers whether they could identify the moment of transition from ‘straight’ to ‘stoned’.
2000 R. Bingham Lightning on Sun 106 Hollins..was said to have thrown out scores of students, purging Fairfield of the metal heads and pot smokers.
pot-smoking adj. and n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > [noun] > smoking marijuana
pot-smoking1962
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > [adjective] > smoking marijuana
pot-smoking1962
1962 A. Ginsberg Let. 3 Nov. (2008) 275 Last century a famous saint Bama Kape—naked lushing pot smoking madman—renewed the millennial holiness of the spot.
1964 Punch 18 Mar. 413/1 ‘Pot-smoking’ parties, gaming sessions.
1967 Guardian 3 Feb. 4/4 They said, there is no evidence of a direct link between pot-smoking and addiction to hard narcotics.
1970 G. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard ii. 39 He didn't have the stereotype-copper look..but appeared more as one expected a pot-smoking nymphomaniac to look.
1993 News Express 15 Dec. 2/1 Richard Linklater's film..centers on young women and men as they are hazing and partying, and pot smoking figures prominently among their activities.
2004 Independent 11 June (Mag.) 9/3 They were..mostly..a den of superannuated pot-smoking hippies copulating under the stars.
C2.
pot party n. a party held for the smoking of cannabis.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > [noun] > gathering for taking marijuana
tea-party1944
pot party1959
smoke-in1968
society > leisure > social event > social gathering > party > [noun] > other parties
play-party1796
tail1837
surprise-party1840
street party1845
costume party1850
pound party1869
all-nighter1870
neighbourhood party1870
simcha1874
ceilidh1875
studio party1875
pounding1883
house party1885
private function1888
shower1893
kitchen shower1896
kitchen evening1902
bottle party1903
pyjama party1910
block party1919
house party1923
after-party1943
slumber party1949
office party1950
freeload1952
hukilau1954
BYOB1959
pot party1959
bush party1962
BYO1965
wrap party1978
bop1982
warehouse party1988
rave1989
1959 Nevada State Jrnl. 17 Oct. 4/5 Musicians who held a Pot Party every 4 a.m. for months.
1978 J. Krantz Scruples iii. 66 An occasional pot party was as anti-establishment a gathering as he attended.
1993 Classic CD June 18/4 Ideal music for pot parties, to accompany endless spaced-out discussions of Life and Death and the Cosmic Imperative.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

potn.6

Brit. /pɒt/, U.S. /pɑt/
Origin: Formed within English, by clipping or shortening. Etymon: potentiometer n.
Etymology: Shortened < potentiometer n.
colloquial.
= potentiometer n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > voltage > electrical potential > [noun] > measurement of > instrument for
potentiometer1868
pot1943
1943 C. L. Boltz Basic Radio iii. 56 Radio workers always refer to the ‘pot’.
1948 Electronics July 120/2 The output voltage z of the multiplying pot is proportional to its angular rotation.
1967 Electronics 6 Mar. 311/2 (advt.) No matter what your pot requirements, they take a turn for the better when you contact Gamewell Division.
1989 Guitar Player Mar. 64/2 My volume pot is even, from soft to loud, whereas the tone pot jumps from full mud to treble when it's barely turned.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

† potv.1

Forms: pre-1700 poittit (past participle), pre-1700 1700s pott, 1700s–1800s pot.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: pot n.2
Etymology: < pot n.2 N.E.D. (1907) gives the pronunciation as (pǫt) /pɒt/.
Scottish. Obsolete.
transitive. To fill with pits, dig pits in; to dig pits around, mark off with pits. Also: to put (esp. a march stone) in a pit.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > earth-moving, etc. > [verb (transitive)] > dig (hole, etc.) > dig pit
pot1487
pit1843
the world > space > shape > unevenness > condition or fact of receding > hollowness > make hollow [verb (transitive)] > make full of cavities
pot1487
honeycomb1735
cellulate1839
vesiculate1865
cellularize1948
the world > space > place > placing or fact of being placed in (a) position > insertion or putting in > insert or put in [verb (transitive)] > into a hole > in the ground > into a pit or den
pot1487
inden1598
society > occupation and work > industry > earth-moving, etc. > [verb (transitive)] > make trench or ditch
groopc1330
dikea1375
pot1595
grip1597
gripe1597
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > edge, border, or margin > boundary > bound or form boundary of [verb (transitive)] > fix boundary of > with a trench
pot1595
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xi. 388 On athir syde the vay, weill braid, It wes pottit, as I haf tald.
1540 in 5th Rep. Royal Comm. Hist. MSS (1876) App. 609/1 And fra that linealie carne be carne as is crossit and pottit be us to the feild stane.
1595 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1848) II. 129 The said..yard dyk ascendis south eist or thairby,..as the same was presentlie pottit and merkit.
1618 in J. Robertson Illustr. Topogr. & Antiq. Aberdeen & Banff (1847) II. 370 As it is pottit throw the said boig.
1693 in W. Cramond Rec. Elgin (1903) I. 354 That ther be ane part and portion of the said moiss marked and potted for the use of the bedmen.
1703 Session Papers in Sc. National Dict. (1968) VII. (at cited word) To pot the five march stones following on the fifteen stones..formerly potted and set down as boundaries and marches.
1740 in A. Watt Early Hist. Kintore (1865) 115 That some people pott the said tennents mosses after they have casten and led their peits.
1887 D. Donaldson Jamieson's Sc. Dict. Suppl. To Pot, Pott, to pit, trench, or mark off by furrow, as in boundaries of land... To plant or set in a pit, as in potting march stones: also, to pit and cover, as in potting or pitting potatoes [for] winter.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online December 2020).

† potv.2

Forms: 1500s pot, 1500s potte.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: pot n.3
Etymology: < pot n.3
Obsolete.
1. transitive. To deride, mock. rare.
ΚΠ
1532 T. More Confut. Tyndales Answere i. p. lxxxi With mokkynge and mowynge and pottynge the sacramentes.
2. intransitive. To grimace at.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > derision, ridicule, or mockery > deride, ridicule, or mock [verb (intransitive)] > make derisive gesture
bleara1340
blabber1530
to shoot out1535
pot1549
sleak1674
to make a long nose1828
to thumb one's nose1854
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > face with expression or expression > face with expression [verb (intransitive)] > distort
fleer?a1400
mowc1450
snowrec1450
to make (also pull) a facec1522
to throw one's facea1525
pot1549
mop1567
murgeonc1586
to cut facesa1616
wrimple1657
work1753
grimace1762
mowl1837
wrinkle1843
mug1856
girn1900
1549 T. Chaloner tr. Erasmus Praise of Folie sig. Siv Thei on the other syde did potte at him.
1596 T. Danett tr. P. de Commynes Hist. viii. xii. 355 Me they potted at, as in such cases is vsuall in Princes courts.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online December 2020).

† potv.3

Origin: Of uncertain origin. Perhaps a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: pot v.4
Etymology: Origin uncertain; perhaps figurative senses of pot v.4, although attested earlier, and the sense development would be unclear.
Obsolete.
1. transitive. Now slang. To outdo, outwit; to deceive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > deceive [verb (transitive)]
aschrenchc885
blendc888
swikec950
belirtOE
beswike971
blencha1000
blenka1000
belieOE
becatchc1175
trokec1175
beguile?c1225
biwrench?c1225
guile?c1225
trechec1230
unordainc1300
blink1303
deceivec1320
feintc1330
trechetc1330
misusea1382
blind1382
forgo1382
beglose1393
troil1393
turnc1405
lirt?a1425
abuse?a1439
ludify1447
amuse1480
wilec1480
trump1487
delude?a1505
sile1508
betrumpa1522
blear1530
aveugle1543
mislippen1552
pot1560
disglose1565
oversile1568
blaze1570
blirre1570
bleck1573
overtake1581
fail1590
bafflea1592
blanch1592
geck?a1600
hallucinate1604
hoodwink1610
intrigue1612
guggle1617
nigglea1625
nose-wipe1628
cog1629
cheat1637
flam1637
nurse1639
jilt1660
top1663
chaldese1664
bilk1672
bejuggle1680
nuzzlec1680
snub1694
bite1709
nebus1712
fugle1719
to take in1740
have?1780
quirk1791
rum1812
rattlesnake1818
chicane1835
to suck in1842
mogue1854
blinker1865
to have on1867
mag1869
sleight1876
bumfuzzle1878
swop1890
wool1890
spruce1917
jive1928
shit1934
smokescreen1950
dick1964
1560 J. Heywood Fourth Hundred Epygrams sig. Bv Pot him Iacke: pot him Iacke? nay pot him Iugge. To pot the drunkarde, the Iugge is the dugge.
1589 W. Warner Albions Eng. (new ed.) vi. xxxi. 139 The Clowne, no doubt, that potted Pan [won from him the woman whom Pan courted] lackt Art to glose and flatter.
1621 R. Montagu Diatribæ Hist. Tithes 154 It is no hard matter to puzzle and to pot you with authority of Josephus in the selfesame story of Gen. 14.
1855 T. Taylor Still Waters ii. ii. 34 Then this fellow's a cock-tail—for a greater flat was never potted.
1880 Millikin in Punch's Almanack Feb. Crab your enemies,—I've got a many, You can pot 'em proper for a penny.
2. transitive. To reply to (one verse) with another; to cap (verses).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > compose (poetry) [verb (transitive)] > cap verses
to cap verses1584
pot1597
1597 G. Harvey Trimming T. Nashe in Wks. (1885) III. 37 Ile teach thee howe to pot verses an houre together.
1598 J. Stow Suruay of London 53 The boyes [printed boses] of diuerse Schooles did cap, or potte verses.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2019).

potv.4

Brit. /pɒt/, U.S. /pɑt/
Inflections: Present participle potting; past tense and past participle potted;
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: pot n.1
Etymology: < pot n.1 Compare Dutch potten to put in a pot, to hoard up (1548). Perhaps compare earlier pot v.3With sense 2 compare earlier potting n.2 2. With sense 1c compare earlier potted adj.1 3a.
1.
a. transitive. To place and preserve (meat, fish, etc.) in a sealed pot or similar container. Also figurative. Also intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preserving or pickling > pickle or preserve [verb (transitive)] > pot
pot1616
1616 R. Carpenter Pastoral Charge 50 Manna..being potted vp for a common remembrance lasted many yeares.
1736 S.-Carolina Gaz. 17 Apr. 3/1 John Herbert Pastry-Cook from London..teaches to pot, collour & pickle beans, raise paste, at reasonable rates.
1740 S. Richardson Pamela II. 62 I will assist your Housekeeper,..to pot, and candy, and preserve.
1789 J. Byng Diary 16 June in Torrington Diaries (1935) II. 50 Some..had caught..small salmon..which they speak of as a dainty, and must be very good to pot.
1815 Ld. Dudley Lett. 6 Sept. (1840) 110 Pompeii may be considered as a town potted..for the use of antiquarians in the present century.
1860 R. W. Emerson Fate in Conduct of Life (London ed.) 9 It often appears in a family, as if all the qualities of the progenitors were potted in several jars.
1870 J. Yeats Nat. Hist. Commerce 58 Prawns are potted on the South coasts.
1985 Times 17 July 11/4 Take the jam off the heat and let it stand for five minutes before potting it.
2004 Independent on Sunday (Nexis) 8 Feb. Brasserie St Quentin is supplied by a family firm called Baxter's, which has been potting shrimps in Morecambe Bay for more than 200 years.
†b. transitive. In sugar-manufacturing: to transfer (crude sugar) from the coolers to perforated pots or hogsheads, to allow the molasses to drain off. Cf. potting n.2 1b. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > sugar manufacture > [verb (transitive)] > transfer to vessel
pot1740
skipa1818
1740 Hist. Jamaica 321 From the Boiler the Liquor is emptied into a Cooler, where it remains till it is fit to be potted.
1750 G. Hughes Nat. Hist. Barbados 250 About twenty-four hours after the sugar is potted, the small round hole in the bottom of each pot is unstopped.
c. transitive. To abridge, summarize; to put into potted form. See potted adj.1 3a.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > non-fiction > summary or epitome > summarize or abridge [verb (transitive)]
abrevya1325
comprehendc1369
abridgec1384
shorta1390
suma1398
abbreviate?a1475
shorten1530
to cut short?1542
curtail1553
to knit up1553
to wind up1583
clip1598
epitomize1599
brief1601
contract1604
to shut up1622
decurt1631
to sum up1642
breviate1663
curtilate1665
compendize1693
epitomate1702
to gather up1782
summarize1808
scissor1829
précis1856
to cut down1857
to boil down1880
synopsize1882
essence1888
résumé1888
short copy1891
bovrilize1900
pot1927
summate1951
capsulize1958
profile1970
1927 Year's Work Eng. Stud. 1925 42 After preliminaries, the matter is divided into: the effect of Function upon Sound..; of Emotion upon Sound..; and of Gliederung... The statistics and argument can hardly be ‘potted’ here.
2004 N.Z. Herald (Nexis) 23 Apr. Obmascik..spends the earlier pages of the book potting the history of this obscure pastime.
†2. intransitive, and transitive with it. To drink beer or other liquor out of a pot; to indulge in drinking; to tipple. Cf. potting n.2 2. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > [verb (intransitive)] > drink intoxicating liquor > freely
wassailc1300
waught?a1513
quaff1520
to drink (it) all outa1522
bibblea1529
quaught1530
to set cock on the hoopa1535
quass1549
tipple1560
swillc1563
carouse1567
to drink, quaff (pledge one) carouse1567
troll-the-bowl1575
to take one's rousea1593
pot1622
tope1668
toot1676
compotate1694
to soak one's clay (or face)1704
birlea1800
to splice the mainbrace1805
jollify1830
brimmer1838
to give it a bit of a nudge1966
nudge1966
1622 S. Ward Woe to Drunkards 34 Oh but there are few good Wits..now a dayes but will Pot it a little for company.
1628 O. Felltham Resolves: 2nd Cent. lxxxiv. 242 It is lesse labour to plow, then to pot it: and vrged Healths do infinitely adde to the trouble.
1638 R. Brathwait Barnabees Journall (new ed.) iv. sig. Y2 If thou doest love thy flock, leave off to pot.
3. Horticulture.
†a. transitive. To put (earth) into a plant pot. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > placing or fact of being placed in (a) position > insertion or putting in > insert or put in [verb (transitive)] > into or as into other specific receptacles
sackc1405
pokea1425
pipe1465
barrel1466
cask1562
bag1570
vessel1577
basket1582
crock1594
cade1599
maund1604
impoke1611
incask1611
inflask1611
insatchel1611
desk1615
pot1626
cooper1746
kit1769
vat1784
pannier1804
vial1805
flask1855
tub1889
ampoule1946
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > management of plants > [verb (transitive)] > pot > put earth in pot
pot1626
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §529 Pot that earth, and set in it stock-gilly-flowers, or wall-flowers.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §529 The Fourth Rule shall be, to mark what Herbs some Earths doe put forth of themselves; And to take that Earth, and to Pot it, or to Vessell it.
b. transitive. To set (a plant) in a plant pot filled with earth for cultivation; to plant in or transplant into a pot. to pot off: to transplant (seedlings) into individual pots. to pot on: to move (a plant) from one pot into a larger one. to pot out: to put (potted plants) into an outdoor bed. to pot up: to put (seedlings or larger plants) into pots.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > management of plants > [verb (transitive)] > pot
pot1664
circumpose1693
repot1754
tub1828
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > management of plants > [verb (intransitive)] > sink potted plant into earth
to pot out1950
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > management of plants > [verb (transitive)] > pot > into a larger pot
to pot on1952
1664 J. Evelyn Kalendarium Hortense 65 in Sylva Pot them in natural (not forc'd) Earth.
1786 G. White Jrnl. 1 June (1970) xix. 277 Potted nine tall balsams.
1793 Trans. Soc. Arts (ed. 2) 4 35 I potted them into second size pots.
1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 300 The young plants require to be potted off singly into the smallest-size pots.
1870 W. Robinson Alpine Flowers i. 63 This is a better way than sowing in pots,..from which they require to be ‘potted off’.
1916 M. Hampden Flower Culture ii. 39 Now [sc. March] is the time for..potting up clumps of hardy plants from the garden.
1926 E. T. Brown Year in my Flower Garden 58 Lift and pot roots of Solomon's Seal.
1950 O. Sitwell Noble Essences ix. vi. 139 The gentle gold of the industrial haze lay lightly on the rich beds of tulips, carnations or begonias, so neatly potted out.
1952 C. E. L. Phillips Small Garden ix. 77 Nurselings in small pots are ‘potted-on’ into bigger ones when their roots have filled up the first one.
1978 R. Gorer Growing Plants from Seed v. 69 The seedlings are potted up separately in very small pots and progressively potted on.
1989 Sunday Express Mag. 7 May 83/1 Pot the bulbs with a balanced compost.
4. transitive. colloquial. To cook (food, an ingredient) in a pot, usually as a stew. Also occasionally with down. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > cooking > cook [verb (transitive)] > cook in specific vessel
griddlec1430
smore1562
oven1688
smother1707
grill1728
scallop1737
jug1747
pot1808
pan1871
slow-cook1904
casserole1930
oven-cook1953
1808 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. (at cited word) To Pot, to stew in a pot.
1831 Spirit of Times (N.Y.) 10 Dec. 3/1 Friend, have you a couple of fowls which you can pot down for dinner?
1890 Cent. Dict. 4647/2 To pot pigeons.
1903 Eng. Dial. Dict. IV. 594/2 My missus would pot 'em just as well as I.
1971 Jrnl. Home Econ. 63 382/1 How to Pot It Now That He's Shot it, by Josephine Ruud, is the engaging title of a 36-page wild game cookbook.
1996 R. Allsopp Dict. Caribbean Eng. Usage 450/2 Pot..(B[arba]dos).., to bake (s[ome]th[ing]) in a pot (esp pork or chicken).
5.
a. intransitive. To shoot, take a pot-shot. Frequently with at.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > discharge firearms [verb (intransitive)] > types of firing
plunge1761
steal1794
snipe1832
to fire into the brown (of them)1845
pot1854
pot-shoot1867
group1911
pot-shot1913
1854 Illustr. London News 11 Nov. 489/1 The French have been..sending in their skirmishers close to the walls, to pot at the embrasures.
1861 T. Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. III. viii. 139 Turning out to be potted at like a woodcock.
1898 in Globe 4 Feb. 4/5 If..I didn't see him potting away quite cheerfully!
1929 J. Masefield Hawbucks 134 He found Edwyn in the lower paddock ‘potting at rabbits’.
1952 B. Mauldin Bill Mauldin in Korea 89 Last month you couldn't stick your head up without getting potted at.
1983 G. Benford Against Infinity iii. i. 92 They explored stark fresh gorges..potting at the scattering, panicky forms with their lasers and stunners.
b. transitive. colloquial. To shoot or kill (game, etc.) for food rather than for sport (cf. pot-hunter n. 2a, pot-shot n.1 2); to bring down or kill by a pot-shot.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > shooting > shoot game [verb (transitive)] > manner or type of
snap1828
pot1860
brown1873
snapshot1928
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > fire (a gun) [verb (transitive)] > shoot (a person or thing)
shoot1617
to bird off1688
to knock downa1744
to pick off1745
pop1762
drill1808
plug1833
perforate1838
slap1842
stop1845
pot1860
spot1882
plunk1888
pip1900
souvenir1915
poop1917
spray1922
smoke1926
zap1942
crack1943
pot-shoot1969
1860 C. Reade Cloister & Hearth viii Martin had been in a hurry to pot her, and lost her by an inch.
1881 J. Grant Cameronians I. iv. 60 Sir Piers..thought it very slow work compared with..potting a man-eater from a howdah.
1889 W. C. Russell Marooned III. i. 4 He'll have to show himself, and if he does I'll pot him.
1899 Westm. Gaz. 27 Oct. 6/1 Their evident object was to pot off the gunners and the staff officers, about whom the bullets whistled viciously.
1918 Stars & Stripes 15 Mar. 2/3 Hurley stood steady, pouring rifle fire down into the pit and facing the momentary probability of being potted himself.
1938 J. Steinbeck Grapes of Wrath 40 You even come too close and I'll pot you like a rabbit.
1966 N. Mailer Amer. Dream ii. 39 Some small thing would leap from concealment and Deborah would pot him with her .22.
1988 Shooting Times 18–24 Aug. 29/3 He was given his first airgun when he was eight years old, and he used to creep about his father's woods potting pigeon off the trees.
6. transitive. To gain, secure, seize, win. Also in Rugby (chiefly New Zealand): to score (a dropped goal or a penalty goal).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > acquisition > obtain or acquire [verb (transitive)] > succeed in obtaining
eschevec1525
reacha1571
nail1735
pot1856
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > rugby football > play rugby football [verb (transitive)] > score
pot1856
secure1866
convert1896
goal1900
majorize1904
to dot down1956
1856 W. M. Thackeray Let. 16 Feb. (1946) III. 561 I have already potted 10000$.
1879 H. James Confidence I. xvi. 241 Mrs. Vivian means to strike camp and follow. She'll pot him yet; you see if she doesn't!
1900 H. Nisbet Sheep's Clothing Prol. iii. 26 However, he's in with us now, since he has potted the girl.
1904 Daily Chron. 21 Nov. 8/5 Six of the eight points have been ‘potted’, and not a defeat sustained.
1968 G. Slatter Pagan Game 206 I have seen a boy pot a goal and not know he was doing it.
1993 Independent on Sunday 4 Apr. 29/2 The English Lion potted two penalties of his own.
7. transitive. Billiards, Pool, and Snooker. To drive (a ball) into one of the pockets around the edges of the table; = pocket v. 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > billiards, pool, or snooker > [verb (transitive)] > play (the ball) in specific way
hazard1674
string1680
miss1746
pocket1756
hole1803
spot1844
nurse1850
draw1860
pot1860
hold1869
dribble1873
fluke1881
scratch1909
1860 J. C. Hotten Dict. Slang (ed. 2) (at cited word) ‘Don't pot me’, term used at billiards.
1885 Evening Standard 18 Dec. in J. S. Farmer & W. E. Henley Slang (1902) V. 268/1 After making three he potted his opponent's ball.
1899 Westm. Gaz. 14 Mar. 10/1 With a gallery of gentlemen-cadets, he was too proud to pot the white.
1942 L. V. Berrey & M. Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang 640 Pot, sink the shot, to pocket.
1971 E. Afr. Standard (Nairobi) 13 Apr. 16/4 Jarnail potted yellow and green to lead 52–29.
1987 Pot Black May 23/3 The order of play after all the reds have been potted is yellow, green, brown, blue, pink, black.
8. transitive. Australian and New Zealand slang. To hand (a person) over for trial; to inform on. Cf. pot n.1 Phrases 10.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > informing on or against > inform on or against [verb (transitive)]
wrayc725
meldeOE
bimeldena1300
forgabc1394
to blow up?a1400
outsay?a1400
detectc1449
denounce1485
ascry1523
inform1526
promote1550
peach1570
blow1575
impeach1617
wheedle1710
split1795
snitch1801
cheep1831
squeal1846
to put away1858
spot1864
report1869
squawk1872
nose1875
finger1877
ruck1884
to turn over1890
to gag on1891
shop1895
pool1907
run1909
peep1911
pot1911
copper1923
finger1929
rat1932
to blow the whistle on1934
grass1936
rat1969
to put in1975
turn1977
1911 A. Wright Gambler's Gold 138 Why should I pot the bloke? He done me a good turn, an' th' police is no good to me.
1916 J. B. Cooper Coo-oo-ee ix. 108 ‘Yer see,’ he explained, ‘they've got to try to hang some cove or else they'd lose their job. The more men they pot the better they're fixed in their jobs. See?’
1945 S. J. Baker Austral. Lang. xi. 207 A few general expressions concerned with school life:..to pot someone or to put someone's pot on, to inform on.
1953 ‘Caddie’ Sydney Barmaid xl. 230 What dirty swine has potted me?
2003 Daily News (New Plymouth, N.Z.) (Nexis) 22 May 4 Three months after entering Australia on the forged passport he split up with the woman he had gone to see and started a new relationship—the woman he had gone to see ‘potted him’ to police.
9.
a. intransitive. To make pottery or porcelain, esp. by hand; to work at a potter's wheel.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > pottery-making or ceramics > make pottery [verb (intransitive)]
pot1914
1914 R. Fry Lett. (1972) II. 377 Vanessa and I have been potting all day... We went when the potter wasn't there and got the man to turn the wheel.
1967 B. Jefferis One Black Summer (1968) i. 1 The grounds and buildings would be full of summer school students; doctors who longed to pot; dressmakers who yearned to try their hands at sculpture.
1971 J. White Left for Dead 68 All I've got to do is to teach myself to pot... I've always been interested in making pottery.
b. transitive. To make (pottery or porcelain); to shape (clay) prior to firing and decoration.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > pottery-making or ceramics > make pottery [verb (transitive)]
pot1968
1968 Canad. Antiques Collector June 12/1 The Rockingham China Works..began to produce china (porcelain) in 1826. The factory ceased to manufacture towards the end of 1841. Many fine porcelain wares..were potted in this relatively brief period.
1976 J. G. Hurst in D. M. Wilson Archaeol. Anglo-Saxon Eng. vii. 323 Stamford ware is finely potted on a fast wheel and fired in a developed single-flue kiln.
1990 Antique Collector Dec. 48/3 The mixed clay was rarely potted on a wheel because this smudged the effect of the pattern.
10. transitive. colloquial. To cause or train (a baby or young child) to use a potty. Also intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > upbringing > [verb (transitive)] > toilet-train
pot1943
toilet train1951
potty-train1960
pot-train1961
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > privy or latrine > [verb (transitive)] > cause or train child to use
pot1943
potty-train1960
pot-train1961
1943 A. Medley Your First Baby xviii. 180 With children who hardly wake up, perform with their eyes closed and drop off again, it is well worth while to pot them and to know that they will sleep dry and comfortable.
1948 B. Goolden Jig-Saw ii. 9 I prefer them [sc. babies] house-trained... One feeds and pots automatically.
1957 H. Croome Forgotten Place iv. 51 I'm not going to pot him or anything. I think early habit training is such a mistake.
1973 Daily Tel. 26 Oct. (Colour Suppl.) 7/2 She has poured the last coffee and sat back for the first time since potting the baby at 7:30 that morning.
11. transitive. To encapsulate (an electrical component or circuit) in a liquid insulating material, usually a synthetic resin, which sets solid.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic phenomena > electronic circuit > [verb (transitive)] > encapsulate
pot1950
1950 W. W. Stifler High-speed Computing Devices (Engin. Res. Associates) xvi. 426 Tests..showed that it was possible to pot printed circuits in a special casting resin in such a fashion as to permit the plugging in of the complete subassemblies.
1962 F. I. Ordway et al. Basic Astronautics vi. 279 The plastics in which electronic components are potted usually contain bacteria.
1971 J. H. Smith Digital Logic i. 5 The whole assembly is usually ‘potted’ into a block to form a module.
1993 Daily Tel. 29 July 3/1 The grabber, housed in a small black plastic box.., had been ‘potted’—filled with hard-setting plastic to prevent a close examination of its electronic circuits.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1OEn.21431n.31532n.41888n.51938n.61943v.11487v.21532v.31560v.41616
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