switterv.
dialect.
intransitive. = swatter v. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > moving with current of air or water > movement in or on water > move in or on water [verb (intransitive)] > splash or move about in (shallow) water
swalter?a1400
puddle1440
swalperc1540
swatter?1553
poss1575
soss1575
dabble1611
dibble1622
switter?a1800
plouter1808
squatter1808
slosh1844
splosh1930
?a1800 Bonnie Milldams of Binnorie xi, in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1882) I. i. 129/2 Aye she swittert, and aye she swam, Till she cam to yon bonnie mill-dam. [Cf. quot. ?a1800 at swatter v. 1a.]
Derivatives
switter-swatter adv. (imitative of the sound made by ducks splashing in water).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > sound of water > [adverb] > splash
swashly1582
switter-swatter1694
splash1795
plash1825
plashingly1881
splodge1898
plashily1926
splacka1960
1694 Urquhart's Rabelais i. xxi. 78 The total Welfare of our humidity doth not depend upon drinking, switter, swatter [1653 in a rible rable; Fr. à tas, à tas] like Ducks.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1919; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
<
v.1694