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Cotter

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cotter¹

  • /kɒtə/ UK
  • /kɑtɚ/ US

Rhymes with -ɒtə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

Unknown.

noun cotters

  1. A pin or wedge inserted through a slot to hold machine parts together. The chains are secured to each end of the cast-iron arches by cotters.
  2. informal A cotter pin.

verb cotters · cottering · cottered

  1. transitive To fasten with a cotter. She found Esco by the barn. He was trying to cotter a cart-wheel with a peg he had whittled from a locust branch, driving it in with a hand sledge

cotter²

  • /kɒtə/ UK
  • /kɑtɚ/ US

Rhymes with -ɒtə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

From Middle English cotter, cotere, kottere, koter, cotier, equivalent to cot (“cottage”) + -er, from Old English cot. Compare Old French coter, cotier.

noun cotters · cottar

  1. historical A peasant who performed labour in exchange for the right to live in a cottage. The toil-worn Cotter frae his labour goes,— / This night his weekly moil is at an end,— / Collects his spades, his mattocks, and his hoes, […]

Cotter³

proper noun Cotters · Cottier

  1. countable, uncountable A surname.
  2. countable, uncountable A minor city in Baxter County, Arkansas, United States.
  3. countable, uncountable A minor city in Louisa County, Iowa, United States.

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