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Brewer's: Scuttle
To scuttle a ship is to bore a hole in it in order to make it sink. Rather strangely, this word is from the same root as our word shut or bolt (Saxon scyttel, a lock, bolt, or bar). It was…Brewer's: Shilling
Said to be derived from St. Kilian, whose image was stamped on the “shillings” of Würzburg. Of course this etymology is of no value. (Anglo-Saxon, scylling or scilling, a shilling.)…Brewer's: Wall-eyed
properly means “withered-eyed.” Persons are wall-eyed when the white is unusually large, and the sight defective; hence Shakespeare has wall-eyed wrath…Brewer's: Epergne
(2 syl.). A large ornamental stand placed in the middle of a dining-table. It is generally said to be a French word, but the French call such an ornamental stand a surtout, strangely…Brewer's: Faced
With a facing, lining of the cuffs, etc.; also the preterite of the verb “to face.” Faced Bare-faced. Impudence unconcealed. A “bare-faced lie” is a lie told shamelessly and without…Brewer's: Garnish
(g hard). Entrance-money, to be spent in drink, demanded by jailbirds of new-comers. In prison slang garnish means fetters, and garnish-money is money given for the “honour” of wearing…Brewer's: Feather One's Oar
(To.) To feather an oar is to turn the blade parallel with the surface of the water as the hands are moved forward for a fresh stroke. (The Greek pteron means both “an oar” and “a feather…Brewer's: Fettle
as a verb, means to repair; to smoothe; as an adjective, it means well-knit, all right and tight. It is connected with our word feat, the French faire, the Latin facere. Fettled ale, in…Brewer's: Finger-stall
A hutkin, a cover for a sore finger. The Germans call a thimble a finger-hut, where hut is evidently the word hut or huth (a tending, keeping, or guarding), from the verb huten (to keep…Brewer's: Paean
The physician of the celestial gods; the deliverer from any evil or calamity. (Greek, pauo, to make to cease.) Paean A hymn to Apollo, and applied to the god himself. We are told in Dr…Trending
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