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cotter

noun, verb — 4 senses

cotter

noun

UK /kɒtə/ · US /kɑtɚ/

Etymology Unknown.

1

Engineering, Mechanical, Mechanical engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences 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.1949 November and December, “Notes and News: The High Level Bridge, Newcastle”, in Railway Magazine, page 407:
2

Informal A cotter pin.

Derived terms
cotterless
Related terms
cotter pin

cotter

verb

Etymology Unknown.

1

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 sledge1997, Charles Frazier, chapter 2, in Cold Mountain, London: Hodder and Stoughton, page 39:

cotter

noun

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

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, […]1786, Robert Burns, The Cotter's Saturday Night:
Synonyms
coscet, cottager

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.