perscopate

verb

perscopate

verb

/ˈpɜːskəpeɪt/

Etymology From per- (“throughout, thoroughly”) + + Latin scōpātus, from scōpāre (“sweep”), from scōpa (“broom, bundle of sticks”) (classically only found as plural scōpae). By surface analysis, per- + scop(a) + -ate.

1

Archaic to bristle or horripilate

  • Let us take your cat: now suppose we shave her tail, so that it cannot shall I say perscopate or bristle; suppose we attach a board to her back, so that it cannot arch; suppose we then exhibit a displeasing sight – a sportive dog, for instance.1970, Patrick O'Brian, Master and Commander:

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