totter, n.

Dave Wilton dave at WILTON.NET
Wed Oct 16 04:10:01 UTC 2002


> #The New Shorter OED gives :  (L19) "a rag & bone collector.."
>
> Thank you! -- Howcum it's not in the Longer OED, then?

It is. "Totter, n.2" gives you a cross reference to "Tot n.5" which reads:

"A dust-heap picker's name for a bone; whence by extension, anything worth
picking from a refuse-heap or elsewhere. Hence totter, a rag-and-bone
collector; totting, dust-heap picking." From 1873, of unknown origin.



More information about the Ads-l mailing list