The Dialect of the West of England; Particularly Somersetshire | Page 8

a small shoot; a budding out.
Chit'terlins. _s. pl._ The frills around the bosom of shirt.
Choor. _s._ A job; any dirty household work; a troublesome job.
Choor'er, Choor'-woman. _s._ A woman who goes out to do any kind
of odd and dirty work; hence the term _char-woman_ in our polished
dialect; but it ought to be _choor-woman_.

To Choóry. _v._ To do any kind of dirty household work.
Chub'by. _adj._ Full, swelling; as _chubby-faced_.
Claps, _s._ A clasp.
To claps, _v. a._ To clasp.
Clávy and Clávy-piece. _s._ A mantel-piecce.
[Clavy was probably given to that piece of wood or other material laid
over the front of the fireplace, because in many houses the keys are
often hung on nails or pins driven into it; hence from clavis (Latin) a
key, comes clavy, the place where the keys are hung.]
Clavy-tack. _s._ The shelf over [tacked on to] the mantel- piece.
Clear-and-sheer. _adv._ Completely; totally.
Cleve-pink. _s._ A species of Carnation which grows wild in the
crannies of Cheddar-cliffs: a variety of the _Dianthus deltoides_; it has
an elegant smell.
To Clim, to Climmer. _v. a._ To climb; to clamber.
Clin'kers. _s.pl._ Bricks or other earthy matter run into irregular shapes
by action of heat.
Clinker-bell. _s._ An icicle.
Clint. _v.a._ To clench; to finish; to fasten firmly.
Cliver-and-Shiver. _adv._ Completely; totally.
Clit. _v. n._ To be imperfectly fermented: applied to bread.
Clit'ty. _adj._ Imperfectly fermented.
Clize. _s._ A place or drain for the discharge of water regulated by a

valve or door, which permits a free outlet, but no inlet for return of
water.
Coäse. _adj._ Coarse.
Coathe. _v. a._ To bane: applied to sheep.
Cob-wall, _s._ Mud-wall; a wall made of clay mixed with straw.
Cockygee. _s._ Cockagee; a rough sour apple.
Cocklawt. _s._ A garret; cock-loft.
Originally, most probably, a place where the fowls roosted.
Cock-squailing. _s._ A barbarous game, consisting in tying a cock to a
stake, and throwing a stick at him from a distance till he is killed.
Cock-and-Mwile. _s._ A jail.
Col'ley, _s._ A blackbird.
To Collogue, _v. n._ To associate in order to carry out some improper
purpose, as thieves. [Two such rascals collogue together for mischief.
Rob Roy, p. 319, ed. 1821.]
Collo'gin. _s._ (g _hard_). An association for some improper purpose.
[Johnson defines it _flattery; wheedling_; which does not convey the
correct meaning.]
Colt-ale, _s._ (Sometimes called footing or foot-ale) literally ale given,
or money paid for ale, by a person entering on a new employment, to
those already in it.
Comforts (comfits.) _s. pl._ Sugared corianders, cinnamon, &c.
Com'ical. _adj._ Odd; singular.

Contraption. _s._ Contrivance; management.
Coop. _interj._ Come up! a word of call to fowls to be fed.
To Cork. _v. a._ Cawk; calk; to set on a horse's shoes sharp points of
iron to prevent slipping on ice.
To Count, _v. n._ To think; to esteem.
Cow-baby, _s._ A coward; a timid person.
To Crap, to Crappy. _v. n._ to snap; to break with a sudden sound; to
crack.
Crap. _s._ A smart sudden sound.
Craup. preterite of creep.
Cre'aped. Crept.
Creem. _s._ Sudden shivering.
Creémy. _adj._ Affected with sudden shivering.
Creeplin. _part._ Creeping.
Crips. _adj._ Crisp.
Criss-cross-lain. _s._ The alphabet; so called in consequence of its
being formerly preceded in the _horn-book_ by a cross to remind us of
the cross of Christ; hence the term. _Christ-Cross- line_ came at last to
mean nothing more than the alphabet.
Crock, _s._ A bellied pot, of iron or other metal, for boiling food.
Croom. _s._ A crumb; a small bit.
Crowd-string, _s._ A fiddle-string.

Crowdy-kit. _s._ A small fiddle.
Crow'ner. _s._ A coroner.
To be Crowned. _v. pass._ To have an inquest held over a dead body
by the coroner.
Crowst. _s._ Crust.
Crow'sty. _adj._ Crusty, snappish, surly.
Crub, Crubbin. _s._ Food: particularly bread and cheese.
Cubby-hole. s. A snug, confined place.
Cuckold _s._ The plant burdock.
To Cull. _v. n._ To take hold round the neck with the arms.
Cute. _adj._ [Acute] sharp; clever.
Cutty. _adj._ Small; diminutive.
Cutty, Cutty-wren._s._ A wren.

D.
DA`. _s._ Day.
DÃ yze. Days.
Dade. Dead.
Dad'dick. _s._ Rotten wood.
Dad'dicky. _adj._ Rotten, like daddick.
Dame. _s._ This word is originally French, and means in that language,
_lady_; but in this dialect it means a mistress; an old woman; and never
a lady; nor is it applied to persons in the upper ranks of society, nor to
the very lowest; when we say dame Hurman, or dame Bennet, we mean
the wife of some farmer; a school-mistress is also sometimes called
dame (dame-schools).

Dang. _interj._ Generally followed by pronoun, as _dang it_; _dang
êm_; _od dang it_: [an imprecation, a corruption of God dang it
(_God hang it_) or more likely corruption of damn.]
Dap, _v. n._ To hop; to rebound.
Dap. _s._ A hop;