Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The fruit of the medlar-tree.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old English openærs, corresponding to open + arse (‘with allusion to the large cavity at the end of the fruit between the persistent calyx lobes’ – OED3).

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Examples

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  • Now will he sit under a medlar tree,

    And wish his mistress were that kind of fruit

    As maids call medlars, when they laugh alone.

    O Romeo, that she were, O that she were

    An open-arse and thou a pop'rin pear!

    - Shakespeare

    Another name for a medlar

    February 16, 2009