Origin obscure: cf. Icel. úrig wet, f. úr drizzling rain.
Poor in appearance, shabby; dull, dingy; dreary, melancholy, languid.
c 1325 Metr. Hom. 88 He changed son his ouri wed, And forth into the halle he yed. 1785 Burns A Winter Night iii, I thought me on the ourie cattle, Or silly sheep, wha bide this brattle O' winter war. a 1810 Tannahill Lasses a' leuch Poems (1846) 145 Maggie was sitting fu' ourie an' blate. 1837 R. Nicoll Poems (1843) 82 The winter rain⁓drap owrie fa's. 1865 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 261 That oory, dingy paint and paper.
f. -ax in bonax, primax, names of sporting cartridges manufactured by Messrs. Kynoch (I.C.I. Metals Ltd.) + -ite of cordite.
A smokeless powder for sporting rifles, composed of strip cordite in which a little of the gun-cotton is replaced by potassium nitrate.
1904 in Trade Mark Jrnl. 19 Oct. 1905 Kynoch Jrnl. Jan.–Mar. 86 ‘Axite’ Service cartridge. 1919 E. de B. Barnett Explosives 78 Axite‥is practically Cordite M.D. to which 2 per cent. of potassium nitrate has been added. 1921 Blackw. Mag. Dec. 802/2 A high-velocity axite charge.
f. -ax in bonax, primax, names of sporting cartridges manufactured by Messrs. Kynoch (I.C.I. Metals Ltd.) + -ite of cordite.
A smokeless powder for sporting rifles, composed of strip cordite in which a little of the gun-cotton is replaced by potassium nitrate.
1904 in Trade Mark Jrnl. 19 Oct. 1905 Kynoch Jrnl. Jan.–Mar. 86 ‘Axite’ Service cartridge. 1919 E. de B. Barnett Explosives 78 Axite‥is practically Cordite M.D. to which 2 per cent. of potassium nitrate has been added. 1921 Blackw. Mag. Dec. 802/2 A high-velocity axite charge.
Recent Dicts. also give veinule ‘a minute vein, a venule’, as a term of Bot. and Geol. (perh. after F. veinule).
1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. ii. vi. 105 There is plenty of blood‥running back from the remotest Veinulets or smallest branches of the Veins. 1846–50 A. Wood Class-bk. Bot. 85 The secondary branches, or those sent off from the veinlets, are the veinulets.
Comments by ghilliedev
ghilliedev commented on the word gowany
"Ye'll get round again, if ye had your fit (foot) on the May gowan." Proceedings of the Berwickshire National Club II, No. x. 14, Hardy
August 24, 2010
ghilliedev commented on the word oorie
OED
ourie, a. north. dial.; now only Sc.
Forms: 4 ouri, 8–9 ourie, owrie, 9 oory.
Origin obscure: cf. Icel. úrig wet, f. úr drizzling rain.
Poor in appearance, shabby; dull, dingy; dreary, melancholy, languid.
c 1325 Metr. Hom. 88 He changed son his ouri wed, And forth into the halle he yed. 1785 Burns A Winter Night iii, I thought me on the ourie cattle, Or silly sheep, wha bide this brattle O' winter war. a 1810 Tannahill Lasses a' leuch Poems (1846) 145 Maggie was sitting fu' ourie an' blate. 1837 R. Nicoll Poems (1843) 82 The winter rain⁓drap owrie fa's. 1865 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 261 That oory, dingy paint and paper.
August 23, 2010
ghilliedev commented on the word taxite
OED
f. -ax in bonax, primax, names of sporting cartridges manufactured by Messrs. Kynoch (I.C.I. Metals Ltd.) + -ite of cordite.
A smokeless powder for sporting rifles, composed of strip cordite in which a little of the gun-cotton is replaced by potassium nitrate.
1904 in Trade Mark Jrnl. 19 Oct. 1905 Kynoch Jrnl. Jan.–Mar. 86 ‘Axite’ Service cartridge. 1919 E. de B. Barnett Explosives 78 Axite‥is practically Cordite M.D. to which 2 per cent. of potassium nitrate has been added. 1921 Blackw. Mag. Dec. 802/2 A high-velocity axite charge.
August 23, 2010
ghilliedev commented on the word axite
OED
axite
(ˈæksaɪt)
f. -ax in bonax, primax, names of sporting cartridges manufactured by Messrs. Kynoch (I.C.I. Metals Ltd.) + -ite of cordite.
A smokeless powder for sporting rifles, composed of strip cordite in which a little of the gun-cotton is replaced by potassium nitrate.
1904 in Trade Mark Jrnl. 19 Oct. 1905 Kynoch Jrnl. Jan.–Mar. 86 ‘Axite’ Service cartridge. 1919 E. de B. Barnett Explosives 78 Axite‥is practically Cordite M.D. to which 2 per cent. of potassium nitrate has been added. 1921 Blackw. Mag. Dec. 802/2 A high-velocity axite charge.
August 23, 2010
ghilliedev commented on the word veinulet
OED
ˈveinulet rare.
f. vein n. Cf. venule.
A small vein or veinlet.
Recent Dicts. also give veinule ‘a minute vein, a venule’, as a term of Bot. and Geol. (perh. after F. veinule).
1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. ii. vi. 105 There is plenty of blood‥running back from the remotest Veinulets or smallest branches of the Veins. 1846–50 A. Wood Class-bk. Bot. 85 The secondary branches, or those sent off from the veinlets, are the veinulets.
August 23, 2010