Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Odd; not matched; not appropriated; left over; occasional; incidental: as, an orra thing; an orra time.
  • Employed, as about a farm, for doing the odd jobs or work which the servants having regular and specified duties cannot overtake: as, an orra man.
  • Base; low; mean; worthless: as, to keep orra company.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Probably originally a reduced form of over + all.

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Examples

  • As if the imagery and the "orra" vocabulary weren't enough.

    languagehat.com: NEW MACDIARMID AND AN INTRODUCTION TAE METRICS. 2005

  • It is most laughable to see immaculate city chaps out here doing all sorts of "orra" jobs.

    The New York Times Current History, A Monthly Magazine The European War, March 1915 Various

  • Jock Gilmour, the "orra" man, was washing down the legs of a horse beside the trough.

    The House with the Green Shutters George Douglas Brown 1885

  • Peter Riney and the new "orra" man were called in to witness the agreement.

    The House with the Green Shutters George Douglas Brown 1885

  • The ordinary course of life, with fine air and contented minds, was to do a full share of work till seventy, and then to look after "orra" jobs well into the eighties, and to "slip awa" within sight of ninety.

    Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush Ian Maclaren 1878

  • The ordinary course of life, with fine air and contented minds, was to do a full share of work till seventy, and then to look after "orra" jobs well into the eighties, and to "slip awa '" within sight of ninety.

    Stories by English Authors: Scotland (Selected by Scribners) Various 1878

  • The ordinary course of life, with fine air and contented minds, was to do a full share of work till seventy, and then to look after "orra" jobs well into the eighties, and to "slip awa" within sight of ninety.

    A Doctor of the Old School — Complete Ian Maclaren 1878

  • The ordinary course of life, with fine air and contented minds, was to do a full share of work till seventy, and then to look after "orra" jobs well into the eighties, and to "slip awa" within sight of ninety.

    A Doctor of the Old School — Volume 1 Ian Maclaren 1878

  • On watching someone die (ROT13'd for possible TMI): Ng yrnfg jura fbzrbar'f orra fvpx sbe zbaguf naq haerfcbafvir sbe ubhef, gur bayl creprcgvoyr qvssrerapr (gb zr) orgjrra n crefba nobhg gb qvr naq bar jub'f whfg qvrq vf gung gur qrnq crefba vf pbzcyrgryl zbgvbayrff naq erznvaf fb.

    Making Light: Open thread 136 2010

  • Vg jnf n fhogyr genafvgvba, naq jbhyq unir orra pbzcyrgryl vzcreprcgvoyr vs gur zbavgbef unqa'g fubja 0 urneg engr, 0 erfcvengvba, naq syngyvar oenva npgvivgl.

    Making Light: Open thread 136 2010

Comments

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  • The gnomes are not fauna nor flora

    But gardens are blessed by their aura.

    Their magic potential

    May not be essential

    But some find them charmingly orra.

    July 26, 2016

  • I thought about making an orra-ble pun here but decided better of it.

    July 26, 2016