oxter

English

Etymology

Apparently from Middle English *oxtere, *oxte, from Old English ōxta, ōhsta, related to Old English ōxn (“armpit”), Old English eax (“axis, axle”), and eaxl (“shoulder”). See also axis and axon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɒkstə(ɹ)/

Noun

oxter (plural oxters)

1. (chiefly Scotland, Ireland, Northern England) The armpit. [from 15th c.]
   • 1922 February, James Joyce, Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:
     Episode 12: The Cyclops:

     And begob there he was passing the door with his books under his oxter and the wife beside him and Corny Kelleher with his wall eye looking in as they went past, […]

   • 1955, Robin Jenkins, The Cone-Gatherers, Canongate, published 2012, page 90:

     ‘It's a small beast,’ he said. ‘I could carry it under my oxter.’

Verb

oxter (third-person singular simple present oxters, present participle oxtering, simple past and past participle oxtered)

1. (transitive) To hug with the arms, or support by taking the arm of.
   • 2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 412:

     They oxter him into the building.

Synonyms

• (cavity beneath the junction of the arm and shoulder): armpit, axilla, underarm; armhole (now UK dialect)

Anagrams

• extro-, retox

Scots

Etymology

From Middle English *oxtere, *oxte, from Old English ōxta, ōhsta, related to Old English ōxn (“armpit”); cognate with Scottish Gaelic achlais.

Noun

oxter

1. The armpit.

Verb

oxter

1. (transitive) To hug with the arms, or support by taking the arm of.
2. (transitive) To poke with the elbow or barge out of the way.