dackerdaikerv.
/ˈdakə/, /ˈdeɪkə/, U.S. /ˈdækər/, /ˈdeɪkər/, Scottish English /ˈdakər/, /ˈdekər/ Scottish and northern dialect.
I. To totter or waver, and related uses.
1. intransitive. To shake to and fro, waver, totter, stagger. English dialect.
ΚΠ
1671 S. Skinner & T. Henshaw Etymologicon Linguæ Anglicanæ Dacker, vox in argo Lincoln. usitata: significat autem Vacillare, Nutare.
1674 J. Ray N. Countrey Words in Coll. Eng. Words 13 Dacker, to waver, stagger or totter, a word used in Lincolnshire.
1876 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Words Whitby Daikering..also quavering with the limbs; ‘a daikering sort of a body’, a paralysed person.
1877–89 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. (ed. 2) Dacker, to waver, to shake fitfully..‘I could see the chimla dacker ivry gust that came’.
2. To walk totteringly as from feebleness or infirmity; to toddle; to go about slowly, idly or carelessly; to saunter, dander.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > walk, tread, or step [verb (intransitive)] > with short unsteady steps
toddle?1590
paddle1606
dade1612
diddle1632
daddle1710
dacker1817
tottle1822
tot1824
poddle1827
1817 W. Scott Rob Roy II. x. 216 Gin ye'll..just daiker up the gate wi' this Sassenach.
1817 W. Scott Hrt. Midl. viii Wha wad hae thought o' his daikering out this length?
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. To Dacker, Daker, daiker,..7. To go about in a feeble or infirm state.
1851 Gloss. Provinc. Words Cumberland Dakerin, walking carelessly.
3. To work in an irregular or pottering way.
ΚΠ
1703 R. Thoresby Let. 27 Apr. in J. Ray Corr. (1848) 421 Daker, to work for hire after the common day's work is over, at 2d. an hour.
1808 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Dacker, daker, daiker..3. To toil as in job work, to labour..5. To be engaged about any piece of work in which one does not make great exertion; to be slightly employed.
4. figurative. To remain or hang on in a state of irresolution; to vacillate, equivocate, waver; be irregular in one's ways. Also, to have relapses in sickness.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > be irresolute or vacillate [verb (intransitive)]
haltc825
flecchec1300
waverc1315
flickerc1325
wag1387
swervea1400
floghter1521
stacker1526
to be of (occasionally in) many (also divers) minds1530
wave1532
stagger1533
to hang in the wind1536
to waver as, like, with the wind1548
mammer1554
sway1563
dodge1568
erch1584
suspend1585
float1598
swag1608
hoverc1620
hesitate1623
vacillate1623
fluctuate1634
demur1641
balance1656
to be at shall I, shall I (not)1674
to stand shall I, shall I1674
to go shill-I shall-I1700
to stand at shilly-shally1700
to act, to keep (upon), the volanta1734
whiffle1737
dilly-dally1740
to be in (also of, occasionally on) two minds (also in twenty minds, in (also of) several minds, etc.)1751
oscillate1771
shilly-shally1782
dacker1817
librate1822
humdrum1825
swing1833
(to stand or sit) on or upon the fence1848
to back and fill1854
haver1866
wobble1867
shaffle1873
dicker1879
to be on the weigh-scales1886
waffle1894
to think twice1898
to teeter on the brink1902
dither1908
vagulate1918
pern1920
1817 W. Scott Rob Roy I. vi. 135 Sae I e'en daiker on with the family frae year's end to year's end.
1877 in E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. ‘I knew he was liein', he dacker'd..in his talk.’
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5. To truck, to traffic (Lothian).‘It properly signifies to deal in a piddling and loose sort of way; as allied in sense to E. higgle’ (Jamieson).
6. To have dealings, engage, grapple with.
ΚΠ
1785 Select Coll. Poems Buchan Dial. 10 (Jam.) I dacker'd wi' him by mysel'.
1882 D. Keith in D. H. Edwards Mod. Sc. Poets 4th Ser. 193 'Twere weel wi' folk they aft would think Afore they daiker lang wi' drink.
II. To search.
7. To search (intransitive and transitive).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > searching or seeking > search for or seek [verb (transitive)]
seekc888
aseekc1000
i-secheOE
huntc1175
to seek afterc1175
beseechc1200
fand?c1225
ofseche?c1225
to seek forc1250
atseekc1275
furiec1290
forseeka1300
outseekc1300
upseekc1315
to look after ——c1330
wait1340
laita1350
searchc1350
pursuea1382
ensearchc1384
to feel and findc1384
inseekc1384
looka1398
fraist?a1400
umseeka1400
require?c1400
walec1400
to look up1468
prowla1475
to see for ——c1485
to look for ——a1492
to have in the wind1540
sue1548
vent?1575
seek1616
explore1618
dacker1634
research1650
to see out for1683
quest1752
to see after ——1776
1634 Banff Burgh Rec. in W. Cramond Ann. Banff (1893) II. 251 The bailyie, haiffing causit searche, seik, and dacker the duelling housis.
1717 Kirk Session Rec. in Gordon Chron. Keith (1880) 90 Warrant for dackering for the said meal.
1768 A. Ross Fortunate Shepherdess 91 (Jam.) To dacker for her as for robbed gear.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1894; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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