dew-beatern.
1. One who beats or shakes off the dew in front of others in the same path; an early pioneer.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabitant > colonist or settler > [noun] > frontiersman or pioneer
dew-beatera1670
frontier1677
frontierman1782
pathfinder1840
frontager1893
old residenter1898
a1670 J. Hacket Scrinia Reserata (1693) i. 57 The dew-beaters have trod the way for those that come after them.
1883 W. H. Cope Gloss. Hampshire Words Deaw-bitter, a dew-beater, one who has large feet, or who turns his toes out so that he brushes the dew off the grass in walking.
2. plural. The feet. slang.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > limb > extremities > foot > [noun]
footOE
heelOE
toec1290
pettitoes1590
goers1612
hoofa1616
fetlock1645
stamper1652
fetterlock1674
pedestal1695
trotter1755
footsie1762
dew-beaters1811
pedal1838
mud-hook1850
tootsy1854
tootsicum1860
gun-boat1870
mundowie1880
plate of meat1887
trilby1895
dog1913
puppies1922
1811 Lexicon Balatronicum
1823 W. Scott Peveril IV. i. 12 First, hold out your dew-beaters till I take off the darbies.
3. (See quot.)
ΚΠ
a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) Dew-beaters, coarse and thick shoes which resist the dew.
1847–78 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1895; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
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n.a1670