dunchern.
/ˈdʌn(t)ʃə/, U.S. /ˈdən(t)ʃər/, Scottish English /ˈdʌntʃər/, Irish English /ˈdʌntʃər/ Scottish and Irish English (northern).
1. A cow or sheep that is given to butting. Also (Irish English (northern)): a hornless cow.
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the world > animals > by habits or actions > [noun] > that butts
puttera1382
burterc1440
butter1611
duncher1824
1824 J. Mactaggart Sc. Gallovidian Encycl. 380 A sheep petted, is apt to turn a duncher.
1892 Ballymena Observer in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1900) II. 209/2 Duncher, a hornless or ‘moiled’ cow which has a habit of knocking people down with its head.
1953 M. Traynor Eng. Dial. Donegal 91/2 Duncher, a hornless cow.
2. Irish English (northern). A cloth cap with a peak; a flat cap. Also more fully duncher cap.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > cap > types of > peaked
peaked cap1840
peak cap1867
duncher1914
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > cap > types of > made from specific material > cloth
cloth cap1851
duncher1914
1914 St. J. G. Ervine Mrs. Martin's Man xvi. 205 A grey cap with a flat peak. The wee lad said it was a duncher.
1964 Irish Press 8 May 11/7 The stock suits and peaky caps of today—‘dunchers’, as the latter used to be called in Ulster.
1993 S. McAughtry Touch & Go ii. 7 Civilians walked past with their heads down, the women in headscarves and tight-pulled winter coats, the men in grey or brown raincoats and duncher caps.
2010 Daily Tel. 14 July 19/5 Throughout Northern Ireland, until the late Sixties, all classes and creeds..had a standard mode of headwear: on Sundays it was a paddy hat, and on weekdays a duncher.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1824