froughyfrowyadj.
/ˈfrəʊi/ Now dialect.
1. Musty, sour, stale, not sweet.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > taste and flavour > unsavouriness > [adjective] > rank or rancid
restya1325
rest1381
rammishc1395
areast1440
reested?c1475
reesed1486
musty1492
rusty?1521
turned1548
reasty1573
froughy1579
flatten1594
reasy1598
rammy1607
rancid1627
loud1641
ranked1648
virous1661
ranciduous1688
raftya1722
virose1756
reeky1854
loud-flavoured1866
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. July 111 They..like not of the frowie fede.
a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) Frowy, stale, on the point of turning sour from being over kept.
1866 H. B. Stowe Little Foxes 117 Mrs. D. is a decent housekeeper, and so her bread be not sour, her butter not frowy [etc.].
2. Of wood: Spongy, soft-textured, brittle. frowy-stuff (see quot. 1858).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > [adjective] > brittle
brash1566
spalt1567
froughya1642
short-grained1694
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > [noun] > wood of inferior quality
chipwood1838
matchwood1838
frowy-stuff1858
a1642 H. Best Farming & Memorandum Bks. (1984) 34 The best stricles are those that are made of froughy, unseasoned oake.
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. iv. 63 If your wood be soft and your Stuff free and frowy, that is, evenly temper'd all the way.
1742 W. Ellis Timber-tree Improved (ed. 3) II. ii. 43 Such an Ash..grows frowy, short, and spungy.
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Frowy-stuff, a builder's name for short, or brittle and soft, timber.
1889 J. S. Farmer Americanisms Froughy, spongy, brittle, or, in fact, applied to anything that is of inferior quality.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.1579