knurknurrn.

c1460 (?c1400) Tale of Beryn l. 2514 Strecching forth his fyngirs,..Without knot or knor, or eny signe of goute.

1547 A. Borde Breuiary of Helthe i. f. xlix Knottes, knobbs knorres, or burres the which is in mannes flessh or fatnes.

1621 J. Molle tr. P. Camerarius Liuing Libr. i. v. 11 Hard knurs or knobs in his hands with working in the fields.

1542 T. Elyot Bibliotheca Bruscum, a bunche or knur in a tree.

1548 T. Cooper Bibliotheca Eliotæ (rev. ed.) Centrum,..an hard knotte or knurre in tymbre [1565–73adds or stone].

1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) II. 1745/2 The euill tree of our hart,..with all the crookes, knottes and knoures.

1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 467 The bunch or knurre in the Maple, called Bruscum, is passing faire.

1664 J. Evelyn Sylva (1679) 28 Oaks bear also a knur, full of cottony matter.

1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Seminary If you raise your Trees of such sorts as bear a Knur or Burry Swelling, set that part into the Ground.

1853 G. Johnston Terra Lindisfarnensis I. 143 The knots or knurs on the stem are in repute for making snuff boxes.

1861 C. A. Johns Forest Trees Great Brit. 150 We may often see, on the bole of a beech, scattered excrescences called knurs, varying in size from a pea to a large marble.

1852 Househ. Words 23 Oct. 139 The mysterious game of Nurr and spell.

1855 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Yorks. Words 98 Knor or Gnar, a small ball of lignum vitæ for playing at cricket with, or a similar game which is called ‘Spell and Knor’.

1868 Morning Star 10 Feb. A well-known Yorkshire game known as ‘knurr and spell’, in which an ordinary stick some two feet in length has a solid piece of wood 3 in. long and 2 in. in depth screwed on for the purpose of striking a marble.

1872 R. C. A. Prior Notes on Croquet 15 Bandy is the same game as hockey, and is played..with a wooden ball that..is cut from a blackthorn bush and called a ‘knurr’.

1877 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. Knur, a hard wooden ball with which children play.

1877 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. Nur, a small ball, such as that used in the game of hockey.

1967 Antique Finder Aug. 11/3 Knur and Spell. This Georgian tavern game must really be a forerunner of darts.

1972 Daily Tel. 14 Jan. (Colour Suppl.) 22/3 In fact Knur and Spell is simply a formalisation of something that every male person in the world must have done at some time throwing a ball or stone in the air and giving it a tremendous clout with a stick. How maddening when you miss! What a marvellous eye you feel you have when you do it fair and square! The Spell is the device that throws the ball (the Knur) into the air. It is an iron contraption that lies on the ground looking a bit like a rat trap; the framework holds a flat horizontal spring, held down by a catch. On the releasable end of the spring is a little cup containing the knur, a tiny white ball (porcelain, of all things), one inch across and weighing half an ounce. You stand about four feet away from the spell, armed with a ‘stick’, rather like a billiard cue with a hammer head (called the ‘pommel’). You tap the catch on the spell, the knur jumps up about four feet; the object is to hit it farther, over a fixed number of goes, than anyone else.

1691 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Words (ed. 2) 135 A Knor or Knurre, a short stubbed dwarfish Man.

1869 J. C. Atkinson Peacock's Gloss. Dial. Hundred of Lonsdale Knorr, a dwarfish fellow, a hard fellow.