pluffern.
/ˈplʌfə/, U.S. /ˈpləfər/, Scottish English /ˈplʌfər/, Irish English /ˈplʌfər/ 1. A person who fires a gun, a shooter. Scottish. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warrior > armed man > [noun] > one armed with or using firearm
shot1598
gun-man1624
popper1733
gunsman1766
firer1807
pluffer1828
gun1931
gunsel1942
gun-slinger1953
1828 J. Wilson in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 24 278 Is that the pluffer at partridge-pouts who had nearly been the death of poor Ponto?
2. Scottish, Irish English (northern) and English regional (northern). A blowpipe, a pea-shooter. Also: (U.S. regional (south-eastern)) a popgun. Cf. pluff n. 1c.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > toy weapons > [noun]
poop1489
pellet1553
trunk1553
elder-gun1600
popgun1649
spitter1688
pluff1695
whistling arrowa1718
pea-shooter1782
pea gun1812
detonating ball1814
pea-blower1821
pen-gun1821
pipegun1828
torpedo1831
spring gun1837
putty blower1861
tweaker1862
pluffera1866
bean-shooter1890
putty shooter1896
water pistol1897
stink bomb1915
cap-pistol1920
cap-gun1931
laser gun1961
a1866 W. Anderson Rhymes (1867) 31 Chasing the leeries wi' pluffers an' pease.
1894 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words Pluffer, a tube used as a pea-shooter.
1923 G. Watson Roxburghshire Word-bk. 237 Pluffer, a pea-shooter.
1950 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xiv. 53 Pluffer, a popgun, made from an elder joint with the pith thrust out, fitted with a plunger not quite the length of the popgun barrel.
1996 C. I. Macafee Conc. Ulster Dict. 257/2 Pluffer, also pea-pluffer, a pea-shooter made from the hollow stem of a plant such as cow parsley.
1998 N. Harper Spik o the Place 111 No, ye canna buy a pluffer. Ye'll tak somebody's ee oot.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1828