possern.
/ˈpɒsə/, U.S. /ˈpɑsər/ British regional.
A stick used to beat or ‘poss’ clothes in a washing tub.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing clothes and textile articles > [noun] > implement for beating clothes
battledorec1440
washing-beetlec1440
wash-beetlea1575
batting-staff1611
batlera1616
posser1764
batting-log1798
paddle1884
washing bat1898
1764 Session Papers in Sc. National Dict. (1968) VII. at Poss This cleaning or scouring used sometimes to be performed by laying the cloth in a trough or tub, with some strong lye, and beating it with a log of wood, called a posser, till all the impurities were expressed.
1876 C. C. Robinson Gloss. Words Dial. Mid-Yorks. 105/1 Posskit, a covered tub, used in possing, or cleansing linen, &c., the poss, or posser, being a wooden pin ‘with a thick knob at the immersed end’.
1905 M. C. Rankin Art & Pract. Laundry Work iii. 30 In the Midland counties the dolly tub with peg or posser is in general favour.
1960 Times 28 Dec. 6/2 Women used to stand at ‘stalls’; each with..a ‘posser’ (an iron rod with a wooden disc attached used for agitating the wash).
1989 H. Lander & P. Rauter Eng. Cottage Interiors 120 A cone-shaped posser for dunking the washing is perched at the back of the copper.
2003 Derby Evening Tel. (Nexis) 9 Sept. 23 With dolly tub, posser and wooden mangle the washing was done.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1764